Daniel Porto kicked a 23-yard field goal with 59 seconds left to lift Holy Cross past Bucknell, 40-38, in a wild Patriot League game at Fitton Field in Worcester on Saturday to keep the Crusaders’ hopes of earning the Patriot League automatic playoff spot alive.
The lead changed hands three times in the fourth quarter and Holy Cross (5-6, 4-1) sealed the victory on a Joe Townsend strip sack with Frankie Monte recovering. Monte also had an interception late in the first half, which led to a Crusaders touchdown and started the comeback from an early 21-3 deficit.
“It swung the momentum a little, but I really don’t think anything personally helped,” Monte said of his pick that set up Jayden Clerveaux from 2 yards out with 32 seconds left before the break. “In the locker room all the guys got together we talked it out and we were fired up. Everyone knew no matter how many points we were down, we were going to win this game no matter what it took. We went out there in the second half, and that’s what happened.”
The Crusaders are tied for the top spot with Lehigh (7-3, 4-1), which holds the tiebreaker, and Bucknell (5-6, 3-2), which handed Lehigh its only league loss, one game back. Holy Cross will close out the regular season Saturday at Georgetown, while Lehigh hosts Lafayette and Bucknell hosts Colgate.
“For these seniors that have had so many great memories on this field, to send them off the right way is huge,” said Crusaders coach Dan Curran. “By us going 1-0 this week gives us a chance to compete for a conference championship next week. You can’t ask for too much more than that.”
Holy Cross trailed 31-17 late in the third quarter when the special teams made a play as Ross Dansdill came up the middle and blocked a punt with Cam Jones recovering and scoring from 2 yards out.
Clerveaux rushed 23 times for 91 yards and two TDs. His second score was a 1-yard run with 14:19 left that tied the game at 31.
The Crusaders took their first lead when senior safety Curtis Harris-Lopez returned an interception 56 yards down the left sideline for a score, but the PAT was blocked.
Bucknell quarterback Ralph Rucker IV threw his fifth touchdown of the game with 8:13 remaining, a 5-yard pass to Eric Weatherly, put the Bison back in front, 38-37. Rucker was 33 of 42 for 339 yards with two interceptions.
Keith Pearson can be reached at keith.pearson@globe.com.