Rowan football fell to Widener University 27-22 on Saturday night in their first game since November 2019.

In the first drive of the game, wide receiver John Malonado scored on a fade from quarterback Mike Husni. Husni, had two touchdown passes in their season-opening game. One pass was completed to Malonado while the other was successful to receiver CJ Barrett. 

The Profs took the lead in the second quarter when running back James Fara ran the ball 71 yards for a touchdown. This swung the momentum in their favor. Later, Fara left the game with an injury. Which may have hurt Rowan’s late comeback chances. 

Despite leading 22-17 going into halftime, the Profs couldn’t generate any offense in the second half as Widener took the lead in the third quarter. 

Rowan started the first half of the game on fire, but cooled off in the second half.

“As a unit we just didn’t execute as well as we did in the first half, across the board, not just one specific person,” said Malonado. 

Widner’s quarterback, Triston Harris, was the x-factor both on the ground and with the ball in the air. Wide receiver, Tahir Cruise, ran in two touchdowns for Widner. Cruise’s third-quarter touchdown put Widener in the lead which clinched the game for the Lions.

The fans were happy to be back to see our Profs playing again after not playing at all in the 2020 season because of COVID-19.

After the five-point loss, Head Coach Jay Accorsi said, “Obviously it doesn’t feel great now, but it’s great to see a big crowd and our players playing again.”

Next week the Profs will have an opportunity to bounce back against theSpringfield College squad at home. Kickoff is Saturday at noon.

For comments/questions about this story, tweet @TheWhitOnline.