Box Score
The College of Mount St. Joseph held a seven-point lead over Thomas More College today heading into the fourth quarter, but was unable to hold on as the 19th-ranked Saints pulled off a 33-28 come-from-behind win in Bridge Bowl XVI. The Mount ends the season with a 6-4 mark, while Thomas More moves on to the NCAA Division III Playoffs at 9-1. Pre-game ceremonies saw the Lions honor 18 football seniors on Senior Day.
The Mount held a 14-10 lead at the half and was up 28-21 heading into the fourth quarter before seeing the visiting Saints cut the deficit to 28-27 with 9:17 showing on the clock, thanks to a 56-yard TD run by Domonique Hayden. Tyler Hopperton (Walton, KY/Simon Kenton) blocked the PAT kick helping the Mount hold the one-point advantage. The Lions went three-and-out on their next possession, punting the ball back to Thomas More, where the Saints took over with 7:35 to play in the game and with the ball at their own 39-yard line. After converting a third-and-two play from their 47-yard line, the Saints were faced with a fourth-and-five situation on the Lions' 45. Thomas More quarterback Luke Magness, who earlier came off the bench for the Saints, fired a 45-yard TD strike to Tony Bell for the go-ahead and eventual winning score. Thomas More's two-point conversion pass failed.
The Lions had one more shot at a winning score, but saw quarterback Brian Pitzer (South Salem, OH/McClain) intercepted on third-and-four in the Thomas More end zone, after the Mount had driven to the Saints' 35-yard line. Thomas More would advance the ball to the Mount 29 and would punt the ball back to the Lions, giving the home team one more possession where their final pass was caught at the Thomas More College 36-yard-line as time ran expired.
James Clay (Louisville, KY/Dupont) capped a 1,000-yard plus rushing season with a game-high 171 yards on 15 carries while Pitzer added 100 yards rushing, and was 11-for-22 for 153 yards, with an interception and a TD. Clay finished the 2011 season with 1,132 yards on the ground while Pitzer had 721 yards rushing this season. Clays' three TDs, all rushing, saw him finish the season with 16 rushing TDs. Jimmy Dan Conners (Cincinnati, OH/Oak Hills) led the Mount with four receptions against Thomas More while Nick Kaminsky (Hamilton, OH/Fairfield) had a 29-yard TD reception.  Hopperton led all defenders with 15 tackles while teammate Jay Dolak (Louisville, KY/Holy Cross) had 11 tackles. Rob Fox (Harrison, OH/Colerain) had nine tackles, including three for loss yards, a sack and a forced fumble. Konnor Blevins (Cincinnati, OH/Lakota West) had a fumble recovery.
Thomas More had 24 first downs to the Lions' 16 first downs and out-gained the Mount, 543-437 in total yards. The Lions amassed 284 yards on the ground to Thomas More's 387 rushing. Thomas More held a three-yard edge in passing yardage, 156-153.
