Rowan Holds-Off Utica Comeback Bid to Claim 2025 Asa S. Bushnell Bowl
Utica, N.Y. – The Rowan University Profs held off a Utica College second-half comeback bid to defeat the Pioneers, 26-20, in the 2025 Asa S. Bushnell Bowl. Nunes Bukula IV was named the game’s MVP, totaling 135 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown to help lead the Profs to the victory.
Bukula had 118 yards on the ground, averaging 9.1 yards per carry, and led the team with 4 receptions for 17 yards. He had just over half of Rowan’s 230 total yards rushing in the game as the Profs averaged 6.4 yards per carry on the afternoon. Fellow Rowan back Tyshawn Bookman had 77 yards rushing, on just 10 carries, and a touchdown.
Rowan’s QB tandem combined to complete 13-of-22 passes for 176 yards and a touchdown. Matt Welsey went for 129 passing yards and hit Shane Martin for a 75-yard touchdown for the longest scoring play of the game while Nate Maiers completed 6-of-10 for 47 yards.
Utica didn’t find much room to run against the Rowan defense, totaling just 41 yards on 15 carries, but Tyler Szalkowski kept the Pioneers in the game with his sixth 300-yard game of the season. The senior quarterback completed 36 of 63 passes for 357 yards and three touchdowns.
Two Pioneers receivers, Bryce Palmer and Logan Frederick, hit double-digit catches, while Antonio Cianfarani had 9 catches on the day. Cianfarani led Utica with 123 receiving yards, Frederick had 108 yards and two touchdowns, and Palmer did his damage in close, totaling 58 yards on his 11 catches. Lorenzo Velez had the other receiving touchdown for the Pioneers, one of his four catches on the day.
Rowan opened the game with a 10-play drive that resulted in a 40 yard field goal from Greg Casimir to put the Profs up 3-0. Utica followed by cobbling together a quality first possession, converting a 4th and 3, overcoming a 1st and 20, and finally, on 3rd and 13, completing a 16 yard pass over the middle for a touchdown to put the Pioneers up 7-3.
Utica led 7-3 after one quarter of play, but another long Rowan drive, split by quarter end, stalled in Utica territory and ended with a Casimir field goal to make it 7-6 in favor of Utica with just under 13 minutes to play in the second quarter.
Rowan’s defense made the necessary adjustments in the second quarter and allowed the Profs to take control of the game. They forced a 3-and-out to quickly give the ball back to the offense and, after two time-consuming drives to start the game, Rowan’s offense took advantage of a fatigued Utica defense and punched in their first touchdown of the game to go up 12-7. It was Bukula IV that capped-off a 5-play, 59-yard drive that eclipsed just 2:41 to put Rowan back on top.
Utica moved the ball into Rowan territory on the next drive and lined up to go for it on 4th down at the Rowan 39 yard line, hoping to replicate the success they had on the first drive, but a pre-snap penalty put it out of reach and forced the Pioneers to punt. It was a beautiful punt delivered by Pioneer punter Devin Taylor as he pinned Rowan at the 1 yard line and flipped the field in favor of Utica.
Rowan, however, leaned on their star running back and Bukula IV got them out of trouble. He created breathing room with a 5-yard rush on first down and then broke through the secondary for a 64-yard gain on second down that brought the Profs into Utica territory. Another pair of rushes, one from Welsey and the other from Bukula IV, brought the ball into the red zone as the game headed to the 2-Minute Timeout. The Profs were methodical with their red zone offense and after a pair of Welsey rushes got them down to the 3 yard line, Bookman punched it home with just 9 seconds on the clock to put Rowan on top, 19-7, at halftime.
Utica’s opening possession of the second half looked as if it would cut into the Pioneer deficit, but instead it ended on a pair of incomplete passes from the Rowan 25 that turned the ball over on downs. The Profs needed just one play to really break the game open as Welsey hit Martin for a 75-yard touchdown pass to make it a 19-point game.
Utica started to claw their way back as Szalskowski connected with Frederick for his second touchdown catch of the day to make it 26-13 after a failed two-point conversion. Then, the Pioneer defense stepped up and sacked Welsey twice to force a three-and-out by Rowan to put the ball back in the offense’s hands. Unfortunately for the Pioneers, Szalkowski’s pass to Velez was broken up by Jaeden Everett and Utica was forced to punt it back late in the third quarter and Rowan would take the 26-13 lead into the final frame.
Utica had driven deep into Rowan territory, but facing a 4th and goal from the Rowan 10 yard line, the Pioneers brought in the field goal unit. The field goal came up begging, leaving the score at 26-13. The game got interesting midway through the 4th quarter as Szalskowski led a 74-yard touchdown drive to make it 26-20 with 7:59 left on the clock.
Rowan tried to put the game out of reach, methodically moving the ball down the field, chewing up valuable seconds in the process, but they left the door cracked for Utica as, after driving down to the Utica 16-yard line, Casimir missed a 33-yard field goal attempt and kept it a six-point game with 2:50 to play.
Szalkowski converted a 3rd and 5 with his legs and later converted 4th and 3s to Palmer and Cianfarani to keep the drive going, eventually getting inside the Rowan 20-yard line with time for several shots to the end zone. On 3rd and 10 from the Rowan 18, Szalkowski hit Frederick over the middle for a chunk gain, but a face mask penalty was called on the Pioneers, making it 3rd and 25 from the 33. An incomplete pass set up 4th and 25 and while Szalkowski hit Cianfarani for 14 yards, Rowan made sure to keep everything in front of them as a defense and swarm tackled the receiver to seal the 26-20 victory.