EWING, N.J. – The TCNJ football team capped off the 2026 campaign in fine fashion under the Friday Night lights, riding a robust run game and an opportunistic defense to a 17-7 victory over Kean on Senior Night in the season finale.
Jordan Morrell rushed for a career-high 143 yards and a touchdown, going over 1,000 career yards in the process, and combined with
Sam Dech to form a potent 1-2 punch for the Lions (4-6, 3-4), who racked up nearly 300 yards on the ground.
Jayden Carter and
Brayden Kelly produced an interception apiece for a defense that racked up three takeaways against one of the nation's most mistake-averse squads.
Before the game, TCNJ honored
Tyler Addonisio,
Corey Baglivo,
Chris Brinkofski,
Chris Carey,
Brendan Catalano,
Max DiPietro,
Anthony Edwards,
Sean Gallagher,
Swastik Grover,
Isaiah Harrison,
Lucas Lattimer,
Ryan Mendes,
Andrew Spano, and
Michael Strachan on Senior Night.
TCNJ nearly hit a trick play on its opening possession, when wide receiver
Grant Lorentzen's deep pass fell just off the fingertips of
Aaron Viray in the end zone on a fourth-down try from the Kean 33.
The Lions forced a struggling Cougar offense into a pair of three-and-outs, and powered into the lead behind the tenacious running of Morrell. The junior, who entered the game for the first time at the beginning of the Blue & Gold's third drive, promptly churned out 55 yards on nine carries, his last a 1-yard touchdown plunge to put TCNJ on top, 7-0, at the 14:09 mark of the second quarter.
Kean picked up its initial first down of the night and crossed midfield briefly, but was turned aside by a third-down stop from
Christian Giordano and was forced to punt the ball back to the Lions.
The TCNJ defense came through with another huge play just past the midway point of the period, when
Brayden Kelly jumped in front of an underthrown out route and returned his interception 13 yards to the Cougars '13. A 15-yard penalty, however, backed the Lions all the way back to the 32-yard line, and
Tim Willever's well-struck 49-yard field-goal attempt rattled off the right-hand upright as the margin stayed at 7 going into the halftime break.
Another takeaway right out of the intermission had the Lions sitting pretty, taking over at the Kean 31-yard line after
Brandon Rector recovered a fumble. TCNJ moved down to the 11, extending its lead to 10-0 on Willever's 28-yard field goal.
The Lions forced yet another three-and-out on the ensuing possession, but a running into the kicker penalty gave the Cougars a fresh set of downs, and they took full advantage. Rocco Pellegrini completed consecutive passes of 15, 40 yards, and 17 yards before Christian Solino bulled his way in from a yard out to trim the TCNJ lead to 10-7 at the 6:51 mark of the third.
After a series of empty possessions, Kean had first down on the Lions' side of midfield before a sack by
Clifford Dirkes ended a promising drive.
Sam Dech's 20-yard run kick-started an 8-play, 73-yard march that sealed it, Dech bouncing outside to the left and going untouched into the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown and a 17-7 advantage with 5:57 to play.
Two plays later, Carter intercepted Pellegrini, and the Lions never gave the ball back,
Michael Strachan and Morrell each picking up third downs on the ground to run out the clock.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- TCNJ outgained Kean, 319-179, including a 292-42 surplus on the ground
- TCNJ was 6-of-14 on third down and held the ball for over 37 minutes
- The Cougars, who came in 14th in Division III with just seven turnovers all season, coughed it up three times on Friday night
FOR THE FOES
- Pellegrini went 11-of-25 for 137 yards and a pair of interceptions
- Chase Anderson racked up 15 tackles
- Stevenson Memo and Cole Dessicino each had an interception
STANDOUT LIONS
- Morrell was a bell cow, not losing yardage on any of his career-high 28 totes and averaging 5.1 yards per rush
- Dech rushed 15 times for 76 yards and a score
- Walker Bailey ran three times for 36 yards
- Rector recovered his first career fumble
- Gavin Drown led the Lions with eight tackles
- Hall had two tackles for loss, including his first solo sack, and two QB hurries
- CJ Dingle notched his first career sack, and Dirkes had his first of the season
- Shane Walsh had four tackles and broke up two passes
NOTES
- Morrell is the 20th player in program history to eclipse 1,000 career rushing yards
- Dech's eight rushing touchdowns in his rookie season are tied for 10th-most in a single season
- Carter collected an interception in each of the last two games, while Kelly picked off his team-leading fourth INT of the year
- TCNJ has won four in a row against Kean and took a 37-15-2 lead in the all-time series
