CHESTNUT HILL – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston College QB Thomas Castellanos threw for two touchdowns in his first game as starting quarterback, helping the Eagles hold off FCS No. 5 Holy Cross 31-28 on Saturday.
Castellanos was 17-of-23 passing for 204 yards and had 16 carries for 69 yards. George Takacs and Jeremiah Franklin were on the receiving end of the passing scores.
Kye Robichaux (19 carries, 94 yards) and Ryan O’Keefe also rushed for touchdowns for BC (1-1), which scored on all four first-half drives and led 24-14 at intermission.
The UCF transfer quarterback earned the starting job after both he and returnee Emmett Morehead saw action in BC’s season-opening overtime loss to Northern Illinois last week.
Jordan Fuller and Matthew Sluka each rushed for two touchdowns for Holy Cross (1-1), which had won 18 consecutive regular-season games.
Sluka rushed for 131 yards on 19 carries and was 10 of 15 for 130 passing yards.
With Holy Cross set for a potential game-winning drive, a lightning delay halted play for over two hours with 1:58 remaining. Sluka opened the series with a 35-yard sideline run, but his fumble — recovered by Vinny DePalma — three plays later allowed BC to hold on for the win.
Sluka’s 8-yard run got Holy Cross in the end zone on five plays to begin the second half.
The Crusaders went on to force BC’s first two punts, but the hosts’ lead increased to 31-21 on Franklin’s 5-yard reception from Castellanos in the opening seconds of the fourth.
Fuller’s tough 15-yard run brought Holy Cross back within one score with 7:26 left.
A tidy first quarter featured just one offensive series — and touchdown — per team, but BC took a 10-point halftime lead after three combined scoring drives in the final 3:38 before intermission.
The Eagles strung together an opening 14-play, 85-yard series that ended with Robichaux taking a 3-yard run into the end zone, his third early carry.
Holy Cross’ response was a Fuller 2-yard touchdown run, capping a 15-play drive that spilled four seconds into the second quarter. To set up the score, Sluka ran for gains of 17 and 21 yards and hit Phoenix Dickson for a 17-yard completion.
On another 14-play series for the Eagles, O’Keefe found the edge for a go-ahead, 14-yard score with 7:06 left in the half.
Castellanos hit Takacs with a 2-yard score over the top to make it 21-7 BC, but two penalties set the visitors up at midfield and Sluka cut the deficit in half with an 8-yard run with 46 second left.