Bethesda Native Josh Pitsenberger Leads Yale in Rushing as a Freshman This Season

Freshman Joshua Pitsenberger leads the team in rushing through 5 games this season and had a memorable Ivy League debut last month, scoring three touchdowns and rushing for a team-high 93 yards to help lead the Yale football team to a convincing 38-14 victory over Cornell in his first Ivy League football game at Yale. Two days later, he earned his first lvy accolade by being named the league’s Rookie of the Week in late September.

By the end of the first quarter of his first Ivy League football game (against Cornell), Pitsenberger had already scored two touchdowns. The first was a 5 yard receiving touchdown from a shuffle pass on Yale’s opening drive. The second came on a 1-yard run that gave Yale the first of 31 consecutive points. Pitsenberger added another 1-yard scoring run with 39 seconds remaining in the second quarter. In his first college game ever, the previous week against Holy Cross, Pitsenberger carried 9 times for 50 yards in a 38-14 to the now 6-0 Holy Cross Crusaders.

Pitsenberger, who is from Bethesda and attended North Bethesda Middle School before going on to star as a student-athlete at The Avalon School, leads Yale with 277 yards rushing on 48 attempts in 5 games (4-1). He also has 4 total touchdowns (3 rushing and 1 receiving) and 0 fumbles on the season. Growing up he played football in Bethesda’s Maplewood Athletic Association and comes from a large, football-loving family. According to the Yale athletics website, he has eight brothers who have also played football.