Box Score Oct. 20, 2007
Final Stats
Easton, Pa. -
There's an old adage in football that offense sells tickets but defense wins championships. Apparently someone forgot to tell that to the 2007 Fordham University football Rams.
Lafayette College, three-time defending Patriot League champions, entered the game with Fordham leading the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) in total defense, allowing just over 223 yards/game. But the Fordham offense, led by sophomore quarterback John Skelton who threw for a career-high 323 yards, didn't seem to be intimidated by the numbers, as the Rams defeated the Leopards, 34-23, at Fisher Stadium.
With the win, Fordham improves to 6-2 overall on the year, 4-0 in the Patriot League, while Lafayette falls to 4-3 overall, 1-1 in the league. The four league wins to open the season is a first for the Rams since joining the conference in 1989 and the first for a Fordham team since the 1988 squad went 5-0 in the Liberty Conference on the NCAA Division III level.
"I'm so impressed with how the team came out and played today," said Fordham head coach Tom Masella. "They played hard every play and did the things we had to do in order to win. The defense came up with some big stops and we had so many people make plays today."
The Rams led 21-6 at the half but Lafayette came out and scored ten early second-half points before the Rams opened up a 34-16 lead with two touchdowns in a two-minute span late in the third.
On Lafayette's first possession of the second half, the Leopards took the opening kickoff and drove 80 yards on 12 plays with Mike DiPaola connecting with Adam Gill on a 24-yard pass 5:16 into the half to pull the Leopards to within eight, 21-13.
On the third play from scrimmage of Fordham's ensuing possession, Mike Shorter caught a short pass from Skelton but fumbled on the Fordham 39, and the ball was recovered by Lafayette.
The Fordham defense almost avoided a Lafayette score off the turnover as on fourth and seven from the 36, DiPaola was sacked by Fonzie Culver but the Rams were called for a face mask penalty, giving the Leopards another shot on fourth down which they converted. Four plays later, Davis Rodriguez booted a 36-yard field goal to cut the Fordham advantage to five, 21-16, with 5:22 left in the third.
Xavier Martin then kick-started the Fordham offense, returning the resulting kickoff 53 yards to the Lafayette 38. Three plays later, Skelton connected with Sylvester Clarke on a screen pass, and Clarke turned it into a 37-yard touchdown and a 27-16 Fordham lead with 4:21 remaining in the third.
After the Fordham defense held the Leopards to three-and-out, the Rams took over on their own 49 following a punt. It took only one play for Skelton to cover the 51 yards, leading David Moore with a long pass with Moore outrunning the defense to the end zone and a 34-16 Fordham lead with 2:47 left in the third.
Lafayette threatened to score early in the fourth, moving down to the Fordham 29 but DiPaola's fourth-down pass from the 29, was intercepted by Matt Loucks.
The Leopards again failed to convert on a fourth down on their next possession, and then Nick Magiera thwarted the subsequent Lafayette possession by stripping the ball from a Lafayette receiver on the Fordham 29.
Lafayette did manage to score a late touchdown to make the final 34-23.
The Leopards scored first, taking over on their own 34 following a punt on their second possession of the game. Quarterback Mike DiPaola drove Lafayette down to the Fordham 23, completing three of four passes for 23 yards while DeAndre' Morrow rushed for another 20 yards. The drive almost stalled on the Fordham 23 but the Leopards were able to convert a fourth and one play and, five plays later, Brandon Mitchell took it in from the 21 to give Lafayette a 6-0 lead with 3:31 left in the first.
The Rams responded immediately, taking the ensuing kickoff and moving 80 yards on ten plays with Skelton reaching over the pile from the one on the first play of the second quarter to give Fordham a 7-6 lead. Skelton completed all three of his passes on the drive for 62 yards while Jonte Coven carried four times for 18 yards.
After the Fordham defense held Lafayette to three plays, the Rams took over on their own 35 following a punt. Skelton moved the Rams down to the five, completing three passes for 50 yards and rushing for another six. On first and goal from the five, Martin brought the ball down to the one where he would punch it in on the next play for a 14-6 Fordham advantage with 8:08 remaining in the quarter.
Later in the quarter, the Rams took over on their own 39 following a punt and took just four plays to find the end zone for a 21-6 advantage with 2:07 left in the half. Skelton opened the drive completing a pair of passes, the first to Michael Shorter for 24 yards and the next a screen to Sylvester Clarke that Clarke brought down to the Lafayette 11. Two plays later, Martin brought it in from the five for his second score of the game.
"I was telling my teammates before the game that this is the biggest game of my life," said Skelton. "In high school I never played for a championship and to come in and play the three-time defending league champions with first place on the line was exciting."
Skelton completed 19 of 26 passes for his career-high 323 yards and two touchdowns with Clarke catching six passes for 99 yards and the one score and Richard Rayborn making three catches for 65 yards. Martin led all Fordham rushers with 43 yards on 13 carries while Jonte Coven finished with 41 yards in 14 carries and the two touchdowns.
Defensively, Earl Hudnell led the Rams with ten total tackles, seven solo, including one for a loss and two pass break-ups, while Loucks finished with eight tackles, five solo, and the interception.
The Rams will next be in action next Saturday, October 27th, as they travel to Poughkeepsie, New York, to face the Marist College Red Foxes in their final non-conference game of the year at 7:00 PM.
Notes
Following the game, the Rams presented Judy and Art Green, parents of former Ram player Andrew Green, along with his sister, Amanda, with the game ball...Green was tragically killed in an automobile accident following graduation in 1999...Skelton's previous career-high was 294 passing yards against Albany earlier this year...With the two touchdown passes in the game, Skelton brought his season total to 16, the fifth best single season total in Fordham history...The 323 passing yards gives Skelton 1,783 on the season, ninth best in Fordham history...The Rams improved to 4-0 on the road in 2007, the most road wins for a Fordham team since the 2002 squad also won four road contests...Ben Dato punted six times for 252 yards (42.0 yards/kick), placing two inside the Lafayette 20...He also placed five of his six kickoffs in the Lafayette end zone...The Rams, who entered the game ranked 13th in the NCAA FCS averaging 8.29 tackles for a lost/game, registered 11 tackles for a loss in the game.
