Box Score Oct. 27, 2007
Final Stats
Bronx, N.Y. -
If anyone thought that the Fordham University football Rams would be looking ahead to next week's important Patriot League match-up with Holy Cross entering tonight's game at Marist, those thoughts were quickly put to rest as the Rams scored on their first three possession en route to a 33-0 blanking of the Red Foxes on Leonidoff Field.
With the win, Fordham closes out its 2007 road season with a perfect 5-0 record and advances to 7-2 overall, while the shutout is the first turned in by a Fordham defense since a 14-0 victory over Albany in 2004. The last Fordham squad to turn in a perfect regular season road record was the 1940 squad, but they only played one road contest.
After jumping out to a 28-0 halftime lead, scoring on four of their first five possessions, the Rams were able to empty the bench and keep the starters healthy for next week's Patriot League showdown with a 3-0 Holy Cross squad.
"I thought the players came out and did what they had to do tonight," said Fordham head coach Tom Masella. "We took care of business in the first half and executed well. And then we were able to get a lot of guys some playing time later in the game."
The Rams took over for their first possession on their own 37 following a punt, and quickly covered the 62 yards on seven plays with Skelton bringing it in from the one for a 7-0 Fordham lead just over five minutes into the game. On the scoring play, Skelton faked a handoff up the middle and beat the defenders around the right side to the end zone. The big play of the drive was a 29-yard completion from Jeff Skelton to Brandon Ryan which put the ball on the Marist nine.
Marist threatened on its next possession, moving from their own 20 to the Fordham 31 where the Red Foxes faced a fourth and one. Quarterback Steve McGrath found Will Brown over the middle with a five-yard gain to keep the drive alive but it would eventually stall on the Fordham nine where Bradley Rowe hit the right upright with a 26-yard field goal attempt.
Fordham took only three plays to make it a 14-0 game as on the third play from scrimmage, Skelton hit Asa Lucas with a screen pass that Lucas took 78 yards for a touchdown with 1:40 left in the first.
After the Ram defense held the Red Foxes to three-and-out, Fordham took over on its own 47 following a short punt. The Rams kept it on the ground as Xavier Martin gained 13 yards on the first play and two plays later, Jonte Coven picked up 20 and then 17 yards on consecutive carries to bring the ball down to the Marist three. On the next play, Martin found the end zone to give Fordham a 21-0 lead 35 seconds into the second quarter.
The Red Foxes responded to the three straight Fordham scores with an opportunity of their own, moving from their own 34 down to the Fordham eight. McGrath threw two incomplete passes on the first two plays from the eight and then underthrew a pass in the end zone that was intercepted by Fordham's Sam Orah.
Later in the quarter, the Fordham linebacker James Crockett sacked McGrath on fourth and five from the Fordham 41 and the Rams took over on their own 47. On the first play of the possession, Skelton found Lucas with a deep pass down the right side to place the ball on the Marist eleven. After Coven brought the ball down to the one, Darryl Robinson took it in for a 28-0 lead with 5:24 left in the half.
The Rams had a chance to tack on another score on their last possession of the half as T.J. Jordan brought Fordham down to the Marist 14, where a 33-yard Adam Danko field goal went wide right.
Fordham opened the second half with a drive that consumed over half of the third quarter which culminated with a 32-yard Danko field goal to put the Rams up 31-0 with 7:16 left in the period.
The Rams tacked on a special teams score late in the game as Ben Dato booted a 57 yard punt that Daniel Diaz attempted to field, but he was hit by Isa Abdul El-Quddus and fumbled. The ball was recovered by Marist in the end zone for a safety and a 33-0 Fordham advantage with 5:17 remaining in the game.
In limited action, Skelton completed five off 11 passes for 175 yards and one touchdown while the other two quarterbacks on the roster, T.J. Jordan and Clayton Busch, also saw playing time. Richard Rayborn led Fordham receivers with three catches for 41 yards while Lucas caught two passes for a career-high 120 yards and the one touchdown.
Martin led the Rams rushing attack with 71 yards on ten carries while Coven carried six times for 67 yards.
Defensively, Isiejah Allen led all tacklers with eleven tackles, five solo, including one for a loss while Matt Loucks finished with seven stops, three solo.
"We'll enjoy this win for a little while and then start to get ready for Holy Cross," said Masella. "I know the team is excited about next week's game and I hope that the student body is too."
The Rams will next be in action next Saturday, November 3rd as they host the Holy Cross Crusaders in a Patriot League game on Jack Coffey Field at 1:00 PM.
Notes
Fordham has won five straight, the longest winning streak for the Rams since a five-game streak by the 2003 team...The Rams have now won all five meetings with Marist...72 players appeared in the game for Fordham...The match-up featured the Igbinosun brothers, who lined up on opposite sides of the ball...Amen, a junior offensive lineman played for Fordham while his brother, Oghogho, appeared on the defensive line for Marist...Dato punted four times for 210 yards (52.5 average) and placed all four of his punts inside the Marist 20...He also kicked off six times with three touchbacks...With the touchdown pass in the game, Skelton brought his season total to 17, the fifth best single season total in Fordham history...The 175 passing yards gives Skelton 1,958 on the season, seventh best in Fordham history...The Rams, who entered the game ranked ninth in the NCAA FCS averaging 8.63 tackles for a lost/game, registered eight tackles for a loss in the game.
