Box Score Oct. 6, 2007
Final Stats
Bronx, N.Y. -
One thing was evident to fans at Jack Coffey Field on Saturday. These are not your same old Rams. After jumping out to a 14-3 halftime lead, Fordham saw Lehigh take the second half kickoff and drive downfield for a score, cutting the Fordham lead to four, 14-10. In years past against the Mountain Hawks, this scenario would spell a fourth-quarter loss for the Rams. But the 2007 Rams, most of whom where in elementary school the last time Fordham defeated Lehigh, refused to give in, fighting back and upending Lehigh 28-18, beating the Mountain Hawks for the first time since 1997.
With the win, Fordham improves to 4-2 overall, 2-0 in the Patriot League, while Lehigh falls to 3-2 overall, 0-1 in the league. The 2-0 start is the best start for the Rams since the 1997 squad opened the season with wins over Lafayette and Lehigh.
"I'm so proud of our team," said Fordham head coach Tom Masella. "They kept battling and battling and worked extremely hard all day. We had a lot of different players make a lot of plays which we knew we'd need with the heat today."
Sophomore quarterback John Skelton led the Fordham offense, completing a career-high 26 of 43 passes for 280 yards and three touchdowns. He threw for more than 200 yards in his second straight game and for the fourth time in five games in 2007.
"It's great to be 2-0 in the league, beating two very good teams" said Skelton. "Coach Masella has been telling us all year that if we play hard on every play that good things will happen."
The game was still 14-10 in the fourth when Skelton capped an 11-play, 76-yard drive midway through the period with a seven-yard touchdown pass to Cody Kritzer. The drive, which put the Rams up 21-10 with 7:05 remaining, was keyed by a 33-yard connection from Skelton to Asa Lucas which placed the ball on the Lehigh four.
The Fordham defense then stopped Lehigh on a fourth and six play from the Lehigh 29 and the Mountain Hawks used all three of their time outs on the Rams' ensuing possession. It appeared as if the Rams could ice the game with a first down on the drive, but Skelton came up short on a fourth and three call at the Lehigh 22, gaining only a yard and giving the ball back to Lehigh.
The Mountain Hawks struck quickly, covering the 79 yards on eight plays with Sedale Threatt hooking up with Sekou Yansane with a seven-yard scoring strike with 4:13 left to cut the Fordham lead to three, 21-18. The drive almost stalled as Threatt's first two passes fell incomplete but he then found Kwesi Kankam with a third down screen that Kankam turned into a 33-yard gain, giving Lehigh the ball on the Fordham 46.
After Lehigh held the Rams to three and out, Lehigh took over on its own 37 following a punt and penalty. But on the first play from scrimmage, Earl Hudnell stepped in front of a Threatt pass and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown, putting the Rams up 28-18 with 1:55 left in the game.
Taking a page from Fordham's playbook, Lehigh wouldn't go down quietly, taking advantage of a 15-yard penalty assessed against Fordham on the ensuing kickoff for unsportsmanlike conduct. After John Kennedy returned the kickoff 41 yards to the Fordham 36, Threatt moved the Mountain Hawks down to the Fordham five where they lined up for a 23-yard Jason Leo field goal attempt. But the snap to holder Ben Ivester was low and he attempted to throw a pass into the end zone which was intercepted by Fordham's Isiejah Allen with 42 seconds remaining and the Rams were able to run out the clock for the win.
The Mountain Hawks jumped out to a 3-0 lead on their first possession, moving 64 yards on nine plays before the drive stalled on the Fordham 28. Leo came on to boot a 45-yard field goal to give the Mountain Hawks the lead with 8:40 left in the first.
Later in the quarter, a Threatt pass was picked off by Kennith Thompson, giving Fordham the ball back on its own 15. The Fordham offense then went to work, with Skelton moving the Rams from the 15 down to the Lehigh 27. But on fourth down the drive came to an end as Skelton couldn't connect with Jonte Coven on a fourth and ten call.
The Rams managed to get on the board in the second, covering 72 yards on 15 plays, with Skelton hitting Richard Rayborn with a nine-yard scoring strike to put Fordham up 7-3 with 9:39 left in the half. The drive was kept alive by Darryl Robinson, who gained six yards on a fourth and four play from the Lehigh 29.
On Fordham's next possession, Skelton drove the Rams from their own 20 to the Lehigh 41 where he found a wide-open Sylvester Clarke down the right side for a 14-3 Fordham lead with 6:45 remaining in the half. Skelton completed four of six passes on the drive for 68 yards while Robinson also came up with a big third-down carry, converting a third and two from the Lehigh 46 with a five-yard gain.
"It was very important not to fall behind Lehigh early," said Masella. "I thought that if we got down by two touchdowns today it would have been very difficult to come back and win."
The Mountain Hawks threatened to score at the end of the half but a 29-yard field goal attempt by Leo with a minute remaining went wide left.
After the Lehigh score made it a 14-10 game 2:09 into the third, the Fordham offense couldn't move the ball, and the Mountain Hawks took over on their own 43 following a punt.
Later in the quarter, Lehigh took over on its own 30 and Threatt moved the Mountain Hawks down to the Fordham nine, with the big play being a 48-yard completion to Yansane on the third play from scrimmage to put the ball on the Fordham eight. Four plays later, Lehigh lined up for a 26-yard Leo field goal try but Ivester attempted a pass to Alex Wojdowski in the end zone which fell incomplete.
Late in the quarter, Allen attempted to field a punt on the Fordham 38 but he fumbled the ball which was recovered by Lehigh's Laquan Gasaway on the 38. The Mountain Hawks moved down to the Fordham ten where, on second and goal, Threatt was intercepted in the end zone by James Crockett.
Rayborn led all Fordham receivers with seven catches for 73 yards and the one score while Ray Loney had five receptions for 23 yards and Mike Shorter made four for 38 yards. Jonte Coven led all rushers on the day with 66 yards on 19 carries.
Defensively, Dominique Owens led Fordham with 12 total tackles, seven solo, along with a quarterback hurry while Ryan Kleve finished with six stops, five solo, including one sack and two tackles for a loss.
The Rams will next be in action next Saturday, October 13th, as they travel to Washington, D.C., to face the Georgetown University Hoyas in a Patriot League game at 1:00 PM.
Notes
Fordham has now beaten Colgate and Lehigh in the same year for the first time in school history...The win is just Fordham's second over Lehigh in 20 meetings...Skelton's previous career-high for completions in a game was 23 in the season opener at Rhode Island...The 280 passing yards where 14 shy of his career best, set against Albany in game two of 2007...Senior punter Ben Dato kicked seven times for 294 yards (42.0 yards/punt) and he handled the kickoff duties for the second straight week...Hudnell's interception return for a score was Fordham's first since Reshard Hicks brought one back 50 yards against Rhode Island in 2004...The three interceptions in the game were the most for the Rams since they picked off three passes at Albany last fall.
