Box Score Nov. 1, 2008
Final Stats |
Photo Gallery 
Bronx, N.Y. -
After scoring on their first possession in each of the first four games of the 2008 season, the Fordham University Rams came up empty on their first possession of the next three contests. But against Marist on Saturday, the Rams scored on their first possession, second possession and third possession to jump out to a 21-0 lead en route to a 45-21 win over the Red Foxes on Jack Coffey Field.
With the win, Fordham evens its record at 4-4 on the year while Marist falls to 3-6.
"I give the kids lots of credit for the way they played today," said Fordham head coach Tom Masella. I didn't know how they'd respond after the loss last week but they showed a great deal of pride and character today."
The Rams scored on six of their first seven possessions of the game, punting only three times on the day, while the Fordham defense kept Marist in check, allowing just one first half touchdown and forcing three turnovers.
Junior quarterback John Skelton led the Fordham offense, completing 22 of 28 passes for 341 yards and a career-high four touchdowns, while sophomore running back Xavier Martin rushed 27 times for 122 yards and two scores. What made Skelton's numbers even more impressive was that he was without the services of his top four receivers (Asa Lucas, Richard Rayborn, David Moore and Jason Caldwell), who sat out the game with an assortment of injuries. Because of the injuries, the Rams were forced to move some players around, switching Nnamdi Onyeabor from running back and Bo Marchand from tight end to receiver. And each player responded, with Onyeabor recording a game-high five receptions for 49 yards and Marchand making an acrobatic catch for a touchdown.
"We had a lot of guys banged up at wide receiver but the young guys stepped up and did a great job for us today," said Masella.
The Rams took advantage of one of the three turnovers to score on their first possession as on the third play of the game, Isiejah Allen intercepted a Chris Debowski pass, giving Fordham the ball on the Marist 33. After Martin picked up 14 yards on the first three plays, Skelton connected with Jason Weston in the end zone for a 7-0 Fordham lead, 3:33 into the game.
After the Fordham defense held Marist to three plays on the ensuing possession, the Rams took over on their own eight following a punt. Fordham moved out to its own 33 where the Rams faced a third and six, and Skelton picked up the first down on ground, running out of the pocket and down the left sideline before going out of bounds on the Fordham 44. A 15-yard late hit penalty on the play moved the ball into Marist territory and the Rams would eventually get the ball down to the seven where Skelton found Brandon Anderson open in the end zone for a 14-0 Fordham lead with 4:56 left in the first.
Two plays later, Marist receiver Robert Spano fumbled as he was hit by Bryson Wilson, with Wilson recovering the ball for the Rams on the Marist 35. It took the Rams just two plays to cover the 35 yards, the first a 25-yard pass from Skelton to Brad Pierre and then Martin took it in from the ten to make it a 21-0 game with 3:36 remaining in the quarter.
Early in the second quarter, the Red Foxes took over on their own 19 following a punt and marched 81 yards on eleven plays with Bo Ehikioya scoring on a 17-yard rush to cut the Fordham advantage to 14, 21-7, with 9:12 left in the half.
But the Rams responded with a 71-yard drive on just five plays to regain a 21-point lead, 28-7, just over three minutes later. On the scoring play, Skelton threw a pass over the middle which was tipped by a Marist defender. Marchand was able to get a hand on the ball, trap it on his shoulder pad and go untouched into the end zone for his first career touchdown.
On their next possession, the Rams made it five scores in six possessions, this one a seven-play, 84-yard drive with Martin rushing in from the five to put Fordham up 35-7 with 2:42 remaining in the half.
Fordham took advantage of another Marist turnover to score just before the break. Darzell Wright recovered a Debowski fumble on the Marist 30 with 1:34 remaining and Skelton drove the Rams to the Marist seven where Adam Danko connected on a 24-yard field goal to give Fordham a 38-7 halftime lead.
The Rams made it a 45-7 game on their first possession of the second half, taking the opening kickoff and driving 76 yards on 13 plays with Skelton hooking up with Patrick Miller with a 14-yard scoring strike 6:08 into the third. Skelton completed five of six passes on the drive for 63 yards.
Marist came right back, capping a 66-yard, six-play, drive with an eight-yard O'Neil Anderson scoring run to make it a 45-14 game and the Red Foxes would score again on a Ryan Dinnebeil two-yard plunge with 4:20 remaining in the game for the 45-21 final.
Ten different receivers caught a pass from Skelton for the Rams, led by Onyeabor's five catches, while Stephen Skelton caught three passes for 74 yards and Weston had three receptions for 45 yards and the touchdown.
Defensively, James Crockett and Andre Delaire each recorded six tackles for the Rams with Crockett including two for loss and two pass break ups.
The Rams will next be in action next Saturday, November 8th, as they travel to Worcester, Mass., to face Holy Cross in a Patriot League game at 12:30 p.m.
Notes
Fordham closed out its non-conference schedule with a 4-1 record, the second straight winning non-conference season...The Rams are now 6-0 all-time against Marist and 10-0 on the Saturday before a Presidential election since 1970...Fordham is also now 8-3 all-time when playing on November 1st...Skelton's previous career-high for touchdown passes was three which he did three times last year while his 341 passing yards was 25 yards shy of his all-time high of 366 set against Bucknell last year...It was Skelton's third 300-yard passing day of his collegiate career and the eighth 200-plus yard passing day this season and the 17th of his career...Skelton now has completed 469 career passes for 5,762 yards, both third best on the all-time list at Fordham...He also has 40 career touchdowns, five behind Kevin Eakin, the Rams' all-time leader...Martin surpassed the 100-yard rushing mark for the fourth time this season and the sixth time in his career...The Fordham defense, which entered the game leading the Patriot League in tackles for loss, recorded six on the day...The Allen interception was Fordham's first of the year...The game featured three Fordham players scoring their first varsity touchdowns (Weston, Anderson and Miller).
