Box Score Nov. 8, 2008
Final Stats |
Photo Gallery 
WORCESTER, Mass. - Consistency. It's something that the Fordham University football Rams have been looking for all year. Every time head coach Tom Masella thought the squad had turned the corner with a solid performance, the Rams would follow it with a disappointing showing. Such was the case this week.
One week after scoring a season-high 45 points against Marist, the Fordham offense couldn't get on track and the Fordham defense couldn't stop Holy Cross quarterback Dominic Randolph as the Rams fell to the Crusaders, 38-17, in a Patriot League game on Fitton Field.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 4-5 overall, 0-4 in the Patriot League, while Holy Cross improves to 6-3 overall, 4-0 in the conference.
"Holy Cross is a very good football team and Dominic Randolph is a terrific quarterback," said Masella. "We just couldn't stop him. But we've got two more games left to play and we can still finish with a winning record so we have to get back to work."
After gaining over 400 yards of offense against Marist last Saturday, the Rams were held to just 258 by the Crusaders, while Randolph led the Holy Cross offense, throwing for 407 yards and five scores.
The Fordham defense couldn't come up with stops in the game, continuously holding Holy Cross on first and second down, only to see the Crusaders, who converted 12 of 18 third downs, pick up the first down. The Rams did manage to intercept Randolph three times on the day, including one that was returned 75 yards for a touchdown by Kelvin Colbert in the fourth quarter.
The Rams held Holy Cross to three and out on the first series of the game but Fordham couldn't move the ball and punted it back to the Crusaders. Randolph led Holy Cross on an eight-play, 83-yard drive, completing four of six passes, including a 43-yard scoring strike to Brett McDermott to put the Crusaders up, 7-0, with eight minutes left in the first. Randolph's big play was a 16-yard completion to Freddie Santana on third and 15 from the Holy Cross 30 that kept the drive alive.
The Rams threatened on the ensuing series, moving from their own 38 to the Holy Cross 33 but a John Skelton fourth down pass to Brandon Anderson was incomplete.
The Crusaders then moved from their own 33 to the Fordham six where the drive stalled and Matt Partain booted a 22-yard field goal to put Holy Cross up ten with 2:05 remaining in the period.
A Cameron Dean punt pinned Holy Cross back on its own two early in the second quarter, but Randolph drove the Crusaders downfield, eventually finding Ryan McGuire with a four-yard scoring pass to make it a 17-0 game 5:27 into the second.
Fordham responded by taking the kickoff and moving from its own 20 to the Holy Cross five where Adam Danko came on to kick a 23-yard field goal with 5:04 left in the half. The big play of the drive was a 31-yard completion from Skelton to Anderson that put the ball on the Holy Cross 26.
On the next play from scrimmage, Kennith Thompson picked off a Randolph pass on the Holy Cross 46, giving Fordham good field position. The Rams moved down to the Holy Cross 20 but Skelton was flushed out of the pocket on fourth down and came up short, giving the ball back to the Crusaders with just over two minutes left in the second.
Holy Cross executed an almost perfect two minute drive, capped by a nine-yard touchdown pass from Randolph to Jon Brock seven seconds before halftime. The Crusaders converted on three third downs on the drive, including a third and seven from the nine on the scoring play.
The Rams took the second half kickoff and drove from their own 37 to the Holy Cross 24 but again couldn't convert on a fourth down play as a Skelton pass for Anderson was incomplete.
Holy Cross took over and covered the 76 yards on ten plays, capped by a Randolph to Brock 21-yard scoring pass to give the Crusaders a 31-3 lead midway through the third.
On their next possession, the Crusader put together a five-play, 47-yard drive with Randolph finding Brock with another touchdown pass, this one a 25-yarder, to make it a 38-3 game with 4:42 left in the third.
At the end of the third quarter, James Crockett intercepted Randolph on the Fordham 46 and he returned it to the Holy Cross 42 but an illegal block call on the return moved the ball back to the Fordham 43. Skelton completed all four of his pass attempts to four different receivers on the drive, including a seven-yard scoring strike to Cody Kritzer with 11:23 remaining in the game.
Holy Cross took the ensuing kickoff and drove to the Fordham 35 where the Crusaders went for it on fourth and six but Colbert intercepted Randolph's pass on the Fordham 25 and he returned it down the right sideline for a score, cutting the Fordham deficit to 38-17, with 4:10 left.
Skelton completed 14 of 31 passes for 168 yards for the Rams with Clayton Busch leading all Fordham receivers with five catches for 63 yards. Xavier Martin led all rushers in the game with 61 yards on 17 carries.
Andre Delaire led the Fordham defense with eleven total tackles, ten solo, while Crockett finished with nine solo stops and the interception.
The Rams will next be in action next Saturday, November 15th as they host the Georgetown University Hoyas on Jack Coffey Field for Senior Day at 1:00 p.m.
Notes
Holy Cross won possession of the Ram-Crusader Cup for only the second time over the past eight years...Holy Cross now leads the all-time series, 24-20-2...The Rams have not won back-to-back games since enjoying a six-game wining streak last year...Skelton now has completed 483 career passes, three behind Kevin Eakin who is second on the Fordham career list...He has also thrown for 5,930 career yards, moving him ahead of Joe Morehead and into second place on the Fordham career list, 182 yards behind Eakin's career mark...He also has 41 career touchdown passes, four behind Kevin Eakin, the Rams' all-time leader...Cody Kritzer's touchdown was the fourth of his career...Colbert's interception return for a touchdown is the second longest interception return for a score in Fordham history.
