Aug. 28, 2008

Bronx, N.Y. - The good news for the Fordham University football squad was that their first string offense was unstoppable in the scrimmage with Wagner, scoring on their first two possessions. The bad news was that those were the only two possessions they played. On a night of reunions, with Fordham head coach Tom Masella squaring off against his alma mater, coached by the man who gave him his first head coaching job, Walt Hameline, it was the teacher who upended the student as the Seahawks defeated the Rams, 38-27, in a scrimmage on Jack Coffey Field.

Fordham junior quarterback John Skelton led the first string offense, completing eight of 11 passes for 139 yards and one score with two of those passes going to his brother, Stephen Skelton, including a 28-yard scoring strike in the first quarter.

The Seahawks took control of the ball first and drove from their own 33 to the Fordham 37 where the drive stalled and Wagner punted the ball to Fordham.

The Rams started their first offensive drive on their own 12 with Skelton completing four of six passes in the drive to put the ball down on the Wagner 16. The big play was a 36-yard gain to Jason Caldwell on third down and 12 from the Fordham 27 that moved the ball to the Wagner 37. On first down from the Wagner 16, Xavier Martin picked up 13 yards to put the ball on three where Quasand Lewis punched it in for a 7-0 Fordham lead midway through the first quarter.

Wagner took the ensuing kickoff and drove from its own 34 to midfield where Matt Loucks forced the Seahawk quarterback Adam Farnsworth to throw an incompletion on third down.

Fordham again took over deep in its own territory following the punt but Skelton drove the Rams 87 yards on eight plays, connecting with his brother, Stephen, with a 28-yard scoring pass with just under two minutes remaining in the period. Skelton completed four of his five passes on the drive, including a 23-yard pass to David Moore that moved the ball from the Fordham 30 to the Wagner 47.

Wagner responded to the second Fordham score with an eight-play, 66-yard drive with Shane Smith covering the final yard to cut the Fordham lead to seven, 14-7, early in the second quarter.

Later in the period, the Seahawks took over on their own 33 and moved to the Fordham nine where Adam Farnsworth connected with Lon Woods on a 14-yard touchdown pass to knot the game at 14 midway through the second.

Late in the first half, Wagner executed a two-minute offense to perfection, moving to the Fordham nine where Farnsworth hooked up with Tyrone Collins on a nine-yard scoring strike with just four seconds left in the half.

The Rams came out and cut the deficit to one on their first possession of the second half with Clayton Busch moving them from the Fordham 30 to the Wagner 12 where he hit Rouglas Odor with a scoring pass on third down.

But Wagner came back to score on its next two possessions, the first a 74-yard scoring run from Prince Young, to take a 35-20 lead with just over five minutes left in the third.

The Seahawks increased the lead to 38-20 on an Eric Ortiz 34-yard field goal just before the end of the third before the Rams completed the scoring with a three-yard scoring pass from Douglas Papy to Zac Dayton late in the fourth.

The Rams will now open the 2008 regular season on Saturday, September 6th, as they host the University of Rhode Island on Jack Coffey Field at 6:00 p.m.

Fordham Football Scrimmage Wagner at Fordham August 28, 2008 - Jack Coffey Field Wagner 38, Fordham 27

Scoring

1st - 7:34 - Fordham - Quasand Lewis 3 run (Adam Danko Kick)

1st - 1:43 - Fordham - Stephen Skelton 28 pass from John Skelton (Danko kick)

2nd - 12:41 - Wagner - Shane Smith 1 run (Eric Ortiz kick)

2nd - 8:01 - Wagner - Lon Woods 14 pass from Adam Farnsworth (Ortiz kick)

2nd - 0:04 - Wagner - Tyrone Collins 9 pass from Farnsworth (Ortiz kick)

3rd - 10:04 - Fordham - Rouglas Odor 12 pass from Clayton Busch (kick failed)

3rd - 9:24 - Wagner - Prince Young 74 run (Ortiz kick)

3rd - 5:31 - Wagner - Tyrone Collins 6 pass from Matt Abbey (Ortiz kick)

3rd - 0:33 - Wagner - Ortiz 34 FG

4th - 3:43 - Fordham - Zac Dayton 3 pass from Douglas Papy (Danko kick)

Rushing (Att.-Yds):

Wagner: (22) Prince Young 9-117, (33) Shane Smith 6-28, (24) Rodney Davis 3-5, (18) Tyler Newberry 1-4, (46) Daniel D'Amato 3-7, (7) Adam Farnsworth 3-7, (42) 4-6, (84) Justin Matthews 1-0, (48) Mike Avallone 1-3, (28) Jeremy Martinez 4-(-4).

Fordham: Jamir Livingston 4-33, Clayton Busch 4-24, Xavier Martin 4-22, Nnamdi Onyeabor 6-15, Darryl Whiting 4-11, Quasand Lewis 7-10, Douglas Papy 2-6, Brian Taaffe 4-(-12).

Passing (Att.-Comp.-Yds.-Int.-TD):

Wagner: (7) Adam Farnsworth 22-13-164-0-2, (4) Matt Abbey 4-4-58-0-1, (18) Tyler Newberry 4-2-44-0-0.

Fordham: John Skelton 11-8-139-0-1, Clayton Busch 9-6-27-0-1, T.J. Jordan 2-1-7-0-0, Douglas Papy 4-4-64-1-0.

Receiving (Recpt.-Yds):

Wagner: (2) Lon Woods 5-63, (6) Kyle Trueblood 4-53, (11) Sean O'Reilly 3-31, (1) Tyrone Collins 3-25, (24) Rodney Davis 1-28, (81) Justin Matthews 1-26, (47) Peter Zagorski 1-22, (29) 1-18.

Fordham: David Moore 3-44, Isiejah Allen 3-15, Stephen Skelton 2-39, Jason Caldwell 2-44, Rouglas Odor 1-12, Asa Lucas 1-7, Patrick Miller 1-7, Richard Rayborn 1-5, Jamir Livingston 1-0.

Tackles (Solo-Asst.-TFL-Sacks-PBU):

Wagner: (2) Joel Joseph 3-0-0-0-0, (44) Jeremy Spinks 3-0-0-0-0, (27) 3-0-0-0-0, (91) Robert Brown 2-1-0-0-0, (8) Tavares Lee 2-1-0-0-0, (3) Franz Placide 2-1-0-0-0, (17) 2-0-0-0-1, (23) Dario Charleton 2-0-0-0-0, (32) Mike Critchley 2-0-0-0-0, (93) Anthony Maurillo, (25) 2-0-0-0-0, (36) 2-0-0-0-0, (97) 2-0-0-0-0, (9) Chris Yeager 2-0-0-1-0, (30) John Panik 1-1-0-0-0, (98) Joe Johnson 1-1-0-0-0, (94) 1-1-0-0-0, (95) 1-1-0-0-0, (59) 1-1-0-1/2-0, (90) Joseph Harkins 1-1-1-0-0, (99) Adrian Adderley 1-0-0-0-0, (88) Ryan Pence 1-0-0-0-0, (5) 0-2-0-0-0, (12) Stefen Gage 1-0-0-0-0, (55) 0-1-0-1/2-0.

Fordham: Michael Hickman 4-1-0-0-0, Gaetano Geminario 4-0-1-0-0, Jon Arnold 4-1-0-0-0, Bryson Wilson 2-3-0-0-0, Ryan Bradley 2-2-1-0-0, William Quan 2-1-0-0-0, Christopher Coratti 2-0-0-0-0, Andre Delaire 1-1-0-0-0, Matt Loucks 1-0-0-0-0, Jamal Haruna 1-1-0-0-0, Nick Womack 2-0-1-0-0, Greg DeMarco 1-1-0-0-0, Matt Donahue 1-0-0-0-0, David Mendez 1-0-0-0-0, Thomas Lloyd 1-0-0-0-0, Mark Meehan 1-0-0-0-0, Sam Pitts 1-0-0-0-0, Darzell Wright 1-0-0-0-0, Ahmed Haruna 0-1-0-0-0, Joe Evans 0-1-0-0-0, Craig Stevens 0-1-0-0-0.