Box Score Oct. 24, 2009
Final Stats |
Photo Gallery 
Easton, Pa. -
The game was an answer to a longtime physics problem. What happens when an irresistible force meets an immoveable object? The part of the irresistible force was played by the Fordham offense, a unit that entered the game second in the Patriot League in total offense. The role of the immoveable forced was played by the Lafayette defense, the top-ranked scoring defense in the league.
The answer to the quandary today was the immovable object as Lafayette upended Fordham, 26-21, in a Patriot League game played in Fisher Stadium. With the loss, the Rams fall to 3-4 overall, 0-2 in the conference, while Lafayette improves to 6-1 overall, 2-0 in the league.
The game came down to the final minutes as the Leopards took over on their own 29 after an on-side kick following the final Fordham score, a five-yard pass from John Skelton to Jason Caldwell with 2:39 remaining. On first down, the Rams stuffed the Lafayette running back but were called for a personal foul penalty, giving the Leopards the ball on their own 44.
Lafayette was able to move the ball to the Fordham 34 but came up short on a fourth down call, giving the ball back to Fordham with 26 seconds left but the Rams were out of timeouts.
On second down, John Skelton hit Asa Lucas for a 22-yard gain to the Lafayette 44 and, after an illegal substitution call on Lafayette; Skelton threw incomplete to his brother, Stephen Skelton, over the middle. On the final play of the game, Skelton threw a short pass to Darryl Whiting who took the ball down to the Lafayette ten as time expired.
"Lafayette is a very good football team who made more plays than us today," said head coach Tom Masella. "We've lost two Patriot League heartbreakers on the road now but we've got to get back up and get ready for Holy Cross next week."
The final Fordham score was set up by a forced fumble from Isaiah Leake, who stripped Tyrell Coon of the ball on the Lafayette 26 and the ball popped into the hand of Nick Magiera.
After a holding call moved the Rams back to the 36, Skelton hit Caldwell for a 16-yard gain and, two plays later, Caldwell and Skelton hooked up again to place the ball on the Lafayette nine. A Skelton-to-Skelton pass over the middle picked up four yards and, following an incomplete pass to Caldwell, Skelton found Caldwell wide open in the end zone for a touchdown to cut the Lafayette lead to 26-21 with 2:39 left.
Fordham had the first scoring chance, driving from its own 42 to the Lafayette 26 where a 42-yard Kevin Heinowitz field goal was blocked.
But the defense gave the ball back to the offense two plays later when Magiera tipped a Rob Curley pass and the ball was intercepted by Bryson Wilson and returned to the Lafayette 12. Three plays later, Skelton connected with Darryl Robinson on a four-yard scoring pass to give the Rams a 7-0 lead with 3:15 left in the first.
The Leopards came right back, moving 90 yards on eight plays, tying the game at seven on a Curley to Mark Layten touchdown pass 36 seconds into the second quarter. The big play of the drive was a 36-yard Coon rush that put the ball on the Fordham 21. The scoring play came on a third-and-14 situation from the Fordham 17.
The Rams drove out to their own 44 on the ensuing possession and had a chance to pick up a first down but Stephen Skelton slipped after hauling in a pass from his brother and Fordham was forced to punt the ball back to Lafayette.
The Patrick Murray punt was downed on the one and on the first play from scrimmage, the Rams almost recorded a safety but the officials ruled that the Lafayette running back got out of the end zone.
Fordham enjoyed good field position following a Lafayette punt, taking over on the Leopards' 29. After a Jason Caldwell rush picked up 15 yards, Skelton was intercepted by Eric McGovern on the Lafayette three.
The Fordham defense again held the Leopards, forcing a Lafayette punt from its own 36. But the Rams were flagged for a roughing the kicker penalty, giving Lafayette a first down at midfield. On the next play, a long pass moved to ball to the Fordham eight but the Ram defense kept the Leopards out of the end zone as Lafayette settled for a 21-yard David Rodriguez field goal with just under three minutes left in the half.
Unable to move the ball beyond their own 32, the Rams were forced to punt the ball back to Lafayette with just over a minute left in the half.
The Leopards executed a two-minute drill, getting the ball down to the Fordham 25 where Rodriguez booted a 42-yard field goal with three seconds left to take a 13-7 lead at the break.
Lafayette took the second half kickoff and drove 90 yards on 12 plays, capping it with a six-yard touchdown pass from Curley to Maurice White as the Leopards took a 20-7 lead with 8:29 remaining in the third quarter.
Later in the quarter, the Rams drove 69 yards on nine plays with Lucas scoring on a 13-yard rush to make it a 20-14 game with 1:19 remaining in the third. The big play of the drive was a fourth down and four call from the Lafayette 40 where John Skelton threw a short pass to his brother, Stephen Skelton, who raced down the right sideline for a 27-yard gain, giving the Rams a first down on the Lafayette 13. On the next play Lucas took it in for the score.
Early in the fourth Lafayette capped a ten-play, 80-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown rush from White to take a 26-14 lead after a failed two-point conversion.
Skelton completed 29 of 45 passes for 245 yards and two scores. David More finished with seven catches for 43 yards while Lucas added six catches for 54 yards and Caldwell six more for 49 yards.
Defensively, Nick Magiera led all tacklers in the game with 12 tackles, three solo, including two for loss, while Isiejah Allen added 11 tackles, three solo, and Isa Abdul El-Quddus finished with ten.
The Rams will return to Jack Coffey Field next week to host Holy Cross in a Patriot League match-up at 1:00 p.m.
Notes: The loss snapped a three-game Fordham winning streak and is the second straight loss for the Rams to the Leopards...The 200-yard passing game is Skelton's sixth of the season and 22nd of his career while the 29 completions in a season-high...Skelton's career numbers are now 680 completions for 8,405 yards and 60 touchdowns, all school records...His 2,185 passing yards through seven games this year is already the eighth highest single season total in school history...Lucas now has 109 receptions for 1,721 yards, both sixth best on the Fordham all-time list...The Fordham defense recorded four sacks on the day, two from Jordan Bledsoe, along with ten tackles for loss, led by 2.5 from Bledsoe and two from Magiera.
