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Nov. 21, 2009
Washington, D.C. - The Fordham football squad came so close in so many games this year, losing three Patriot League games by a touchdown. Well the seniors wouldn't let that happened in their final collegiate game today as the Rams jumped out to a big lead at Georgetown and rode the strength of the seniors to a 41-14 Patriot League win at Multi-Sport Field.
With the win, the Rams, who won five of their last eight games, close out the year with a 5-6 overall record, 2-4 in the Patriot League, while Georgetown finishes with an 0-11 overall mark, 0-6 in the conference.
"I'm happy for the players, especially the seniors," said Fordham head coach Tom Masella. "The way the season went I didn't know how they would respond today but they came out and played hard and gave me a great game. It's nice to go into the offseason with a win."
After seeing the record-setting offense grab the headlines most of the year, the defense stepped up today, holding the Hoyas to 299 total yards in the game, only 69 on the ground. The Rams allowed the Hoyas to complete only 18 of 42 passes on the afternoon and sacked the Georgetown signal-caller nine times.
Oh, and the offense wasn't too shabby either as senior quarterback John Skelton completed 23 of 32 yards for 405 yards and five touchdowns, his second five-touchdown game of the year.
Skelton closes out his record-setting career with 802 completions for 9,923 yards and 69 touchdowns, all school marks. This year he completed 284 passes for 3,708 yards, both school single season records, and 26 touchdowns, one shy of Mark Carney's school mark of 27 set in 2001.
Skelton's favorite receiver was senior Jason Caldwell, who caught eight passes for 186 yards and one touchdown while David Moore have five catches for 114 yards and two touchdowns. Caldwell's day brings his season totals to 79 receptions, the second most for a Fordham receiver in a year, for 1,252 yards, the second best single season total at Fordham.
The Fordham ground game didn't take a back seat to the passing attack as Darryl Whiting rushed 25 times for 172 yards, all career-highs, and one score.
Overall, the offense ganied 686 yards in the game, one shy of the school record set earlier this year against Old Dominion. The 686 yards brings Fordham's season total to 5,377, breaking the former single season record of 4,995 yards set in 2003.
The Rams wasted little time getting on the scoreboard. After the defense held Georgetown to a three-and-out on the first series of the game, Fordham took over on its own 43 following a short punt. On the first play from scrimmage, Skelton faked a handoff to Whiting and found David Moore in stride over the middle for a 43-yard touchdown toss, putting the Rams up, 7-0, just 1:12 into the game.
After the defense again held the Hoyas to three plays, a Georgetown punt was misplayed by the Rams and the Hoyas recovered the ball on the Fordham 17. Georgetown got the ball down to the Fordham two but an illegal motion penalty moved the Hoyas back to the seven and the drive ended on the Fordham four where a 21-yard field goal attempt went wide.
Later in the first, Michael Martin sacked the Georgetown quarterback back on the Hoya five on third down and the Rams took over on their own 45 following a punt. On the third play of the drive, Skelton found Moore deep down the right side as Moore outjumped his defender, giving Fordham a first and goal from the three. Two plays later, John Skelton faked a dive into the pile and flipped a pass to his brother, Stephen Skelton, who was wide open in the end zone as Fordham took a 14-0 lead with 4:14 remaining in the first.
The Hoyas moved the ball on the ensuring possession, driving from their own 33 to the Fordham three but on fourth down, Georgetown quarterback Scott Darby's pass into the end zone fell incomplete.
Fordham covered the 97 yards on just five plays, the big one a short pass from Skelton to Caldwell that Caldwell took from the Fordham 21 to the Georgetown three, a gain of 76 yards. Whiting covered the three yards on the next play to put the Rams up 21-0, 1:47 into the second quarter.
Later in the second, Matt Kinnan fumbled after grabbing a pass from Isaiah Kempf and the ball was recovered by Fordham's Matt Sconiers on the Fordham 31. Another long play for the Rams resulted on a Ram touchdown as on the third play from the Fordham 38, Skelton hit Caldwell with a short pass that Caldwell brought to the end zone for a 28-0 Fordham lead with 5:03 left in the half.
It seemed that the score would remain 28-0 at the half as the Rams took over on their own three with 1:56 left following a Georgetown punt but Skelton executed a perfect two-minute drive. He completed seven of nine passes on the drive, including a 22-yard strike to Moore with five second remaining to give Fordham a 34-0 lead at the break. Four of the seven completions covered more than ten yards on the drive for the Rams.
A 41-yard Isiejah Allen kickoff return gave Fordham the ball at midfield to start the second half and the Rams moved the ball down to the Hoya eight, thanks to 26 combined rushing yards from Whiting and Caldwell and 16-yard completion from Skelton to Caldwell. But on first and goal from the eight, Chris Rau intercepted Skelton in the end zone.
The Hoyas took advantage of the turnover, covering 80 yards on 14 plays to cut the Fordham lead to 35-7 with 6:58 left in the third. The drive was kept alive by a Fordham personal foul penalty on third-and-25 from the Fordham 44.
Late in the third, Fordham gained possession on its own 18 following a punt and put together another long drive, moving to the Georgetown 17 where Skelton found Asa Lucas with a screen pass and Lucas broke numerous tackles on the way to the end zone and a 41-7 Fordham lead 45 seconds into the fourth quarter. Whiting gained 42 yards on the ground for the Rams on the drive.
The Hoyas closed out the scoring with a one-yard touchdown rush with 10:06 left in the game for the 41-14 final.
Allen led the Fordham defense with seven total tackles while James Crockett added six. Cliff Stuckey notched a pair of sacks for the Rams while Mike Martin and Patrick McGee each finished with 1.5 sacks.
Notes
The Rams have now won four straight against Georgetown and lead the all-time series, 29-19-3...Caldwell recorded seven 100-yard receiving games this year, including the last five of the season.
