April 28, 2012
Photo Gallery
Bronx, N.Y. -
There was a lot for new Fordham head coach football Joe Moorhead to like at today's annual Maroon and White Spring Football game on Murphy Field. The offense moved the ball and scored eight touchdowns while the defense came up with some big stops and turnovers as the Rams went through their paces in front of over 300 fans.
The offense was lead by a pair of quarterbacks, Ryan Higgins and Peter Maetzold. Higgins completed 15 of 23 passes for 145 yards while Maetzold connected on 16 of 20 passes for 215 yards with Higgins throwing one and Maetzold two touchdown passes.
Defensively, Jake Dixon, Kassim Forbes and Richard Foligno each recorded six stops and Jordan Chapman picked off a pass to end the game.
"I thought there were good things on both sides of the ball today," said Moorhead. "The offense ran the ball well and I thought that the quarterbacks, receivers and tight ends did some god things in the pass game. The defense came up with some key turnovers, had a nice goal line stop and did some things to help the get the ball back to the offense. And special teams played well with Patrick Murray hitting a 52-yard field goal and getting off some good punts. Overall I thought it was a good day."
The offense got off to quick start, scoring on the first possession of the game. Taking over on its own 35, Maetzold led the squad down field in five plays, opening the drive with a 13-yard pass to Dan Light and, after a 16-yard rush from Carlton Koonce, connected with Light again for an eleven yard gain to put the ball on the 25. Three plays later, Koonce bounced off the line and outraced the defense to the right corner for the touchdown.
The defense held the offense to a three-and-out on the next series, with the Higgins-led unit only able to pick up seven yards on three plays. But punter Patrick Murray came on and booted a 58-yard kick to end the possession.
Higgins moved the offense from its own 20 to the defense's 38 on the ensuing possession, picking up 22 yard on the first play from scrimmage with a pass to Blake Wayne, and Jeramie Brown gaining 13 yards on two carries. But Brown couldn't pick up the first down from the 38 when he was stopped short by Brett Biestek and Anthony Pesanello on fourth and one.
The defense again kept the offense off the board on the next series, allowing just one first down, before the offense got back on track, moving 65 yards on eight plays with Koonce scoring his second touchdown of the day on a 20-yard run. Koonce gained 33 of the 65 yards in the drive. The big play was a 21-yard completion from Higgins to
Brian Wetzel that put the ball on the defense's 33.
The offense went three-and-out on the next possession, losing five yards when Maetzold was sacked, but then drove 65 yards on nine plays with Maetzold taking it in from the one to cap the drive.
On the next series, the offense scored quickly despite being whistled for a pair of false start penalties. On the fourth play of the drive from the offense's 40, Maetzold connected with Dan Light over the middle and Light raced down the right sideline for the score.
The defense appeared to keep the offense off the board on the ensuing possession, halting a drive when Nick Glogau threw an incomplete pass on third down from the defense's 34. But Murray came on and crushed a 52-yard field goal to give the offense three points.
The offense fed off the long field goal, scoring a touchdown on the next drive on a three-yard run by Brown. Higgins completed three of his four passes in the series for 44 yards, including a 22-yard pass to Sam Ajala that put the ball on the three.
On the ensuing possession, the offense moved down to the three but Maetzold couldn't get the ball in the end zone on a fourth down play.
The team then went into red zone situations with the offense starting on the defense's 20. The offense scored on both series, the first on a 20-yard scoring strike from Higgins to Nick Talbert in the left corner of the end zone and the second on a two-yard toss from Higgins to Wetzel.
The scrimmage then moved to goal line situations with the offense again scoring on both series, both on Brown touchdown runs.
The day ended with a two-minute drill but was stopped after four plays when Jordan Chapman picked off a tipped Higgins pass.
Koonce gained 77 yards on eleven carries with two touchdowns while Brown gained 44 yards on 12 rushes with three scores. Light led the receivers with seven catches for 122 yards and one touchdown while Wetzel added five catches for 48 yards and one touchdown and Talbert caught four passes for 26 yards and one score.
Following the game, Moorhead announcement the Most Improved Players from the spring season:
Most Improved Player - Offense: Matt Stolte
Most Improved Player - Defense: Austin Hancock
Most Improved Player - Special Teams: Robert Palmer
Fordham Spring Game
April 29, 2012 - Murphy Field
Offense
Rushing (Attempts-Yards-Tds):
Carlton Koonce 11-77-2; Jeramie Brown 12-44-3; Peter Maetzold 4-2-1; Ryan Higgins 2-14-0; Anthony Lubischer 1-16-0; Kevin Soares 3-2-0; Daniel Avedesian 1-(-1)-0..
Passing (Completion-Attempts-Interceptions-Yards-TDs):
Ryan Higgins 15-23-145-1; Peter Maetzold 16-20-215-2; Nick Glogau 4-3-22-0.
Receiving (Receptions-Yards-TDs):
Dan Light 7-122-1; Brian Wetzel 5-48-1; Nick Talbert 4-26-1; Sam Ajala 2-29-0; Blake Wayne 4-60-0; Carlton Koonce 3-18-0; Greg Wilson 3-30-0; Adam Malkiewicz 2-26-0; Andrew Spanarkel 2-10-0; James Avedesian 1-5-0; Jeramie Brown 1-5-0; Anthony Lubischer 1-3-0;.
Field Goals
Patrick Murray: Made: 52; Kevin Levin: Made: 23.
Defense
Tackles (Solo-AT-For Loss-Sack):
Jake Dixon 5-1-0-0; Kassim Forbes 3-3-0-0; Richard Foligno 3-3-1-0; Nick Womack 3-3-0-0; Ian Williams 2-3-0-0; Levon Williams 2-1-0-0; Jake Rodriques 2-0-0-0-0; Khary Powell 2-0-0-0; Zac Crosby 2-0-0-0; Patrick McGee 1-2-0-1; Nick Merino 1-2-0-0; Matthew Sconiers 1-1-0-0; DeAndre Slate 1-1-0-0; John LaSure 1-0-0-0; Austin Hancock 1-0-0-0; Jordan Chapman 1-0-0-0; William DeLuca 1-0-0-0; Patrick McGee 1-0-0-0; Brett Biestek 0-3-0-0; Anthony Pesanello 0-2-0-0; De'Nard Pinckney 0-1-0-0.
Interceptions
Jordan Chapman 1.
Punting (No.-Yards-Avg.-Long)
Patrick Murray 2-108-54.0-58; Kevin Levin 1-51-51.0-51.
