Football Wins First Ever NCAA FCS Home Playoff Game

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Ram tough: defense saves Fordham playoff win (N.Y. Post.com) | Another Building Block for Fordham - A Playoff Win (N.Y. Times)

Bronx, N.Y. (November 30, 2013) – After a record-setting season for the Fordham University offense this fall, it was odd that the first question asked at the postgame press conference was directed at a defensive player. But it made perfect sense as the question was for Levon Williams, who recovered two fumbles and intercepted a pass to lead a strong defensive effort and help the Rams to a 37-27 win over Sacred Heart University in the first round of the NCAA FCS Championship on Jack Coffey Field.
 
With the win, Fordham goes to 12-1 on the season, adding to their school record for wins in a season, while Sacred Heart closes out the season 10-3.
 
In what has been a year of firsts, the Rams added two more today, winning 12 games for the first time in the modern era (since 1920). winning the first ever NCAA FCS Championship game on Jack Coffey Field and winning their seventh home game of the year, the most home wins in a season in school history.
 
The teams entered the game ranked one-two in turnovers gained in 2013 with Sacred Heart gaining 38 to 34 for Fordham. But it was the Rams who won the turnover battle today, forcing four Pioneer miscues while Fordham committed just one. Williams was involved in three of the four turnovers gained for Fordham, recovering two first half fumbles, both leading to Ram touchdowns, and then picking off a pass in the fourth quarter which led to a field goal to make it a two score game with 2:05 left.
  But the success of the defense didn't necessarily come at the expense of the offense, a unit that accounted for 539 total yards with two players setting school single season records. Junior quarterback Mike Nebrich completed 32 of 51 passes for 413 yards and three scores to bring his season totals to 316 completions for 3,986 yards, both school records. He betters John Skelton's previous records of 284 completions and 3,708 yard set in 2009. The three scoring strike brings Nebrich's total to 31, adding to his new season mark as he surpassed Mark Carney's  2001 record of 27 earlier this year while the Fordham offense increased its school record for passing yards to 4,658.
 
Junior wide receiver Sam Ajala caught seven passes today for 128 yards to bring his season marks to 85 catches for 1,526 yards as he surpasses Javarus Dudley's former school record of 1,439 receiving set in 2003.
 
Joining the 1,000-yard receiving yards club for the second straight season today was junior Brian Wetzel, who had 73 receiving yards to bring his season total to 1,008, becoming just the second player in Fordham history to record back-to-back 1,000 yard receiving seasons and he joins teammates Tebucky Jones,. Jr. and Ajala with 1,000 receiving yards this year, the first time in school history the Rams have had three 1,000-yard receivers in the same year.
 
Senior running back Carlton Koonce gained 96 yards on 26 carries in the game and now has 1,436 rushing yards in 2013. Also junior kicker Michael Marando converted four PATs to add to his school record for PATs in a season which stands at 59, and he booted three field goals to bring his season total to 19, the second best single season in school history, behind Patrick Murray, who kicked 25 last fall.
 
The Rams led 31-17 at the half but a Sacred Heart third quarter touchdown and field goal made it a four-point game, 31-27, entering the fourth. Early in the fourth, Jordan Chapman intercepted a RJ Noel pass on the Fordham 32 and returned it to the Sacred Heart 33. Three plays later, the Rams appeared to have scored on a 15-yard pass from Nebrich to Brian Wetzel but Fordham was called for a holding penalty on the Sacred Heart two and couldn't score from the 12 so Marando booted a 32-yard field goal to give the Rams a 34-27 lead with 11:27 left.
 
Later in the fourth, the Pioneers took over on their own 30 following a punt and on the third play from scrimmage, Levon Williams picked off Noel at the Fordham 29. Fordham was able to put together a drive that took up over four minutes but couldn't find the end zone, settling for a 33-yard Marando field goal that made it a two possession game, 37-27, with just over two minutes remaining.
 
The Fordham defense then forced two incomplete passes before DeAndre Slate sacked Noel for a loss on third down. On fourth down with just over a minute left, Jake Rodriques rushed Noel who threw an incomplete pass , giving the ball back to the Rams with 1:14 left and Fordham was able to kneel on the ball for the win.
  The Rams jumped out to a 3-0 lead, taking the opening kickoff and moving to the 22 where Marando connected on a 39-yard field goal. But Sacred Heart came right back, scoring on a 65-yard Keshaudsas Spence run on the fourth play from scrimmage.
 
On Fordham's ensuing possession, Nebrich was intercepted by JD Roussel on the Sacred Heart 35 and he returned it 52 yards to the Fordham 13, before a penalty backed the Pioneers up to the 28. But on the second play of the drive, Rodriguez forced a Spence fumble, which Levon Williams recovered on the Fordham 28.
 
Nebrich went to work, completing three of four passes, the last a short pass to Tebucky Jones, Jr., that Jones turned into a 32-yard score and a 10-7 Fordham lead with 6:23 left in the quarter.
 
Late in the first, the Rams took over on their own 14 following a punt and covered the 86 yards on seven plays as Nebrich covered the final yard on the ground to increase the Rams' lead to ten, 17-7, on the first play of the second quarter. The big play of the drive was a 32-yard completion from Nebrich to Wetzel on third-and-five from the Fordham 19.
 
Two plays later, Rodriguez forced another Spence fumble and Levon Williams came away with the ball, giving Fordham possession on the Sacred Heart 33.  The Rams took advantage of the short field, needing just three plays to score on a 19-yard Nebrich pass to Ajala in the back of the end zone as Fordham took a 24-7 lead with 13:22 left in the second.
 
Sacred Heart came back with a 71-yard, nine-play drive that came to a halt on the Fordham four when Nick Merino batted down a Noel pass and the Pioneers settled for a 21-yard Chris Rogers field goal to make it a 24-10 game with 11:21 remaining in the half.
 
Later in the half, Sacred Heart capped an seven-play, 80-yard drive with a Noel ten-yard scoring romp to cut the Fordham lead to seven, 24-17, with 5:15 on the clock but the Rams responded with a six-play, 72-yard scoring drive, ended by a three-yard Nebrich pass to Koonce 2:47 later to make it a 31-17 game at the break.
 
Dan Light tied his career-high with nine catches for a career-best 68 yards for the Rams while Wetzel added seven catches for 73 yards and Jones four for 72.
 
Defensively, Rodriques led the Rams with nine tackles, six solo, including one for loss and he forced two fumbles while Levon Williams added eight stops, six solo, to go with his two fumble recoveries and interception.
 
The Rams will now travel down to Towson, Maryland, to face the Towson University Tigers next Saturday, December 7, at 1:00 p.m. in Johnny Unitas Stadium in the second round of the 2013 NCAA FCS Championships.
 
Notes
The game was the first ever meeting between Fordham and Sacred Heart on the gridiron… The Rams are now 2-3 all-time in NCAA FCS championship games… Nebrich now has eight 300-yard passing games this year, one shy of the Patriot League record… Koonce's 96 rushing yards brings his career total to 3,257, moving him ahead of Chip Kron (1983-86) and into second on the Fordham all-time rushing list… Kirwin Watson (2000-03) is the Fordham career rushing leader with 4,617 yards… Light also had nine receptions last year at Holy Cross while his previous career-high for receiving yards was 66 in that Holy Cross game… The game was Marando's third three-field goal game of the year… Head coach Joe Moorhead successfully challenged an official's ruling of a Sacred Heart fumble which had originally been ruled as no fumble on the field… The Rams are now 11-1 over the past two seasons on Jack Coffey Field... The game was the second ever NCAA championship game played on Jack Coffey Field as the Rams hosted Wagner College in the NCAA Division III championship.