Football Holds Off Bucknell to go to 10-0

Box Score | Photo Gallery (game action) | Photo Gallery (Senior Day)
 
Bronx, N.Y. (November 9, 2013) - Fordham University head football coach Joe Moorhead preaches to his team to play every play as if it's your last. Luckily for the Rams, senior Ian Williams and junior Jordan Chapman did just that today, rising above the defensive line to block a Bucknell field goal attempt on the final play of the game as #6/7 Fordham held on to beat the Bison on Senior Day, 23-21, to remain undefeated on Jack Coffey Field.
 
With the win, the Rams go to 10-0 on the year for the first time ever while Bucknell, who had a three-game winning streak snapped, falls to 4-5. The ten Fordham wins is more that the Rams won the past two years combined (seven) and marks just the third time since 1920 that the Rams have won ten games in a season (the other two years are 1987 and 2002). The win is Fordham's sixth at home this year, tying the 1987 squad for most wins on Jack Coffey Field.
 
Another credo that Moorhead expounds to the squad is that when someone gets injured, it's vital that the replacement step in and do as good a job, if not better, than the player he is replacing. In the case of junior quarterback Mike Nebrich, who left the game in the first quarter with an injury, that appears to be an impossible request as Nebrich is candidate for the Walter Payton Award which goes to the top NCAA FCS player in the country. But junior quarterback Peter Maetzold did his level best, completing 21 of 35 passes for 318 yards and one touchdown off the bench in his first significant playing time since early in his freshman year.
 
In a game that featured more twists and turns than any roller coaster at Six Flags, Kings Dominion or Busch Garden, the Rams kept all 6,826 fans glued to their seats until the final play.
 
Senior running back Carlton Koonce gained 84 yards in the game, but none as important as the eight he picked up on a third-and-one call from the Bucknell 41 with about a minute left, seemingly sealing the victory for the Rams. But on the second attempt to kneel on the ball, the Bucknell defensive line pushed the Fordham offensive line into Maetzold, forcing a fumble which was recovered by the Bison's Brent Forbes on the 33.
 
Bucknell quarterback Brandon Wesley then drove the Bison down to the Fordham 19 where he lost a yard on a rush with under ten seconds left. Out of time outs, Wesley attempted to spike the ball, appearing to have lost control of the ball for a fumble, but the officials ruled it a spike and Bucknell had the ball on the Fordham 20 with two seconds left.
 
Derek Maurer came on for Bucknell to attempt a 37-yard field goal but this time it was the Fordham defensive line that got the penetration allowing Williams and Chapman to elevate together and block the ball and the Rams fell on the loose ball for the win.
 
After going three-and-out on its first possession, Fordham took over its second possession on its own 27. After a 13-yard Koonce rush, Nebrich led the Rams downfield, completing four of five passes, the final a short pass to the right to Koonce, who took it 22-yards to the right corner pylon for the touchdown and a7-0 Fordham lead with 8:21 left in the first.
 
Williams picked off a long Wesley pass on the ensuing possession, giving the Rams the ball on their own four but Fordham couldn't capitalize on the miscue.
 
Bucknell took over following a punt at its own 34 and Wesley led them to pay dirt, capping a seven-play, 66-yard drive with a two yard scoring run to knot the game at seven with 3:02 remaining in the quarter.
 
On Fordham's next possession, Sam Ajala fumbled the ball after a five-yard reception, giving the Bison the ball on the Fordham 20. But Bucknell couldn't pick up a first down and a 31-yard field goal attempt from Maurer was wide left.
 
With 9:32 left in the half, the Rams took over on their own eleven following a punt and Maetzold got the squad down to the Bucknell 23, thanks to a 13-yard Koonce carry on third-and-one from the Fordham 33. The drive stalled there and Michael Marando come on to kick a 39-yard field goal to give Fordham a 10-7 lead with 5:56 left in the quarter.
 
The Rams got the ball back three plays later when Chapman stepped in front of a Wesley pass, giving Fordham the ball on its own 38. Maetzold moved the offense to the Bucknell 37 but an 18-yard pass to Ajala ended when he fumbled the ball trying to pick up additional yardage on the Bucknell 19.
 
The Bison moved to the Fordham 34 but on fourth down and 16, a Wesley pass fell incomplete to end the half.
 
The second half started with Fordham's third interception of the day as on the third play of the quarter, Ian Williams recorded his second pick of the day and the Rams took over on their own 18.
 
Later in the third, the Rams moved from their own 20 to the Bucknell 37 where Maetzold found Ajala deep over the middle and Ajala broke a couple of tackles for a 63-yard touchdown play as the Rams took a 17-7 lead with 9:41 remaining in the period.
 
Three minutes later, the Bison started a quick scoring drive, covering 57 yards on just three plays, the final a 23-yard touchdown pass from Josh Brake to CJ Williams as Brake took a lateral from Wesley and threw back across the field a wide open Williams that made it a 17-14 game with 5:34 on the clock.
 
Later in the third, the Rams were driving when a Maetzold pass was picked off by Bucknell's Matthew Steinbeck on the Fordham 48 and returned it to the Fordham 30. Four plays later, Wesley found Brake in the end zone with a five-yard scoring strike to give the Bison a 21-17 lead with 37 seconds left in the third.
 
On Fordham's ensuing possession, Maetzold kept the drive alive with a five-yard pass to Dan Light on third-and-one from the Fordham 44 but the drive stopped on the Bucknell 12 where Marando booted a 28-yard field goal to cut the Fordham deficit to one, 21-20, 2:18 into the fourth.
 
After the Fordham defense forced a three-and-out, the Rams took over on their own 29. On the third play of the drive, Maetzold hooked up with Jorge Solano for a 32-yard gain, putting the ball on the Bucknell ten. After a Maetzold pass to Light gained seven yards, Koonce picked up a yard on second down but a pass attempt to Ajala was broken up on third down and the Rams had to settle for a 19-yard Marando field goal to take a 23-21 lead with 8:09 remaining.
 
The Fordham defense then rose to the occasion, forcing a three-and-out on the next Bucknell series and then coming up with a big stop on third down on the Bucknell 15 as Jake Rodriques hurried Wesley, forcing the Bucknell quarterback to throw the ball away with two minutes left.
 
Ajala finished with six catches for 123 yards, his sixth 100-yard game of the year, while Light hauled in a game-high seven passes for 53 yards and Wetzel made six receptions for 92 yards.
 
Defensively, Stephen Hodge paced the Rams with eight tackles, six solo, including one sack, while Austin Hancock had seven stops, four solo, and Ian Williams made six, five solo, and he intercepted two passes, broke up two passes and had the blocked field goal.
 
The Rams return to action next Saturday, November 16, as they travel to Easton, Pennsylvania, to face the Lafayette College Leopards in Fisher Stadium at 3:30 p.m.
 
Notes
The Rams snapped a two-game losing streak to the Bison with the win but Bucknell still leads the all-time series, 18-11… The Rams honored the 17 seniors with a special pregame ceremony… Koonce's 84 rushing yards brings his 2013 total to 1,109 as he records his second straight 1,000-yard rushing season… He is just the second Ram to gain more than 1,000 rushing yards in a year,  joining Kirwin Watson, who had three… The 84 yards brings his career total to 2,930, good for fourth on the school's career rushing list, 60 behind Xavier Martin (2007-10) for third… Ajala's 123 receiving yards brings his season totals to 1,263 yards, the second best single season in school history (the school mark is 1,439 set by Javarus Dudley in 2003)… Marando has 45 PATs so far in 2013, the second most in a season in school history (school record is 47 by Micah Clukey in 2003) and 16 field goals, the third most in a season for a Ram (school record is 25 set by Patrick Murray last year)… Marando had his second three-field goal game of the year… Moorhead is now 16-5 as a head coach.