April 23, 2013

Bronx, N.Y. - The 2013 Fordham University football squad culminates the spring season with the annual Maroon and White scrimmage on Friday night, April 26, on Jack Coffey Field beginning at 7:00 p.m. This will mark the first year that the annual spring game will be played at night and on Jack Coffey Field.

As part of the game, the Rams will honor the victims of the Boston Marathon tragedy with a special decal that will be placed on each player's helmet.

All fans in attendance will be eligible to participate in a raffle drawing for the chance to win one of several premium vacation packages. Also, all fans will receive a discount coupon towards their next meal at Michaelangelo's Restaurant & Lounge.

The Rams will be led into the game by second-year head coach Joe Moorhead who returns six starters on defense and five more on offense for 2013.

The offensive starters include running back Carlton Koonce and wide receiver Brian Wetzel. Koonce set the Fordham single season rushing mark last fall with 1,596 rushing yards. He averaged 5.3 yards/carry and a Patriot League-best 145.1 yards/game, which was the fourth best in the NCAA FCS. Besides leading the league in rushing yards/game, Koonce also led the Patriot League, and was sixth in the NCAA FCS, in all-purpose yards/game (173.5).

Wetzel became the third player in Fordham history to record more than 1,000 receiving yards in a season when he caught 72 passes for 1,042 yards and seven touchdowns. He finished the year leading the Patriot League and ranking 18th in the NCAA FCS in receiving yards/game (94.7) and was ranked second in the Patriot League and ninth in the nation in all-purpose yards/game (167.3) as well as ranking third in the league in receptions/game (6.5), 22nd best in the NCAA FCS.

Koonce and Wetzel helped the Fordham offense rank second in the Patriot League in scoring offense (31.2 ppg), passing offense (279.6 yards/game), 18th best in the NCAA FCS, and total offense (435.7 yards/game).

The defensive returners are led by linebackers Jake Rodrigues and Austin Hancock, who finished three-four, respectively, in total tackles for the Rams in 2012. Rodrigues made 81 total tackles last fall, 47 solo, including a team-high 95 for loss and 4.5 sacks, and he also intercepted a pass while Hancock made 68 total stops last year, 40 solo, including 3.5 for loss and one sack while also breaking up four passes and intercepting one.

Fordham will attempt to build on the successes of 2012, a season in which Fordham finished with a 6-5 record, a five-win improvement from the 2011 season, tying the Rams for the second best turnaround in the NCAA FCS.