Makay Redd Boots Football over Penn, 48-45

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Philadelphia, Pa. - The adjectives that can be used to describe today's Fordham-Penn football game are endless. Crazy, nerve-racking, nail-biting and erratic are just a few. But the one that worked at the end of the game for the Rams was fortunate. Fortunate in that fact that the offense was able to move the ball down the field in the closing seconds and fortunate in that junior placekicker Makay Redd was healthy enough to connect on a 31-yard field goal with eight seconds left to boot Fordham to a 48-45 win on Franklin Field.
 
With the win, #12/13 Fordham improves to 5-1 overall on the year while Penn falls to 1-3. The win also extends Fordham's winning streak over Ivy League opponents to eight games (the current senior class has never lost to an Ivy League school) and is the Rams' first win on Franklin Field.
 

The Fordham offense was firing on all cylinders today gaining a season-high 641 yards of total offense, paced by sophomore running back Chase Edmonds, who rushed for 230 yards and four touchdowns and also caught four passes for 49 yards and another score. The game was Edmonds' second straight 200-yard game and the fourth 200-yard rushing game of his career.
 
Senior quarterback Kevin Anderson completed 29 of 36 passes for 377 yards, all career highs, with two touchdowns with Robbie Cantelli also enjoyed a career day with 12 catches for 164 yards.
 
The Quakers scored with 1:46 remaining in the game and made good on the two-point conversion to knot the game at 45 before Fordham executed their two-minute offense. The final drive started with a 12-yard pass from Anderson to Edmonds before Edmonds gained 12 more with a carry to place the ball on the Fordham 41.
 
Two plays later, Anderson found Cantelli  for the 12^th time in the game with a 15-yard pickup to put the ball on the Penn 26 and, after a false start penalty on the Rams, a nine-yard pass from Anderson to Jonathan Lumley put the ball on the Penn 22.
 
Two plays later, Fordham faced a third-and-four from the 20 when Anderson connected with Cory Caddle for six yards to the Penn 14.
 
After Fordham took a shot in the end zone on an incomplete pass from Anderson to Phazhan Odom, Redd came on and, despite being iced by back-to-back Penn time outs, nailed a 31-yard field goal with eight seconds remaining to secure the win.
 
The two teams exchanged turnovers on their first possessions with Caleb Ham intercepting a Penn pass before the Rams fumbled the ball back to Penn and the Quakers gave it back to Fordham as Jihaad Pretlow recovered a fumble on the Fordham 49 nine plays in to the game.
 
The Rams turned the Pretlow fumble recovery into a 30-yard scoring strike from Kevin Anderson to Austin Longi as Fordham took an early 7-0 lead.
 

On the Rams' next possession, Anderson found Cantelli with a 27-yard gain which was followed by a 48-yard carry from Edmonds to set up an eight-yard Edmonds scoring run as the Rams took a 14-0 lead midway through the first.
 
A Penn field goal early in the second cut the Fordham lead to 14-3 but the Rams came right back with a 51-yard scoring run from Edmonds to up the lead to 21-3 with ten minutes left in the half.
 
On the next play, Noah Fitzgerald tipped a Penn pass and the ball was picked off by Niko Thorpe on the Penn 21 and, five plays later, Edmonds scored his third rushing touchdown of the game to give Fordham a 28-3 lead with eight minutes on the clock.
 
A Penn score on the Quakers' ensuing possession made it a 28-10 game but the Rams came back with a 21-yard scoring pass from Anderson to Edmonds as Fordham assumed a 35-10 lead with three minutes remaining in the half.
 
But the Quakers scored just before the half to make it a 35-17 game at the break and then put up 13 unanswered points in the third quarter to cut Fordham's lead to 35-30.
 
Edmonds scored for the fifth time in the game, on a one-yard rush, two minutes into the fourth, to boost the Rams' lead to 42-30.
 
A Penn touchdown with 6:44 left pulled the Quakers to within five, 42-37, but Jihaad Pretlow returned the ensuing kickoff 60 yards to the Penn 26 which turned into a 44-yard Alejandro Cardenas field goal to make it a 45-37 game.
 
Stephen Hodge led the Fordham defense with 12 tackles, ten solo, and he forced a fumble while Pretlow made five stops, four solo, broke up two passes and recovered a fumble.
 
The Rams return to action next Saturday, October 17, as they host Holy Cross in the annual Ram-Crusader Cup game on Jack Coffey Field in a Patriot League matchup at 1:00 p.m.
  
Notes
Edmonds' 230 rushing yards brings his career total to 2,722, moving him into fifth place on the Fordham career rushing list while his four rushing touchdown give him 34 all-time, moving him into second on the career rushing touchdown list, just 14 behind Kirwin Watson.
 
His 234 rushing yards last week is the third best game this year in the NCAA FCS while his 230 yards today is tied for fifth best.
 
Anderson's previous career highs were 22 completions and 30 attempts versus Columbia and 340 passing yards against Monmouth.
 
Cantelli's previous career-bests were seven catches for 119 yards in the Monmouth game earlier this year.
 
Fordham's previous season-high in total offense was 551 yards against Monmouth.
 
Fordham's last Ivy League loss was a 35-20 setback at Penn on October 8, 2011.
 
Penn won the coin toss and elected to receive, marking the first time in 2015 that the Rams went on defense to start game.
 
Fordham has scored over 40 points in three of the six games in 2015 and 18 times since 2012.
 
The two interceptions by Fordham brings the Rams' season total to a Patriot League-best nine.
 
The game marked the first win for Fordham in a game the Rams surrendered 40 points or more since a 49-40 win over Georgetown in 1998.
 
The Rams have now won 34 games since 2012, the most wins for any New York City area football team.