Football Circles the Wagons in Win over Georgetown

Bronx, N.Y. – There were a lot of firsts in today's Fordham-Georgetown Patriot League football game on Jack Coffey Field. But it was an old reliable who proved to be the difference for the Rams as junior running back Chase Edmonds gained 95 of his 179 yards in the final quarter to lead Fordham to a 17-14 win.
 
With the win, Fordham improves to 5-2 overall, 2-0 in the Patriot League, while Georgetown falls to 3-4 overall, 0-2 in the conference.
 
Edmonds, who carried a career-high 37 times for his 179 yards, brought his career total to 4,730 yards as the junior became the school's career leading in rushing yards. He surpassed Kirwin Watson's former mark of 4,617 yards, set from 2000-03.
 

Despite entering the game with one of the top offenses in the NCAA FCS, it was the Fordham defense that stepped up, forcing six Georgetown turnovers, including five interceptions, and recording a season-high ten tackles for loss. The defense also welcomed back two players who were seeing their first action of the season in senior defensive lineman Manny Adeyeye and junior linebacker Niko Thorpe, who both missed the first six games of the year with an injury. The defense also got back senior lineman Justin Vaughn, who missed last week's game with an injury.
 
The new blood proved fruitful for the Rams who held the Hoyas to minus two net rushing yards and 169 passing yards, recording six sacks to go with the five interceptions. The 167 total yards of offense for Georgetown are the fewest for a Fordham opponent since the Rams held Columbia to 166 total yards in 2014 while the five interceptions are the most since Fordham picked off six passes against Duquesne in 2004.
 
The game was a total team effort for the Rams as, due to suspension and injury, they were down to third team quarterback Colton Smith in the fourth quarter. Starter Kevin Anderson was suspended for the game due a violation of team rules and Luke Medlock, who made his first career start, was forced to the sidelines with an injury in the third quarter.
 
The game was tied at 14 with 9:1 left when Caleb Ham picked off a Brock Johnson pass at midfield, his second pick of the day, and returned it to the Georgetown 28. Edmonds gained seven yards on two carries before Smith found Corey Caddle on a bubble screen, Smith's first collegiate completion, which Caddle brought to the Hoyas' 15 for a first down. Three plays later, Edmonds got the ball to the seven, two yards shy of the first down and Makay Redd came on to boot a 24-yard field goal to give the Rams the lead for good, 17-14, with 6:08 left.
 
The Rams held the Hoyas to a three-and-out, receiving the ball on the Fordham 49 following a punt. Four Edmonds carries put the ball on the Georgetown 28 but he was tackled for a six-yard loss on third down and Fordham punted the ball back to the Hoyas.
 
A Joe Pavlik punt pinned Georgetown back on its own four and the Hoyas were able to move the ball to their own24. But Lawrence Menyah intercepted a Johnson pass at the Georgetown 42 with 1:18 on the clock to seal the win for the Rams.
 
Medlock got the Fordham offense off to a quick start, moving the Rams 85 plays on 14 plays on the game's first possession, finding Robbie Cantelli with a three-yard scoring pass to give Fordham a 7-0 lead five minutes into the game. It was Medlock's first collegiate touchdown pass.
 
After a three-and-out, the Hoyas were forced to punt but Caddle fumbled the return which was recovered by Georgetown's J'V'on Butler on the Hoyas' 42. Georgetown couldn't take advantage of the turnover as two plays later, Jihaad Pretlow picked off a Clay Norris pas on the Fordham 34 and returned it to the Georgetown 42.
 

Edmonds and Medlock went to work, moving the Rams down to the Georgetown 37 where Medlock again connected with Cantelli on a scoring strike to put Fordham up 14-0 with 4:04 remaining in the first.
 
A long kickoff return gave Georgetown the ball on the Hoya 41 where Norris found Brandon Williams deep down the right sideline for a 59-yard touchdown pass to cut the Fordham lead in half, 14-7, with 3:48 left.
 
Early in the second quarter, Khristian Tate blocked a Pavlik punt attempt and the ball was recovered by Tate on the Fordham ten.
 
The Fordham defense appeared to have held the Hoyas on third down from the three but a holding penalty gave Georgetown a first down on the one and, two plays later, Isaac Ellsworth tied the game at 14 with a one-yard run at the 11:27 mark.
 
Both teams had chances over the rest of the half and in the third quarter but neither could take advantage of the other's miscues.
 
Medlock completed 12 of 21 passes for 95 yards and the two scores with Cantelli catching the two touchdown passes and Austin Longi hauling in five balls for 22 yards.
 
Defensively, David Barletta made six tackles, five solo, including 2.0 for loss and 1.0 sacks, while Max Roberts added five stops, two solo, including 3.0 for loss and 1.5 sacks. Ham had three solo stops to go with his two interceptions.
 
The Rams return to action on Saturday, October 29, as they travel to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to face the Lehigh University Mountain Hawks in a Patriot League contest at 12:30 pm.
 
Notes
The Rams improve to 28-2 on Jack Coffey Field over the past four years and 18-2 overall against Patriot League opponents over that period. Fordham has won its last ten home games, the third longest active streak in the NCAA FCS.
 
The Rams have now won the past five meetings with Georgetown and are 36-20-3 overall against the Hoyas. The 36 wins are the most over any school for Fordham.
 
Fordham won when scoring fewer than 20 points for the first time since a 14-0 win over Lafayette in 2010.
 
Edmonds now has 23 100-yard rushing games, seven 200-yards rushing games and two 300-yard rushing games in his career, all school records.
 
The ten tackles for a loss give the Rams 24 over the past three games.