Football Runs over Lafayette

Bronx, N.Y. – At the postgame press conference Fordham head football coach Andrew Breiner was asked if there was anything junior running back Chase Edmonds couldn't do. He thought awhile and responded, "Cook?" Edmonds may not be at home in the kitchen but he is definitely at home on the gridiron as he rushed for a school and Patriot League record 359 yards and scored four touchdowns today to lead Fordham to a 58-34 Patriot League in over Lafayette College on Jack Coffey Field.
 
With the win, Fordham improves to 3-2 overall, 1-0 in the Patriot League, while Lafayette falls to 1-5 overall, 0-2 in the league.
 
What makes Edmonds' day ever more remarkable is that he gained the 359 yards (the most by an NCAA Division I player this year) on just 17 carries, averaging 21.1 yards per carry, setting an NCAA FCS record for most yards gained per rush in a game. The former mark was 19.07 set by VMI's Gene Brown in 1988.
 
After scoring just once over the first two games of the year, Edmonds has made up for lost time, scoring four times in each of the past three games. His scoring runs today covered 29, 19, 74 and 67 yards.
 
The four scores brings Edmonds' scoring total this year to 78 points and his career total to 372, a new Patriot League record. He surpasses the former record of 358 points by Jordan Scott (2005-08) of Colgate. The four touchdowns now give him 62 career scores and 55 career rushing touchdowns, both school records. He surpasses Scott's Patriot League touchdown record of 58 while he is two rushing scores behind the Patriot League record of 57, also set by Scott.
 
Edmonds surpassed his own school and Patriot League record of 347 yards, set last year against Lehigh.
 
Edmonds wasn't alone in carrying the offense as senior quarterback Kevin Anderson rushed ten times for 108 yards and one score and completed 12 of 18 passes for 181 yards and three touchdowns.
 
Edmonds and Anderson helped Fordham set a new school single game rushing record as the Rams gained 516 yards on the ground, easily surpassing the previous mark of 383 yards set earlier this year against Elizabeth City State.
 
Things didn't start off well for the Rams as on the fifth play of the game, Phillip Parham intercepted an Anderson pass and returned it 35 yards to give the Leopards an early 7-0 lead.
 
Fordham immediately answered, needing just two plays to cover 52 yards, the second an Edmonds 29-yard scoring run, to knot the game at seven 2:03 into the contest.
 

On the Rams' next possession, Anderson found senior tight end Phazahn Odom with a bomb over the middle that Odom took to the house for an apparent 76-yard scoring play but the play was called back due to a Fordham penalty. But the Rams didn't let that deter them as Anderson used his feet to move Fordham downfield, gaining 74 yards on three carries, the final a 33-yard scoring run, to put the Rams up 14-7 with 7:16 left in the first.
 
Lafayette answered with a 35-yard field goal to make it a 13-10 game three minutes later but two big rushes from Edmonds on the ensuing Fordham possession helped set up an 11-yard scoring strike from Anderson to sophomore wide out Corey Caddle as the Rams took a 20-10 lead with 1:24 left in the first.
 
On the first play from scrimmage following the Fordham score, the Leopards scored on a 65-yard pass play to pull within three, 20-17, eleven seconds later.
 
On the third play of the second quarter, Edmonds took it to the end zone from 19 yards out to increase the Fordham lead to ten, 27-17.
 
The game remained 27-17 until a 32-yard Lafayette field goal made it a 27-20 game with 2:32 left in the half.
 
On the second play of the ensuing possession, Edmonds broke through the line and went 74 yards for pay dirt and a 34-20 Fordham lead.
 
On the next play from scrimmage, junior Nick Angeli picked off a Blake Searfoss pass on the Lafayette 25 and the Rams turned that into a 22-yard touchdown pass from Anderson to senior Robbie Cantelli to take a 41-20 lead into the break.
 
After the Fordham defense held the Leopards to a three and out on the first series of the second half, Edmonds needed just two plays, the second a 67-yard scoring run, to increase the lead to 48-20, 1:39 into the third quarter.
 
Later in the quarter Lafayette was driving but Antonio Jackson stepped in front of a Searfoss pass at the Fordham two and the Rams converted that turnover into a 44-yard Makay Redd field goal that boosted the Rams' lead to 51-20 with 6:00 on the clock.
 
The Leopards scored on a six-yard rush late in the third to make it a 51-27 game but a 25-yard scoring pass from Anderson to Caddle early in the fourth gave the Rams a 58-27 lead before Lafayette closed out the scoring on a seven-yard Searfoss rush with 3:14 remaining.
 

Caddle led all Fordham receivers with four catches for 55 yards and two scores.
 
Defensively, Jackson led the Rams with a game-high eleven tackles, nine solo, including one for loss, while Jesse Bramble and George Dawson each had eight stops and Justin Vaughn finished with six tackles, including 4.5 for loss and two sacks.
 
The Rams return to action next Saturday, October 15, as they host Yale University on Jack Coffey Field at 1:00 p.m.
 
Notes
Fordham has scored more than 40 points three times in 2016 and 23 times since 2012.
Edmonds' 359 rushing yards brings his career total to 4,430, second best on the Fordham career list, 187 yards behind Kirwin Watson's school record.
 
Edmonds now has 21 100-yard rushing games, seven 200-yards rushing games and two 300-yard rushing games in his career, all school records.
 
Anderson's 181 passing yards brings his career total to 4,336, moving him into sixth place on the Fordham career list, while his three touchdown passes brings his career total to 43, fourth best on the Fordham career list.
 
The 100-yard rushing game is the second of Anderson's career.
 
Senior linebacker George Dawson and senior punter Joe Pavlik have appeared in every game at Fordham since arriving as freshmen in 2013 (45 games). They are looking to become the Fordham career leaders in games played. The currently record is 47, set by Javarus Dudley (2000-03) and matched by Joe Sullivan (2011-14).
 
The Fordham defense entered the game third in the NCAA FCS in turnovers gained (5) and added the two interceptions today.
 
The Fordham defense had a season-high nine tackles for loss today.