Football Pulls Out Win over Lehigh, 35-28

Bronx, N.Y. – About the only thing Fordham's Tim DeMorat didn't do today was to help park cars as they entered campus for the game. The senior quarterback threw for three scores and ran for two more, including the game-winner with 1:45 remaining, to lead the Rams to a 35-28 Patriot League win over Lehigh University to the delight of a sold out Family Weekend crowd on Jack Coffey Field.
 
With the win, Fordham's fifth straight, the Rams improve to 5-3 overall, 3-0 in the Patriot League, while Lehigh falls to 0-7 overall, 0-2 in the League.
 
DeMorat competed 24-of-40 passes for a career-high 401 yards and three touchdowns and rushed three times for 16 yards and two scores. His favorite receiver today was senior Fotis Kokosioulis, who grabbed ten passes for 157 yards, both career-highs, while junior Dequece Carter caught five passes for 97 yards and one touchdown, and junior Garrett Cody hauled in three for 111 yards and a score.
 
Defensively, freshman linebacker James Conway made a season-best 21 total tackles, nine solo, and he forced a pair of fumbles, while senior defensive back Jesse Bramble finished with eleven stops, eight solo, and he forced a fumble and broke up a pass.
 
Trailing 28-14 early in the fourth, the Rams reeled off 21 unanswered points for the win. The scoring spree started when DeMorat took it in from eleven yards out to make it a 28-21 game with 13:03 remaining.
 
On the next series, the Mountain Hawks were driving but Conway forced a fumble the Rams' 15 and the ball was recovered by Fordham's Gavin Watson.
 
DeMorat took advantage of the turnover, driving Fordham 85 yards on 13 plays, converting on three third down situations, and capped the drive by finding senior tight end Jack Lynch in the end zone with an eleven-yard scoring strike to knot the game at 28 with 3:57 left.
 
The Fordham defense held Lehigh to a three-and-out on the next possession and the offense went back to work, moving from their own 43 to the Lehigh two where DeMorat faked a handoff to junior running back Trey Wilson III and took it around the right side for the score with 1:45 on the clock.
 
The Mountain Hawks had one last chance to tie the game but Bramble forced a Lehigh fumble on the Fordham 22 and the ball was recovered by Mike Courtney with 1:00 left.
 
Takeaways
• The Rams won their fifth straight, the first five-game winning streak for the Rams since 2015.
 
• Fordham opens Patriot League play 3-0 for the first time since 2016, when the Rams went 5-1 in League play.
 
• DeMorat has completed 111 of 169 passes (65.7%) for 1,643 yards and 18 touchdowns over the past five games (all Fordham wins).
 
• DeMorat faced off against his cousin, Lehigh sophomore linebacker Drew DeMorat.
 
• The game was James Conway's fifth straight double-digit tackles game.
 
• Junior kicker Nick Leinenweber converted on all five PATs today and is a perfect 35-for-35 on the year.
 
• Senior tight end Jack Lynch caught his fourth career touchdown on only seven career receptions.
 
• After Lehigh took a 7-0 lead on its first possession, the Rams needed just one play to tie it, a 65-yard bomb from DeMorat to Cody that took just nine seconds.
 
• The Rams won despite possessing the ball for only 21:00 (compared to 39:00 for Lehigh).
 
• Fordham has taken six of the past eight meetings with Lehigh.
 
By the Numbers
 
60 –Career touchdown passes for Tim DeMorat, third all-time at Fordham.
 
63 – Wins for Fordham since 2012, the most of any New York City area school.
 
157 – Receiving yards for Fotis Kokosioulis, a career-high.
 
401 – Passing yards for Tim DeMorat, a career-high and the 18th 400-yard passing game in school history.
 
644 – Career completions for Tim DeMorat, moving him ahead of Mike Nebrich and into second on the Rams' career list.

7,724 – Career passing yards for Tim DeMorat, moving him ahead of Kevin Anderson and into third place all-time at Fordham.
 
 
What's Next?
• After a week off, the Rams continue Patriot League play as they travel to Washington, D.C., to face the Georgetown University Hoyas on Cooper Field on Saturday, November 6, at 12:30 p.m.
 
• It will be the 67th meeting between Fordham and Georgetown on the gridiron.
 
• The Rams lead the all-time series, which started in 1889, 40-23-3.
 
• Fordham won the last matchup, 30-27, in Washington, D.C., on October 12, 2019 as Tim DeMorat found Fotis Kokosioulis with a 17-yard scoring strike with 16 seconds left.
 
• The Rams have taken seven of the last eight meetings, including a 17-9 win in Wash­ington, D.C., in 2017 as Austin Longi caught 13 passes for 150 yards and one score, Andrew Mevis connected on three field goals, and Luke Medlock complet­ed 25 of 45 passes for 258 yards.
 
• Fordham is 15-3 against Georgetown since the Hoyas joined the Patriot League in 2001.
 
• The Rams are 19-7-1 against Georgetown on Jack Coffey Field, 13-9-1 at Georgetown and 1-5 at the Polo Grounds.
 
• The 40 wins for the Rams are the most over any opponent in school history while the 67 varsity meetings with the Hoyas are also the most against any opponent for the Rams.