Football Takes Down Georgetown, 31-3

BRONX – Sixty years ago, a group of Fordham students got together and decided that Fordham needed to bring back football. They took it upon themselves to start a club football program that was coached by students and funded by students. That would be the seed that eventually germinated into the Fordham football program seen today. And today the Rams honored that team on the field during the game and further acknowledged them by playing their most complete contest of the season, defeating Georgetown University, 31-3, in a Patriot League game at Moglia Stadium.
 
With the win, Fordham improves to 2-9 overall, 2-4 in the Patriot League, while Georgetown falls to 5-6 overall, 2-3 in the League.
 
Two Rams achieved milestones today, led by senior linebacker James Conway who recorded eleven tackles, bringing his career total to 436, setting a new Fordham and Patriot League record.
 
Also hitting a milestone was senior running back Julius Loughridge, who rushed 16 times for 91 yards and one touchdown, bringing his season total to 1,042 yards, his second straight 1,000-yard season.
 
Joining Loughridge in leading the Fordham offense was junior quarterback Jack Capaldi, who completed 12 of 25 passes for 222 yards and two scores while sophomore wide receiver Nodin Tracy led all Fordham receivers with three catches for 97 yards.
 
Defensively, grad student linebacker Jackson Barletta paced the Rams with 12 total tackles, five solo, including one for loss, while grad student linebacker Mike Courtney finished with seven stops, including 2.5 for loss and one sack.
 
The Rams took a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter when Loughridge burst through the line from the two and into the endzone. The touchdown was set up by a 41-yard completion from Capaldi to Cole Thornton on the previous play.
 

Fordham made it 14-0 later in the quarter when Capaldi found Jeff Ciccio in the endzone with a five-yard scoring strike.
 
A 28-yard Bennett Henderson field goal three minutes into the second quarter gave the Rams a 17-0 lead before the Hoyas used an 18-yard field goal on the ensuing possession to make it a 17-3 game with 5:22 left in the half.
 
Later in the second the Hoyas moved to the Fordham 29 but a fourth down pass fell incomplete.
 
After holding the Hoyas on fourth down again in the third quarter, the Rams took over on their 25. Nine plays later Capaldi found a diving KJ Reed in the endzone to make it a 24-3 game with two seconds remaining in the third.
 
The Rams closed out the scoring in the fourth quarter as Trey Bradford picked off a Georgetown pass on the Fordham eleven and returned it to the Fordham 37 where he pulled up with a leg injury but managed to lateral the ball to Alex Kemper who took it the remaining 63 yards for the score.
 
Takeaways
• Conway broke the Fordham career tackles record of Ryan Greenhagen, who amassed 425 tackles from 2018-22) and the Patriot League mark of Holy Cross' Jacob Dobbs, who made 432 career tackles from 2019-23.
 
• The game Conway's third double digit tackles game (in four games played this year).
 
• Loughridge is the first Rams to record back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons since Chase Edmonds did it three times from 2014-16.
 
• Loughridge is just the fourth player in Fordham history to record multiple 1,000-yard seasons.
 
• The touchdown is the second on the year for Kemper, who returned an interception 55 yards for a score against Stony Brook earlier this season.
 
• Sophomore running back Jacob Rodriguez gained a career-high 55 yards on eight carries.
 
• Senior punter Will Haslett punted three times for 128 yards (42.7 yards/punt), including a 56-yarder that was downed on the Georgetown one.
 
• Freshman kicker Bennett Henderson has converted his last seven field goal attempts, three of those for more than 40 yards, and has now made good on nine of his eleven three-point attempts this year.
 
• He is second in the Patriot League in field goals made and third in field goal percentage (81.8%).
 
• The Fordham freshman record for field goals in a season is eleven set by Micah Clukey in 2003.
 
• Georgetown entered the game second in the Patriot League in sacks with 26 but the Fordham offensive line allowed just one today.
 
• The Rams had two interceptions today, one each from Bradford and Boogie Owns (a third by Nahil Perkins was negated by a penalty), to bring the season total to ten
 
• It was the first time that Fordham did not allow a touchdown in a game since the Rams shut out Stonehill last year.
 
• Fordham converted seven of its 12 third down attempts.
 
• The Rams have not returned three interceptions for a touchdown in a season in recent history.
 
By the Numbers
9 – Tackles for loss recorded by Fordham today.
 
12 – Quarterback hurries recorded today by the Rams, led by nine from Matt Jaworski.
 
15 – Pass breakups this year by Nahil Perkins, the seventh best single season in school history.
 
27 – Career rushing touchdowns for Julius Loughridge, moving him into a tie for fifth all-time at Fordham.
 
40 – Career pass breakups for Nihal Perkins, tied for third all-time at Fordham.
 
42.5 – Career tackles for loss for Matt Jaworski, third all-time at Fordham.
 
48 – Wins at Moglia Stadium for the Rams since 2012.
 
74 – Net rushing yards for Georgetown, the second straight game the Rams held an opponent under 100 rushing yards.
 
93 – Passing touchdowns for the Rams over the past three years, the second most of any FCS school.
 
1,042 – Rushing yards this season by Julius Loughridge, the 15th best single season in school history.
 
3,094 – Career rushing yards for Julius Loughridge, fifth place on the Fordham career rushing list.
 
What's Next?
• The Rams close out the 2024 season by hosting the Merrimack College Warriors in a non-conference game at Moglia Stadium on Saturday, November 23, at 1:00 p.m.
 
• It will be the first meeting between Fordham and Merrimack on the gridiron.
 
• Merrimack moved from the NCAA Division II to the NCAA FCS level in 2019.
 
• The Warriors play as an NCAA FBS Independent.