Football Regains Ram Crusader Cup

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Bronx, N.Y. – On this date in 1540, Pope Paul III formally approved the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in the Bull Regimini militantis ecclesiae. Originally, he restricted the order to sixty members, but seeing their effectiveness soon lifted that restriction. Luckily no such restriction was placed on the Fordham football squad as missing numerous starters, the Ram replacements rose to the occasion, defeating Holy Cross, 26-21, in a Patriot League matchup at Moglia Stadium in the annual Ram Crusader Cup battle.
 
With the win, Fordham improves to 1-4 overall, 1-1 in the Patriot League, while Holy Cross falls to 0-5 overall, 0-1 in the League.
 
When Ignatius Loyola organized the Jesuits, he did so with the usual monastic vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. However, its members would pledge absolute obedience to the pope and organize themselves for action. The football Rams organized themselves for action today, with a strong effort from the offense, defense, and special team.
 
Junior quarterback Gunnar Smith led the Fordham offense, completing 14 of 21 passes for 24 yards and one touchdown while also running for a score, while grad student linebacker James Conway led the defense, with a game-high19 tackles, including one for loss. On special teams it was sophomore placekicker Bennett Henderson, who connected on a pair of second half field goals to erase a 21-20 halftime deficit for Fordham.
 
Conway's 19 tackles bring his career total to 511 as he becomes just the sixth NCAA FCS student-athlete, the first from the Patriot League, to record more than 500 career stops.
 
How It Happened
• Fordham scored on the second play of the game, a 45-yard scamper from Ricky Parks to take a 7-0 lead 58 seconds into the game
 
• Later in the quarter, the Rams made it a 14-0 game when Smith faked a handoff and took it in from the two.
 
• A score from Holy Cross cut the lead to 14-7 before Fordham got on the scoreboard again with 14:20 remaining in the second quarter on a 31-yard scoring strike from Smith to Nodin Tracy 40 seconds into the quarter to extend the lead to 20-7.
 
• Holy Cross came back with two touchdowns over the final seven minutes to take a 21-20 lead at the half.
 
• On Fordham's first possession of the second half, Henderson connected on a 36-yard field goal to put the Rams up for good, 23-21.
 
• Henderson closed out the scoring with a 35-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter.
 
• Holy Cross was driving inside of the final minute but Andrew Osmun picked off a Braden Graham pass at the Fordham 35 with nine seconds remaining to seal the win for the Rams.

Game Notes
• Fordham outgained Holy Cross 422-345, including a 168-102 advantage on the ground.

• The Rams had three players with more than eight tackles in the ballgame led by James Conway, who had 19.

• Will Haslett punted five times for the Rams with an average of 45.2 yards per punt while pinning the Crusaders inside their own 20 twice.
 
• The last four games between Fordham and Holy Cross have been decided by a total of 12 points.
 
• The win snapped an eight-game losing streak by the Rams to the Crusaders.
 
• Fordham improves to 15-7 over the past five years at Moglia Stadium.
 
• Joe Moglia, FCRH Class of 1971; Fordham Prep class of 1967, namesake of Moglia Stadium, was in attendance.
 
By the Numbers
4 – Field goals made this year by Bennett Henderson.
 
8 – Different Fordham players to catch at least one pass today.
 
49 – Home wins for Fordham since 2012.
 
83 – Wins for the Rams since 2012, the second most for any New York area football team.
 
171 – Career punts for Will Haslett, moving him into seventh place on the Fordham career list.

198 – All-time games played by Fordham against fellow Jesuits schools.
 
511 – Career tackles for James Conway, a school and Patriot League record.
 
7,373 – Career punting yards for Will Haslett, seventh on the Fordham career list

What's Next?
• The Rams return to the road, traveling to Easton, Pa., to take on the Lafayette College Leopards at Fisher Stadium in a Patriot League matchup on Saturday, October 4, at 12:30 p.m.
 
• It will be the 43rd meeting between Fordham and Lafayette on the gridiron.
 
• The Leopards lead the all-time series, which started in 1903, 27-14-1, and the two teams have split the past four meetings.
 
• Lafayette won last year's matchup, 28-23, at Moglia Stadium on October 5 as Dean DeNobile completed 13 of 18 passes for 124 yards and three touchdowns.
 
• The last Ford­ham win came in 2022, a 45-10 win at Lafayette as Tim DeMorat completed 32 of 45 passes for 482 yards and four touch­downs while also rushing for a pair of scores.
 
Portions of this story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.