Oct. 10, 2009

Center Valley, Pa. - An exciting Saturday in Patriot League Football featured two last-second finishes, one team getting its first win and another taking its first loss. The day also ended with a five-way tie at the top of the Patriot League standings as Lehigh defeated Georgetown, 27-0, to join Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross and Lafayette with a 1-0 record in League play.

The Mountain Hawks got their first win of the season in the afternoon, and a spectacular finish in the Lehigh Valley came later in the evening. Lafayette rallied from a 21-10 halftime defcit to defeat Columbia, 24-21, on Maurice White's two-yard touchdown run with 13 seconds to play. Lafayette recorded its third straight win. Holy Cross came up on the wrong end of a photo finish and suffered its first loss of the season, as the Crusaders' 14-point comeback was not enough when Brown kicked the game-winning field goal with three seconds left for a 34-31 win in Providence. Fordham had a convincing 35-7 win over Bryant for its second consecutive victory, and Bucknell fell at Penn, 21-3.

The weekend action started in exciting fashion on Thursday, as Colgate defeated Princeton, 21-14 in double overtime, to improve to 6-0 on the season. Read the full recap for the Colgate game here

For a synopsis of each game over the weekend, along with links to a recap and box score from each of the schools, read the capsules below.

at Lehigh 27, Georgetown 0
Box Score

Bethlehem, Pa. - Lehigh (1-4, 1-0 Patriot League) got its first victory of the season in impressive fashion and made it a five-way tie at the top of the Patriot League standings by shutting out Georgetown (0-6, 0-4), 27-0, on Saturday at Goodman Stadium in a Patriot League contest.

The Mountain Hawks jumped out to a 20-0 lead by halftime, using a pair of big special teams plays to set up their first two touchdowns. Jarard Cribbs returned a punt 34 yards to the Georgetown 43 to set up a short field for the Mountain Hawk offense. After converting a fourth-and-1, Chris Lum threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Craig Zurn to put Lehigh up, 6-0, with 4:56 left in the first quarter. Lehigh had an even shorter field for its next touchdown, as Bryan Andrews blocked and recovered a punt to set up a drive start at the Georgetown eight. Lum connected with Jake Drwal for a seven-yard touchdown pass on third down for a 13-0 lead with 12:11 left in the second quarter. Lehigh took it right down the field on its next drive, making it a 20-0 lead with 1:42 to play until the half on a seven-yard score by Jaren Walker.

Lehigh scored its last touchdown in the fourth quarter, with Lum hitting De'Vaughn Gordon from three yards to produce the final score.

The Lehigh defense dominated from start to finish, recording eight sacks and limiting Georgetown to -26 rushing yards. Four players combined for the eight sacks, with Matt Cohen recording three, Colin Newton two and Al Pierce and B.J. Benning 1.5 each. It was Lehigh's first shutout since the 2008 season opener against Drake. Lum threw the three touchdown passes to lead the offense, while Jay Campbell had 111 of Lehigh's 219 rushing yards. Lehigh snapped its longest season-opening losing skid since 1982 and won its League opener for the 10th time in the past 12 seasons. Isaiah Kempf completed 27-of-40 passes for 151 yards for Georgetown, while Nick Parrish led the Hoyas with 12 tackles.

at Lafayette 24, Columbia 21
Box Score

Easton, Pa. - Maurice White scored on a two-yard touchdown run with 13 seconds left to finish a 13-play, 88-yard drive and complete Lafayette's (4-1) comeback from a 21-10 halftime deficit for a 24-21 win over Columbia on Saturday at Fisher Stadium.

The Leopards never led until the game-winning touchdown. Columbia scored the first touchdown of the game in the first quarter, but White answered with his first two-yard touchdown to tie it at 7-7. The high-scoring first-quarter featured another Columbia touchdown and a Lafayette field goal, and the Lions padded their lead to 21-10 on a touchdown early in the second quarter. Lafayette got back to within four points early in the third quarter, as Mitchell Bennett caught a one-yard touchdown from Rob Curley to make it 21-17 with 10:46 left in the period. A pair of interceptions in Columbia territory and a missed field goal ended Lafayette's next three drives, and the Leopards took over their final possession on the 12 yard line with 6:09 to play. Curley completed passes of 19 and 32 yards to Greg Stripe to get the Leopards into the redzone, and a pass interference call gave them a first-and-goal at the three. After rushing for one yard on the first two plays, White got into the endzone on a third-down carry to give the Leopards the thrilling victory.

Lafayette led in most statistical categories, with a 405-294 edge in total offense, 26-12 advantage in first downs and more than 36 minutes in time of possession. White ran for 50 yards and the two touchdowns, while Curley completed 23-of-39 passes for 287 yards with a touchdown. Michael Schmidlein had 10 tackles and three tackles for loss, while Kyle Simmons also tallied 10 stops. Lafayette won its third consecutive game, all coming against Ivy League foes. The Leopards defeated Columbia for an eighth straight meeting.

at Brown 34, No. 19/20 Holy Cross 31
Box Score

Providence, R.I. - No. 19/20 Holy Cross (4-1) rallied from 14 points down in the fourth quarter to tie the score with 1:49 to play, but Brown marched down the field and kicked the game-winning field goal with three seconds to play to send the Crusaders to their first loss of the season on Saturday at Brown Stadium.

Holy Cross quarterback Dominic Randolph came into the game with astronomical numbers in his career against the Bears, and added to his marks by going 38-of-53 for 411 passing yards and four touchdowns. He finishes his career with 1,574 passing yards and 18 touchdowns in four starts against the Bears, through the Crusaders lost for the first time in those four matchups. Randolph did throw his first two interceptions against Brown, one of which was returned 28 yards for a touchdown to put Brown up, 20-17, with 6:59 left in the third quarter. The Bears added a field goal and touchdown with a two-point conversion to go up, 31-17, with 8:30 left in the game and complete a stretch of 24 consecutive points to begin the second half. Randolph led the Crusaders comeback from there, throwing a 13-yard touchdown pass to Rob Koster with 6:19 left and a 30-yard strike to Koster with 1:49 to play to tie the score at 31-31. Brown still had enough time to go down the field, and completed a 10-play, 57-yard drive that ended with a 34-yard field goal with three seconds left for the 34-31 final.

The loss snaps the longest season-opening win streak for the Crusaders since 1991, and also ends a three-game Holy Cross win streak against the Bears. Randolph also led the Crusaders with 38 rushing yards as he produced 449 of Holy Cross' 465 yards of total offense in the game. Luke Chmielinski caught nine passes for 117 yards, while Freddie Santana had seven catches for 95 yards and Koster caught five for 70 yards. Marcus Rodriguez led the Holy Cross defense with 12 tackles, but the Crusaders gave up 431 yards through the air.

at Fordham 35, Bryant 7
Box Score

Bronx, N.Y. - Fordham (2-3) picked up its second consecutive victory behind a strong performance in all areas for a 35-7 win over Bryant on Saturday at Jack Coffey Field.

The Rams took command right from the start, with Xavier Martin scoring on a 28-yard rush and Darryl Whiting getting in from six yards out for a 14-0 lead just over 10 minutes into the game. Fordham piled on in the second quarter, as John Skelton scored on a 34-yard rush and connected with his brother, Stephen, for a one-yard touchdown pass right before the half to give the Rams a 28-0 halftime advantage. John threw an 18-yard touchdown to Stephen early in the fourth quarter to complete the scoring and give Fordham the 35-7 victory.

The Rams held a 427-219 advantage in total offense, which included 244 rushing yards. Martin led the way with 122 yards on the ground, while Whiting had 56 and John Skelton tallied 43. Skelton completed 18-of-32 passes for 183 yards and the two touchdowns, with his younger brother hauling in eight receptions for 74 yards and the two scores. Jamal Haruna led Fordham's defense with 11 tackles. Fordham was the first Patriot League team to ever match up with Bryant, and gave the PL a 4-2 advantage in the completed season series with the Northeast Conference.

at Penn 21, Bucknell 3
Box Score

Philadelphia, Pa. - The Bucknell (3-3) defense recorded three interceptions and held Penn to only one touchdown for the first 52 minutes of the game, but the Bison could not take advantage and fell to the Quakers, 21-3, on Saturday at Franklin Field.

Penn scored a touchdown early in the first quarter, but the game stayed at 7-0 until Bucknell's Drew Orth hit a 32-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to bring the Bison within 7-3. Bucknell had the ball down by four on its next possession, but the Bison fumbled at their own 11 yard line and Penn converted the turnover into a touchdown. The Quakers added another score with 1:52 left to produce the 21-3 final.

Ahkiel White, Bryce Robertson and Rob Gerlach recorded the interceptions for the Bison, who limited Penn to 264 yards of total offense. Greg Jones led the way with 11 tackles. Ryan Smith had 51 rushing yards for Bucknell, which concludes its non-League schedule with a 2-3 record.

No. 23/24 Colgate 21, at Princeton 14 (Thursday)
Box Score

Princeton, N.J. - No. 23/24 Colgate (6-0, 1-0 Patriot League) remained perfect on the season as sophomore running back Nate Eachus scored a touchdown in each of the overtime sessions and the defense held on Princeton's final possession in a 21-14 double-overtime victory over the Tigers on Thursday at Princeton Stadium in an ESPNU-televised contest.

Both teams struggled to find offense throughout the game. Colgate took a 7-0 lead into halftime as Greg Sullivan scored on a two-yard run late in the second quarter, but Princeton tied the game at 7-7 with 9:45 to play. Neither team was able to push anything across after that point and the game went to overtime.

Princeton had the first possession in the initial overtime period, and took a 14-7 lead on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Tommy Wornham to Andrew Kerr. The Raiders came right back to tie the score, with Eachus capping a five-play drive consisting of all runs with a two-yard touchdown to tie it at 14-14. Colgate had the ball first in the second overtime, and again stayed on the ground for a nine-play drive that ended with another two-yard touchdown run by Eachus to make it 21-14. The Raider defense sealed the win on Princeton's final possession, forcing three straight incompletions to keep the Tigers from gaining a first down.

It is Colgate's 14th consecutive regular-season victory, the top mark in the FCS. The Raiders finish their non-League schedule with a perfect 5-0 record. Eachus rushed for 98 yards and the two touchdowns, leading a Colgate ground game that tallied 218 yards. The Raiders came into the night leading the Football Championship Subdivision with 277 rushing yards per game. Jordan McCord had 65 rushing yards, while Sullivan had 52 and the touchdown. Greg Hadley led the Raider defense with 11 tackles, while Colgate also registered three sacks and a Mike Barry interception. Colgate has won six straight games against Ivy League opponents, sweeping Dartmouth, Cornell and Princeton in each of the last two years.