Oct. 31, 2009

Center Valley, Pa. - Behind outstanding performances from each of their starting quarterbacks, Holy Cross, Lafayette and Colgate earned key victories in Patriot League Football on Saturday to solidify their spots in the standings.

The Crusaders and Leopards are tied for first place in the League with 3-0 records. Holy Cross went to Fordham and led from start to finish in a 41-27 victory, while Lafayette scored 28 second-half points to triumph over Bucknell, 35-14, in Easton. Colgate knocked Lehigh from the ranks of the undefeated, as the Raiders overcame an early deficit for a 27-20 win at home. Colgate is in third place in the Patriot League at 3-1, followed by the Mountain Hawks in fourth at 2-1. Bucknell fell to 1-2, while Fordham dropped to 0-3 in the standings.

While the quarterback matchup between Holy Cross' Dominic Randolph and Fordham's John Skelton lived up to its billing as a shootout, the other League games also offered outstanding performances from the position. Lafayette's Rob Curley went 30-for-35 for 333 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions and no sacks in the win over Bucknell, while Colgate's Greg Sullivan was 11-of-21 for 198 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions in the win over Lehigh. Randolph got the better of the duel with Skelton, though both players had outstanding numbers. Randolph was 23-of-35 for 314 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions while also rushing for 75 yards, while Skelton went 43-of-67 for 427 yards in the loss. The 67 attempts were one shy of the FCS record for most attempts without an interception in a regulation game, while Skelton's 39 plays in the fourth quarter set a national record and his 33 pass attempts tied an FCS mark.

The only non-League action of the day saw Georgetown fall at Old Dominion, 31-10, to drop to 0-8 for the season.

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

No. 17 Holy Cross 41 at Fordham 27
Box Score

Bronx, N.Y. - No. 17 Holy Cross (7-1, 3-0 Patriot League) got four touchdown passes from senior quarterback Dominic Randolph and led from start to finish for a 41-27 victory over Fordham (3-5, 0-3) in a Patriot League contest at Jack Coffey Field.

In an offensive showcase that did not include a punt for either team, the Crusaders struck first after stopping Fordham on downs. Randolph threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Bill Edger for a 7-0 lead with 9:29 left in the first quarter. Fordham answered with a field goal, but Holy Cross made it a 14-3 lead as Randolph found Freddie Santana for a 24-yard touchdown with 5:08 left in the first quarter. Fordham cut it right back to a 14-10 game on Xavier Martin's two-yard touchdown run with 10:11 left in the second quarter, but the Crusaders scored the next 10 points, including a three-yard touchdown pass from Randolph to Santana to make it 24-10 just 25 seconds before the half. Fordham hit a field goal as time expired to cut its halftime deficit to 24-13.

Holy Cross got the distance it needed in the third quarter. After a field goal made it 27-13, Randolph and Santana connected for a third touchdown pass for a 34-13 Crusader lead with 5:55 left in the third quarter. Fordham would cut it to 34-20 on Martin's 17-yard touchdown run with 11:43 left in the game, and had life when it recovered the ensuing onside kick. But Holy Cross forced a four-and-out on Fordham's first set of downs, and put its lead back to 21 points on a six-yard touchdown run by Eddie Houghton with 7:13 to play for a 41-20 advantage. The Rams added the final touchdown of the game just over three minutes later.

The offensive outburst included 1,143 yards of total offense between the teams, with 627 for Fordham and 516 for Holy Cross. Fordham's 112 plays set a Patriot League record, topping the previous single-game mark of 102. Skelton also set a League record with 82 plays (67 passing attempts/15 rushes), besting the mark of 79, along with the FCS record of 39 plays in the fourth quarter. Skelton also tied an FCS record with 33 pass attempts in the fourth quarter. It was the first time that neither team punted in an FCS game since Georgia Southern played James Madison on Nov. 15, 1986.

The individual stars went beyond the quarterback position. For Holy Cross, Santana caught seven passes for 82 yards and the three scores, while Luke Chmielinski had six receptions for 74 yards. Matt Bellomo led the ground game with 82 yards. Marcus Rodriguez led four players that finished with double-digit tackles, as he tallied 16 stops. Jimmy Thomas had 12 tackles and a pair of sacks. Fordham had four receivers with outstanding efforts. John Skelton's brother, Stephen, had 13 receptions for 102 yards, tying for the seventh-most receptions by a Patriot League player. David Moore caught 10 passes for 67 yards, Jason Caldwell had nine receptions for 154 yards, and Asa Lucas had seven receptions for 75 yards. Martin had 86 rushing yards and the two touchdowns.

Holy Cross defeated Fordham for the second year in a row. The Crusaders won in the Bronx for the first time since 1999.

at No. 24/25 Colgate 27, Lehigh 20
Box Score

Hamilton, N.Y. - No. 24/25 Colgate (8-1, 3-1 Patriot League) used four touchdown passes from quarterback Greg Sullivan to overcome an early 10-0 deficit and defeat Lehigh (2-6, 2-1), 27-20, in a Patriot League contest at Andy Kerr Stadium on Saturday.

Lehigh jumped out to the 10-0 lead less than seven minutes into the game, with J.B. Clark tossing a 16-yard touchdown pass to Craig Zurn with 8:05 to play in the first quarter. But Colgate came storming back behind Sullivan's right arm. He hit John Schademan with a 46-yard touchdown to cut it to 10-7 just over two minutes later, and put Colgate ahead, 14-10, on a six-yard TD pass to Pat Simonds with 11:06 left in the second quarter. That duo hooked up again shortly after, with Sullivan tossing a 46-yard TD to Simonds for a 21-10 lead with 8:26 to play until the half.

Lehigh recovered in the third quarter, with a 45-yard touchdown from J.B. Clark to James Flynn followed by a 25-yard field goal by Jake Peery to trim Colgate's lead to 21-20 entering the final period. The Raiders went back in front by seven when Sullivan found Simonds in the endzone again, this time from 20 yards out with 11:19 to play in the game to give Colgate a 27-20 lead. Lehigh marched as far as the Colgate 46 on its final drive, but had its effort stall when Clark's fourth-and-12 pass went incomplete.

Four of Sullivan's 11 completions went for touchdowns, with Simonds catching five passes for 85 yards and the three scores. Colgate held a 381-281 advantage in total offense, including 183 yards on the ground. Jordan McCord led the Raider ground game by carrying 32 times for 159 yards. Greg Hadley had nine tackles and a sack for Colgate's defense. The Raiders got back in the win column after having their 15-game regular-season win streak and undefeated season ended last week at Holy Cross. Colgate beat Lehigh for the third year in a row.

Clark went 9-for-22 for 151 yards and two touchdowns without an interception for the Mountain Hawks, and also ran for 54 yards. That was one less than Lehigh's top rusher on the day, Jay Campbell. Troy Taylor had eight tackles and three tackles for loss for Lehigh.

at Lafayette 35, Bucknell 14
Box Score

Easton, Pa. - After the game went to the half tied at 7-7, Lafayette (7-1, 3-0 Patriot League) broke out for 28 second-half points to take down Bucknell (3-5, 1-2), 35-14, on Saturday in a Patriot League game at Fisher Stadium.

Bucknell tied the score right before halftime, with A.J. Kizekai catching a 19-yard touchdown pass from Marcello Trigg just 14 seconds before the break. Lafayette re-gained the lead and started its second-half scoring surge right away. Curley threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Michael Bolton for a 14-7 Lafayette advantage with 12:11 left in the third quarter. Lafayette added to the lead when Jeff Cumming notched his second rushing touchdown of the day to make it 21-7 with 2:56 left in the third quarter, and Curley threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Mitchell Bennett to push it to 28-7 with 12:42 to play in the game. After Bucknell answered with a touchdown, the Leopards completed the scoring with a six-yard touchdown pass from Curley to Mark Layton with 5:38 to play.

Lafayette improved to 7-1 overall for the first time since 1981, and has its first six-game win streak since 1992. The 333 passing yards were a career-high for Curley, and came one week after he set a career mark with 305 against Fordham. It was the first time since 2006 that a Lafayette quarterback completed 30 passes in a game. Curley connected with eight different receivers, including nine times for 70 yards and the score to Layton. Lafayette held a 38:40 to 21:20 edge in time of possession, including 12:26 to 2:34 in the fourth quarter, and outgained Bucknell, 475-290. LeRoy Butler had 10 tackles and four pass breakups for the Lafayette defense. The Leopards defeated Bucknell for the eighth year in a row.

Kizekai had a strong game for the Bison. He caught seven passes for 140 yards and the touchdown, and finished with 202 all-purpose yards. Trigg threw for 195 yards and a touchdown. Travis Nissley led the defense with 15 tackles.

at Old Dominion 31, Georgetown 10
Box Score

Norfolk, Va. - Georgetown (0-8) fell behind 17-0 after the first quarter and went on to a 31-10 loss in a non-League contest at Old Dominion on Saturday.

The Hoyas played a strong second half after falling behind, 31-3, at the break. Georgetown scored a fourth-quarter touchdown when Scott Darby hit Brandon Floyd from six yards out.

Charlie Houghton had 112 rushing yards on 19 carries for the Hoyas. Chris Rau, Travis Mack and David Quintero led the Hoya defense with seven tackles apiece.