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Patriot League Football Release - 11.3.08
Nov. 3, 2008 Center Valley, Pa. - Colgate and Holy Cross hold a share of the Patriot League lead with 3-0 marks in League action, and will try to stay on top on Saturday. The Raiders visit a 2-1 Lehigh team, while the Crusaders play host to Fordham. Lafayette, which is 2-1 in League action, tries to stay within reach of the lead when it visits Bucknell. Patriot League Football Release - 11.3.08
Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week Dominic Randolph, Holy Cross Sr., QB, 6'3, 223, Amelia, Ohio/St. Xavier Randolph receives yet another Offensive Player of the Week honor for his performance in Holy Cross' 34-17 victory over Bucknell on Saturday. Randolph completed 38-of-49 passes for 398 yards with four touchdowns and an interception in the contest. He took Holy Cross back from a 10-0 deficit by leading the Crusaders to 31 consecutive points. Randolph set a Holy Cross record with 742 career completions, and tied a Crusader record while moving into second place in Patriot League history with 72 career passing touchdowns. He recorded his fifth consecutive 300-yard game, and extended his Patriot League record to 15 career 300-yard efforts. Randolph earns his 10th career Offensive Player of the Week award, claiming the honor for the second time in a row and third in the last four weeks. Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week Greg Hadley, Colgate Jr., LB, 5'11, 223, Fayetteville, N.Y./CBA Hadley recored 10 tackles, two tackles for loss and one forced fumble as Colgate rallied from a 10-0 deficit to defeat No. 21 Lafayette, 21-13. His forced fumble came on the Colgate five yard line as Lafayette was trying to extend its 10-0 lead in the third quarter, and led to a Colgate touchdown drive. Hadley receives his first Defensive Player of the Week award. Patriot League Special Teams Player of the Week Matt Partain, Holy Cross Sr., PK, 5'10, 176, Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville Partain connected on 2-of-3 field goal attempts and all four of his extra point tries in Holy Cross' 34-17 victory over Bucknell on Saturday. He hit field goals of 24 and 29 yards, with both coming in the second half. Partain leads Holy Cross with 58 points this season. Partain earns his first Special Teams honor of the season, and third of his career. Patriot League Rookie of the Week Nate Eachus, Colgate Fr., RB, 5'11, 195, Drums, Pa./Hazleton Area Eachus receives his third consecutive Rookie of the Week award after carrying 34 times for 171 yards and two touchdowns in Colgate's 21-13 win over No. 21 Lafayette. He scored twice in the second half as Colgate rallied from a 10-0 deficit. He had a seven-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 10-7 in the third quarter, and a one-yard score for the 21-13 lead late in the fourth quarter. Eachus now has 107 carries for 626 yards and eight touchdowns in the last three games. Patriot League Notebook Colgate and Holy Cross Move Into First-Place Tie Colgate and Holy Cross remained in a first-place tie in the Patriot League standings with wins on Saturday. Both teams rallied from 10-0 deficits, with the Raiders knocking off No. 21 Lafayette, 21-13, and the Crusaders taking down Bucknell, 34-17. Colgate and Holy Cross are 3-0 in League play, one game ahead of Lafayette and Lehigh at 2-1. The Mountain Hawks downed Georgetown, 33-13, on Saturday. Three More Key League Contests on Saturday's Slate The highlight of Saturday's Patriot League schedule comes in Bethlehem, where Colgate will try to move to 4-0 in League action against a Lehigh team that needs a victory to stay alive in the race. Holy Cross also tries to stay undefeated when it hosts Fordham, while Lafayette has a chance to stay in the hunt when it visits Bucknell. 20 Non-League Wins In Reach Saturday's schedule also features a non-League contest as Georgetown hosts Marist, and the Hoyas have an opportunity to provide the Patriot League with 20 non-League wins for the first time since 2004. Fordham's 45-21 win over Marist on Saturday gave the Patriot League a 19-16 record in non-League action. It also clinched the League's first winning mark in regular-season non-League games since 2004, when the teams combined for a 21-16 non-League record. Payback at Home? All four of Saturday's matchups were also contested on the same day last year, and the home teams will be looking for revenge. On Nov. 3 of last season, the home teams were the victor as Lafayette beat Bucknell, Fordham knocked off Holy Cross, Colgate beat Lehigh and Marist took down Georgetown. Colgate Cracks the Top 25 After beating then No. 21 Lafayette, Colgate earned a top 25 ranking of its own when it debuted at No. 24 in The Sports Network top 25 on Monday. The Raiders are ranked for the first time this year, and join Lafayette as Patriot League teams earning a top 25 ranking in 2008. Lafayette and Holy Cross received votes in the poll. Patriot League Presence in More Polls In addition to The Sports Network poll, Patriot League teams have positions in three different rankings released on Monday. Colgate came in tied for seventh and Lafayette and Holy Cross were both tied for 10th in the ECAC Lambert Meadowlands FCS poll. Those three teams all received votes in the FCS Coaches top 25, with Colgate coming in at No. 26 as the leading vote-getter outside of the top 25. Finally, the Raiders were ranked No. 21 and the Leopards No. 24 in the SME Network poll. Raiders Winning Like It's 2003 Colgate is off to its best Patriot League start and best winning streak since its very memorbale 2003 season. The Raiders are 3-0 in the Patriot League and have six consecutive wins overall for the first time since that campaign, when they won their first 15 games of the year before falling in the national championship contest. The six-game win streak is tied for the second-longest active streak in the FCS, behind only the eight of No. 1-ranked James Madison. Holy Cross Off to a Familiar Winning Streak Holy Cross has a nice winning streak of its own going, but the Crusaders are in very common territory from recent years. For the third year in a row, Holy Cross has both won four consecutive games and started 3-0 in the Patriot League. Randolph Inching Towards Another Patriot League Record Holy Cross quarterback Dominic Randolph extended one Patriot League record with his 15th career 300-yard game on Saturday, and moved closer to setting another League mark soon. Randolph threw four touchdown passes in the win over Bucknell, and now has 72 in his career. That mark is tied for second in League annals, six behind the record of 78 held by Lehigh's Phil Stambaugh (1996-99). Randolph is also in the top five in League annals in passing yards, completions and attempts, and leads all active FCS players in career passing and total offense per game. Colgate's Scott Still on Record Chase Colgate Jordan Scott had his chase for FCS and Division I records largely halted again, as injuries limited the senior running back to two carries for one yard in Colgate's 21-13 win over Lafayette on Saturday. Still, he is very much in range of the some prominent records. Scott needs 25 carries to break the all-time Division I record of 1,215 (Steve Bartalo, Colorado State 1983-86). He is 81 away from breaking the all Divisions carries mark of 1,271. Scott has 972 rushing yards for the season, and is just 28 yards away from becoming the eighth player in FCS history and first Patriot Leaguer to record four 1,000-yard campaigns in his career. Scott has 5,445 career rushing yards, and the all-time Patriot League and Colgate rushing leader is now sixth on the FCS career rushing list. He leads all active FCS players in career rushing yardage, all-purpose yardage and scoring. Randolph Maintains High Spots in FCS Statistics With his fifth consecutive 300-yard passing day, Holy Cross quarterback Dominic Randolph strengthened his position in the FCS statistics. Randolph leads all FCS players in completions (32.6) and total offense (345.8) per game, while placing second in passing yardage (336.6) and points responsible for (20.3) per contest. Throw Away the Whistles Patriot League teams are showing that discipline can be a good thing, as the League is littered with squads that are among the best in the nation at staying penalty-free. Colgate leads the nation with just 3.78 penalties per game, and has company in the top 20 of those rankings from Bucknell (fourth), Lafayette (seventh), Holy Cross (14th) and Lehigh (16th). Six of the seven Patriot League teams are among the FCS top 15 in fewest yards penalized per game, with Georgetown (second), Colgate (third), Lehigh (sixth), Lafayette (ninth), Bucknell (11th) and Fordham (13th) all in strong position. Close Calls in Non-League Action, But Not League Play After competitive games in the non-League portion of the schedule, the Patriot League part of the slate has featured a few blowouts. Patriot League teams are 10-8 in non-League games decided by seven points or less, and hold a 3-8 record in games decided by three points or less. More than half of the 35 non-League games have been decided by seven points or less. But those close games are not translating to League play, with just two of the first 11 contests decided by seven points or less, and only Bucknell's 27-24 win at Georgetown on Oct. 18 coming within three points. This Week in the Patriot League
No. 24 Colgate (7-2, 3-0) at Lehigh (3-5, 2-1) Series Colgate, 25-19-2 TV SE2, FCS Colgate Head Coach Dick Biddle, Duke, 1971 Lehigh Head Coach Andy Coen, Gettysburg, 1986 No. 24 Colgate and Lehigh meet in Bethlehem in a contest with significant implications on the Patriot League standings...The Raiders are trying to move to 4-0 in the League and maintain at least a share of the first place, while the Mountain Hawks need a victory to keep their Patriot League title hopes alive...Colgate won last year's matchup, 21-7, in Hamilton, but the Mountain Hawks have won three of the last four in the series...Colgate has not won at Lehigh since 2002...Lehigh has a 13-9 advantage in Patriot League matchups, though the Raiders hold a 25-19-2 edge in the all-time series...Lehigh is 8-3 in Patriot League contests played in Bethlehem...Colgate Head Coach Dick Biddle is 6-6 against the Mountain Hawks, the only League program he does not have a winning mark against...Lehigh's Andy Coen is 1-1 against the Raiders...Colgate is in search of its first 4-0 League start and first stretch of seven straight overall wins since 2003...Lehigh tries to go 3-1 or better through four League games for the 10th time in the last 11 seasons. Colgate Notebook Colgate maintained a share of first place in the Patriot League with a 21-13 victory over No. 21 Lafayette on Saturday...The Raiders improved to 3-0 in the League for the first time since 2003, and have also won six consecutive contests for the first time since claiming their first 15 and making the national title game that season...The six-game winning streak is tied for the second-longest in the FCS, trailing only the eight-game streak of No. 1-ranked James Madison...Head Coach Dick Biddle improved to 12-1 in his career against Lafayette, and the Raiders are 15-7-1 against the Leopards in Patriot League matchups...Biddle has now won seven or more games in 11 of his 13 seasons with the Raiders, and is 7-8 in his last 15 games against top 25 opponents...Nate Eachus carried 34 times for 171 yards and two touchdowns in the victory...Eachus has 107 carries for 626 yards and eight touchdowns in the last three games...Greg Sullivan recorded 61 rushing yards and a touchdown as the Raiders held a 229-97 edge in rushing yardage...Greg Hadley notched 10 tackles, two tackles for loss and a forced fumble on defense....Jordan Scott carried twice for one yard before leaving in the second quarter...Scott now needs 28 yards to become the first Patriot Leaguer and eighth player in FCS history with four 1,000-yard rushing seasons...Defensive back David Morgan leads Colgate with four quarterback sacks this year after playing wide receiver his first three seasons...Colgate is third in the nation in rushing at 283.2 yards per game, and 12th in total offense. Lehigh Notebook Lehigh improved to 2-1 in the Patriot League with a 33-13 victory at Georgetown...The Mountain Hawks are 2-1 or better in their first three League games for the 10th time in the last 11 years...It was Lehigh's first road victory of the season, and ended a three-game road trip with a 1-2 record...Lehigh has won all eight Patriot League matchups against Georgetown, with each victory by at least 20 points...The Mountain Hawks are 5-0 in League games played in Washington...Lehigh was down 13-7 after the first quarter, but scored the final 26 points of the contest to pull away...They tallied two second-quarter touchdowns to go ahead, with a 28-yard touchdown pass from J.B. Clark to Brien Ruyak making it 20-13 at the break...Al Pierce extended the lead with a 37-yard interception return for a touchdown just 17 seconds into the third quarter...It was Pierce's first touchdown at Lehigh...Clark threw for 199 yards and two touchdowns while Ruyak made six receptions for 86 yards and a touchdown...Brendan Van Ackeren had a team-high 11 tackles, while Pierce had seven tackles to go with the interception...Lehigh moved up to sixth in the nation in net punting with a 36.8 average. Fordham (4-4, 0-3) at Holy Cross (5-3, 3-0) Series Holy Cross, 23-20-2 Fordham Head Coach Tom Masella, Wagner, 1981 Holy Cross Head Coach Tom Gilmore, Penn, 1986 Holy Cross attempts to move to 4-0 in Patriot League play and maintain at least a share of the League lead when it hosts Fordham on Saturday...The Rams are going for their first League win...Fordham knocked off Holy Cross, 24-21, in the Bronx last season to lock up the Patriot League title and an automatic berth in the FCS playoffs...Holy Cross won the last meeting in Worcester, 28-21, in 2006, but Fordham has won six of the last seven in the series...The last four meetings have been decided by seven points or less, with the home team winning the last three contests...Fordham has a 10-8 advantage in Patriot League contests...Holy Cross is trying for its first 4-0 start in the League since capturing its last League title in 1991...Fordham tries to avoid going 0-4 in League play for the second time in the last three years. Fordham Notebook Fordham evened its record at 4-4 with a 45-21 win over Marist on Saturday...The Rams completed their non-League schedule with a 4-1 mark...The Rams have won all six meetings in the series history with the Red Foxes...Fordham's win gave the Patriot League a 3-0 record against Marist this season...Fordham built a 38-7 lead by halftime and coasted to the victory...The Rams got big offensive performances from John Skelton and Xavier Martin...Skelton completed 22-of-28 passes for 341 yards and a career-high four touchdowns, while Martin had 122 yards and two touchdowns on the ground...Skelton was 25 yards shy of his career-high and completed passes to 10 different players while the Rams played without their top four wideouts...Skelton now has 5,762 career passing yards, just 29 shy of breaking into the top 15 in Patriot League history...It was Skelton's third 300-yard passing day of his collegiate career and the eighth 200-plus yard passing day this season and the 17th of his career...Martin recorded his fourth 100-yard game this season, and the sixth of his career...Freshman Jason Weston had a 19-yard touchdown reception for his first collegiate score. Holy Cross Notebook Holy Cross stayed in a first-place tie with Colgate and moved to 3-0 in the Patriot League with a 34-17 victory over Bucknell...The Crusaders are 3-0 in League play for the third straight year...It was the fourth consecutive win for the Crusaders, making it three straight years with at least a four-game winning streak...Holy Cross has scored at least 34 points in each of the four victories...It was also Holy Cross' fourth straight win against Bucknell...The Crusaders have won each of those games by at least 17 points...Holy Cross was down 10-0 in the second quarter, but scored 31 consecutive points to take control...That barrage started with a touchdown pass from Dominic Randolph to Jon Brock with one second left in the second quarter...Randolph completed 38-of-49 passes for 398 yards with four touchdowns and an interception...It extended his Patriot League record to 15 career 300-yard passing efforts, and was his fifth-consecutive 300-yard day...Randolph now has 72 career passing touchdowns, a mark that ties former Crusader Tom Ciaccio (1988-91) for the best in Holy Cross annals and the No. 2 spot in the Patriot League record book...He also set the Holy Cross record with 742 career completions...Holy Cross held a 532-338 edge in total offense...Ten different players notched at least one reception...Bill Edger had five catches for 63 yards and two touchdowns, while Mike Kielt caught a team-high eight passes for 83 yards and also ran for another 69 yards...Marcus Rodriguez led the defense with nine tackles and a sack...Holy Cross is No. 3 nationally with 336.6 passing yards per game, and sixth in the country in total offense...The Crusaders are also No. 2 in the nation with an average time of possession of 33:45 per game. Lafayette (6-2, 2-1) at Bucknell (4-4, 1-2) Series Lafayette, 47-32-6 TV LSN, MASN Lafayette Head Coach Frank Tavani, Lebanon Valley, 1976 Bucknell Head Coach Tim Landis, Randolph Macon, 1986 Lafayette and Bucknell meet in Lewisburg on Saturday...Lafayette needs a victory to stay in the thick of the Patriot League title race, while Bucknell needs a win to have a chance keep any mathematical hope alive...Lafayette has controlled the series of late with six consecutive wins against the Bison, including a 34-7 triumph in Easton last year...Bucknell's last victory was a 17-16 win in Easton in 2001...The Bison last defeated the Leopards at home in 2000, as Lafayette has won in its last three trips to Lewisburg...Lafayette has scored 31 points or more in each of the last three matchups...Lafayette holds a 15-7 advantage in Patriot League games between the schools...That mark includes a 7-4 edge in Lewisburg...Lafayette is gunning for a 3-1 record through four League games for the fourth time in the last five years...Bucknell Head Coach Tim Landis goes for his first win over the Leopards in his sixth season in Lewisburg. Lafayette Notebook Lafayette lost its first League game, 21-13, at Colgate on Saturday...The Leopards saw their six-game road winning streak come to an end, and fell to 3-1 on their five-game road trip...The road winning streak had been the longest in the Football Championship Subdivision...Lafayette also saw a five-game winning streak in Patriot League games come to an end, with the Leopards knocking off every team but Colgate in that stretch...Lafayette jumped out to a 10-0 lead at halftime, but saw Colgate mount a comeback in the second half...Davis Rodriguez hit a career-long 47-yard field goal in the second quarter...Shaun Adair pulled in 10 receptions for 129 yards, while Rob Curley threw for 144 yards and a touchdown... Lafayette remained No. 2 in the country in scoring defense, surrendering 14.3 points per contest...The Leopards are seventh in the country in time of possession. Bucknell Notebook Bucknell dropped to 1-2 in the Patriot League with a 34-17 loss at Holy Cross on Saturday...The Bison fell on the road for the first time this year, dropping to 3-1 away from Lewisburg...They had a four-game road winning streak come to an end...The Bison have lost four consecutive games against the Crusaders...Bucknell had a 10-0 lead with just seconds remaining in the first half, but Holy Cross scored 31 consecutive points to pull away...A.J. Kizekai recorded 254 all-purpose yards and caught a touchdown pass...The 254 all-purpose yards were a season-high and the ninth-best mark in Bucknell annals...Kizekai is fifth in the nation with 182.1 all-purpose yards per game, and is seven all-purpose yards short of 4,000 in his career...He had 119 kickoff return yards, marking the third time in four weeks that Kizekai has topped 100 yards in kickoff returns...Kizekai is second on Bucknell's all-time kickoff return yards list with 1,829 yards, just 14 yards behind Dan Scocca's 18-year old record...Quarterbacks Marcello Trigg and Andrew Lair both threw a touchdown pass...It was Lair's first touchdown pass since 2006...Greg Jones had seven tackles and an interception to lead the defense...Will Carney connected on a career-long 47-yard field goal late in the first half...Shaun Pasternak caught his eighth touchdown of the season, two shy of the school record...Pasternak leads the Patriot League and is 16th in the country with 93.5 receiving yards per game. Marist (3-6) at Georgetown (1-7, 0-4) Series Georgetown, 9-2 Marist Head Coach Jim Parady, Maine, 1983 Georgetown Head Coach Kevin Kelly, Springfield, 1982 Georgetown tries to snap a seven-game losing streak when it hosts Marist on Saturday...The Hoyas fell at Marist, 37-34, in the only triple overtime game in Patriot League history last season...Each of the last two contests have been decided by three points...Georgetown's only losses to Marist came on the road in overtime in 2001 and 2007...Georgetown is the fourth Patriot League team to play Marist this season, with Lafayette, Bucknell and Fordham all posting victories thus far...Patriot League teams are 17-2 all-time against Marist. Georgetown Notebook Georgetown fell to 0-4 in League play with a 33-13 loss to Lehigh on Saturday...The Hoyas are 0-4 in League action for the second time in the last three years...Georgetown opened up a 13-7 lead in the first quarter, with a touchdown pass from Keerome Lawrence to Kenny Mitchell and a touchdown run by Keion Wade...Wade had 69 rushing yards and a touchdown, while Lawrence threw for 106 yards and the touchdown while also rushing for 57 yards... Chris Rau led the Hoya defense with 12 tackles and an interception... Rau had at least 10 tackles for the second time in the last three games...Mitchell recorded 160 all-purpose yards...Georgetown held a slim 330-326 advantage in total yardage, but lost its seventh consecutive game...Georgetown is second nationally in fewest yards penalized per game.
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