Nov. 1, 2003

Final Stats?|? Photo Gallery

EASTON, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) - Colgate raced to a 34-10 halftime lead, then withstood a furious second-half rally by Lafayette for a 47-31 win on Saturday.

Colgate (9-0 overall, 4-0 Patriot League) took the opening kickoff 79 yards in seven plays with Jamaal Branch scoring on a six-yard run. The point-after attempt was blocked and the Raiders led 6-0 less than three minutes into the contest.

Lafayette (3-5, 0-4) drove to the Colgate five-yard line on its initial possession, but had to settle for a 27-yard Mike Beatrice field goal.

Branch's second score of the quarter, a nine-yard run, and Lance Schwarzberg's PAT bumped the Colgate lead to 13-3.

After a Leopard fumble, Colgate moved to the Lafayette three-yard line. On third down, quarterback Chris Brown rolled to his right and was hit by Larry Johnson, who jarred the ball loose. Colgate receiver Luke Graham scooped the ball on one hop at the one-yard line and stepped into the end zone for the touchdown which made it 20-3 with 9:51 left in the second quarter.

On Lafayette's fourth play following the score, Sean McCune stepped in front of a pass intended for Tim Walsh and raced 32 yards down the sideline for the score. The Raiders added a 41-yard scoring pass from Brown to Graham, while Joe McCourt's one-yard plunge, which made the score 34-10, got the Leopards in the end zone just before halftime.

Glavic threw his second interception on the opening drive of the second half, giving Colgate the ball on its own 45. On fourth-and-two from the Lafayette 23, Brown found tight end John Frieser behind the secondary for the score.

Lafayette answered with an 11-play, 69-yard drive that concluded with sophomore tailback Justin Lauver's first career catch and touchdown. Beatrice's PAT cut the deficit to 41-17 with 4:54 left in the third.

The Leopard defense forced a fumble on the ensuing possession, and on fourth-and-nine Glavic found Archie Fisher for Lafayette's second score in 90 seconds. McCourt punched in the two-point conversion to make it 41-25.

Colgate lost 12 yards on the next possession and the Leopard offense took over at the Colgate 38. Five plays later, Glavic found Fisher on a fade route in the left corner of the end zone for a 13-yard score. The two-point conversion failed and the deficit was just 10, 41-31, with 14:54 remaining.

The Raiders put the game out of reach on an eight-yard touchdown run by Brown with 10:14 left.

Glavic completed 33-of-56 passes for 392 yards and three touchdowns. His 56 attempts set a new school record, while his 33 completions were one off the school mark. McCourt carried 21 times for 77 yards and caught seven passes for 48 yards. Nine different Leopards caught a pass.

Branch ran for 200 yards on 29 attempts, while Brown completed 13-of-18 passes for 202 yards and two scores. Graham caught six passes for 94 yards.

Branch now has 1,496 yards this season, the third-best single-season total in Colgate history.

Defensively, Blake Costanzo and Maurice Bennett tallied 13 and 11 tackles, respectively, for the Leopards, while Colgate's Tem Lukabu was in on 14 stops.

Colgate hosts Lehigh next Saturday, while Lafayette welcomes Bucknell to Fisher Field at 12:30 p.m.