Oct. 23, 2004
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BRONX, N.Y. (www.lafayette.edu) - Sophomore quarterback Brad Maurer ran 15 times for 136 yards, including touchdown runs of 13 and 71 yards, and completed 12-of-15 passes for 90 yards in Lafayette's 35-20 win at Fordham on Saturday.
Lafayette improves to 6-2 overall with the win, the program's best mark through eight games since the 1988 Colonial League champion Leopards opened 6-1-1. More importantly, Lafayette is 3-0 and alone in first place in the Patriot League. The Leopards have not been 3-0 in the league since 1994.
Joe McCourt ran for 103 yards, his fourth straight 100-yard rushing performance, while junior defensive end Andrew Brown recovered a fumble in the end zone for a score, picked off a pass and made 10 tackles.
Brown keyed a 40-second flurry in the first quarter that featured touchdowns on three consecutive snaps from scrimmage.
His interception of a Derric Daniels screen pass set up a seven-yard touchdown run by McCourt at the 7:15 mark of the first quarter. McCourt gashed the middle for 13 yards on second down following the turnover, then slipped off the left side untouched for the score.
A holding penalty on the kickoff and a false start backed Fordham (4-3, 1-1) up to its own three-yard line. Daniels fumbled the snap on first-and-14, and Brown fell on the loose ball in the end zone for his second touchdown of the year.
Through eight games, Brown has three fumble recoveries, two interceptions and a pair of touchdowns. He scored the go-ahead touchdown in Lafayette's 17-6 win at Georgetown on Sept. 11.
Fordham wasted no time answering the Leopards' second score. On first down, Daniels dumped a screen pass to Jamaal Hunte who broke to the right sideline, then cut back the width of the field en route to a 75-yard touchdown catch-and-run.
Fordham's Micah Clukey kicked field goals of 20 and 39 yards to cut the Leopards' lead to one, 14-13, at halftime.
Lafayette took control of the contest in the third quarter behind a stingy defense and the playmaking of its sophomore quarterback. While Maurer was leading the offense to touchdowns on three of its first four second-half possessions, the defense forced a pair of punts, a turnover on downs and a missed 49-yard field goal attempt.
Maurer ran three times for 26 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown scamper, and hit Joe Ort on a 25-yard toss on Lafayette's first possession of the second half. On third-and-six following a Fordham punt, Maurer turned a draw play into a 71-yard sprint to the end zone. He then put the game out of reach by engineering a 12-play , 75-yard drive to open the fourth quarter. Maurer ran six times for 50 yards on the march and completed passes to Chad Walker (four yards) and David Nelson (seven yards) before McCourt found the end zone from two yards out. Rick Ziska's fifth point-after of the day put Lafayette up 35-13 with 10:11 remaining.
Fordham added a late touchdown on a 42-yard pass from Daniels to Rashawn Hayes.
McCourt garnered his 103 yards on 25 carries. He now has 4,079 career rushing yards. Maurer ran for 146 yards on 10 carries after halftime and spread his 12 completions around to six different receivers.
Defensively, Wes Erbe made a season-high 11 tackles, while Maurice Bennett and Blake Costanzo added 10 apiece. Bennett has been in on at least 10 tackles each of the past four games.
The Leopards held Fordham to just 70 rushing yards on 40 attempts. Daniels was 16-of-37 passing for 282 yards with the two scores.
Lafayette is off next weekend before traveling to defending Patriot League champ Colgate on Nov. 6. The trip to Colgate wraps up a five-week, four-game road swing for the Leopards.
