Aug. 25, 2004

EASTON, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) - Lafayette ran nearly 90 plays in a two-hour, scripted scrimmage at Fisher Field on Wednesday, with the defense controlling play for most of the session. Both the offensive and defensive units were shorthanded due to injuries, resulting in a number of underclassmen seeing time with the first units. The offense threw the ball roughly three out of every four plays, giving the young quarterbacks and receivers an opportunity to work under live conditions. Other than a handful of option keepers and quarterback draws, junior Alfred Belton and freshman Anthony D'Urso took all of the carries out of the backfield. The Leopard offense found the end zone just once, on the third series of the scrimmage. Junior Pat Davis rolled to his left and found freshman Duaeno Dorsey, who turned a hook route into a 52-yard touchdown catch-and-run. A 20-yard completion from Davis to Romar Drake set up the score. Michael Bernhard nearly put the offense in the end zone on his second drive of the day, a down-and-distance series that started at midfield. He hit Kevin Logan over the middle for 35 yards, then moved the ball inside the 10 on consecutive quarterback draws. An incompletion and failed fourth-down attempt, however, stalled the drive. Brad Maurer and Michael DiPaola both moved the offense inside the 10 before the defense stiffened. Maurer completed a pass to Travis Hutson and ran twice to move the ball to the seven, but four straight runs netted two yards to end the threat. DiPaola's pass on fourth-and-two from the six skipped off a receiver's fingers to end the drive. The defense held the running game in check most of the afternoon. Other than a carry of, unofficially, 14 yards by Belton, the offense's longest run was an eight-yard scamper by Davis in the early-going. Sophomore end Keith Bloom made a pair of plays in the backfield, collecting a safety with the offense backed inside its own one-yard line and making a tackle for loss after the offense had converted a fourth down. Following Bloom's tackle in the backfield, the defense forced a pair of incompletions to stifle the drive. Just when the offense was beginning to move the ball on the ground, sophomore tackle Mike Gervasio sacked Davis to steal the momentum from the offense. Lafayette returns to the practice field on Thursday, practicing at 8:15 a.m. and again at 3:45 p.m. Preseason camp officially comes to a close on Sunday, with the Leopards opening the 2004 season at home against Marist on Sept. 4 at 1 p.m.