Sept. 3, 2005
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POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (www.lafayette.edu) - Jonathan Hurt had three rushing touchdowns and Lafayette scored 17 straight second-half points to break open a close game as the Leopards won at Marist, 40-21, in the season opener on Saturday night at Leonidoff Field.
Hurt put the Leopards on the board with a 10-yard run midway through the opening stanza. The six-play, 42-yard drive was set up by a 36-yard punt return by Brandon Stanford, who had 89 yards on five returns for the game.
A sack by Blake Costanzo, who had 11 tackles and got to Marist quarterback James Luft twice, forced a Red Foxes punt from their own four-yard line. The kick went out-of-bounds at the 31, setting up the first of two 42-yard field goals by Rick Ziska which gave the Leopards a 10-0 advantage.
Lafayette went up 16-0 for a moment early in the second quarter when Brad Maurer dropped back to throw, found a seam and raced down the sideline for what appeared to be a 27-yard touchdown run. The play was nullified by a penalty flag for holding, however, and the drive ended with an incomplete pass on fourth-and-long with the Leopards in between ideal field goal and punting distances.
A fumble by Hurt gave Marist the ball at the Lafayette 22-yard line with 8:52 to go in the first half. Luft connected with Guy Smith for a 12-yard score on the fourth play of the drive to pull the Red Foxes within 10-7.
Lafayette answered on its ensuing possession, marching 62 yards in eight plays. Following a pair of conversions on third-and-short, Hurt went 38 yards off left tackle for his second touchdown of the game. Ziska's extra point put the Leopards ahead 17-7 with 4:18 to play before the break.
Marist received the second half kickoff and faced a third-and-six from the 20 when Luft found Tim Traynor over the middle. Traynor slipped a pair of tackles and found daylight, racing downfield for a 58-yard catch-and-run. A roughing the passer penalty on the same play moved the football to the 11-yard line. Maurice Bennett forced a fumble on the second down play, but Obozua Ehikioya fell on the ball at the 11. On third down, Luft connected with Prince Prempeh with a scoring pass to cut the deficit to 17-14 with 11:56 showing on the clock.
A pair of passes from Maurer to David Nelson, for 15 and 14 yards, were sandwiched around an 11-yard run by Maurer to move the ball to the Marist 30. Two runs by Alfred Belton and a keeper by Maurer netted five yards, and Ziska's field goal attempt from 42 yards was true to push the edge to 20-14.
Torian Johnson made arguably the biggest play of the game in the final minute of the third quarter, as he stepped in front of a pass and went 36 yards with the interception return. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Marist following the play put the ball on the 11-yard line. After Hurt carried for seven and then three yards to give Lafayette first-and-goal from the one, he went over the pile for his third score of the game on the first play of the fourth quarter.
A short kick-off gave Marist possession at the 42, but the Leopard defense held after giving up a first down. Stephan Milone, who punted nine times on the evening, pinned Lafayette inside its own 20. Maurer ran for 37 yards on a third-and-seven from the 33, and Anthony D'Urso went 26 yards on the next play to set up Maurer's four-yard scoring toss to Chad Walker. Walker had a pair of huge blocks on the previous two plays to spring Maurer and D'Urso. Ziska's fourth point-after gave Lafayette a 34-14 advantage with 9:08 to go.
Marist pulled within 34-21 with just under four minutes left on a one-yard run by Ehikioya that capped a nine-play, 46-yard drive. Lafayette closed the scoring on its next possession after Stanford recovered the onsides kick. Hurt went 23 yards after being hit at the line of scrimmage on the first play, and Pat Davis hit Duaeno Dorsey with a 19-yard touchdown pass one play later. The extra point was blocked to make the final score 40-21.
Lafayette racked up 263 yards on 43 carries, with all three tailbacks (Belton, Hurt and D'Urso), along with Maurer, netting more than 40 yards. Maurer completed 12-of-17 passes for 111 yards while covering 63 more on the ground. Seven different players caught passes, including three receptions each by Nelson and Kyle Roeder.
The linebacking corps of Bennett, Costanzo and Dion Witherspoon each collected at least one sack, and combined for 28 tackles. Witherspoon had nine stops and four tackles for a loss, while Bennett made seven solo hits and had eight tackles overall.
Luft was 18-for-27 for 189 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Ehikioya rushed 20 times for 67 yards, and Smith caught four balls for 41 yards. Milone averaged 40.9 yards per punt, including a 63-yarder.
Lafayette will host Richmond on Saturday, Sept. 10 for its home opener, and the first of seven contests to be played at Fisher Field in 2005. Kick-off is set for 1:00 p.m. on RCN Youth Day.
