Oct. 21, 2006
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EASTON, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) - Holy Cross sophomore quarterback Dominic Randolph completed a school-record 34 passes for 352 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Crusaders to a 38-28 win at Lafayette's Fisher Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Randolph threw two touchdowns each to Ryan Maher (nine catches, 97 yards) and Jon Brock (6-79) and scored on a quarterback sneak in the first quarter. He attempted 46 passes and offset a rushing game that produced just 56 yards on 31 carries.
Holy Cross moves to 3-0 in the Patriot League (6-2 overall), following wins at Georgetown and Fordham. The Leopards, which have played the second-toughest schedule in the nation to date, fall to 1-1 in the PL and 2-5 overall with their fifth straight defeat.
Lafayette ran for 265 yards on 38 carries, led by senior Jonathan Hurt, who ran for a career-high 157 yards and two touchdowns and went over the 2,000-yard mark. Sophomore Maurice White gained 63 yards on six carries and scored the first touchdown of his career.
Sophomore linebacker Andy Romans finished with 18 tackles, the highest total by a Lafayette player since All-American Maurice Bennett had 19 stops against Harvard last season.
The Leopards opened the game exclusively on the ground, running for 151 yards on the first quarter, and put together touchdown drives on their first two possessions. The first march covered 77 yards on eight rushing plays, with Hurt gaining 37 yards on five carries and White running for 40 yards on three attempts, including the 21-yard touchdown that gave Lafayette a 7-0 lead less than four minutes in.
Holy Cross returned the ensuing kick to the Lafayette 49, but a four-yard loss and a 13-yard sack of Randolph by Justin Stovall set the Crusaders back 17 yards. Lafayette went 82 yards on 10 plays, and Brad Maurer scored on a quarterback sneak to put the Leopards up 14-0.
Holy Cross responded with the first of its six scoring drives, running 13 plays with the last producing a one-yard touchdown by Randolph.
Lafayette recaptured its 14-point lead with 7:07 left in the second quarter, as White did the heavy lifting with gains of 10 and 13 yards. An 11-yard pass from Maurer to Joe Ort gave the Leopards first-and-goal from the one, and Hurt went in on the next play.
Once again the Crusaders answered with a touchdown, with Randolph going 6-of-8 for 74 yards, and Brock caught a seven-yard pass for his first score of the game.
Randolph and the Holy Cross offense overcame a holding penalty that took a touchdown pass to Ryan Maher off the board on its second possession of the second half, and came back to Maher for a 14-yard score on third down two plays later to tie the game at 21-all. The Crusaders started the drive at midfield after winning an exchange of punts following the second half kickoff.
Hurt hit the 2,000-yard mark on the nose with his 31-yard touchdown run that put Lafayette back on top, 28-21, with 4:17 left to play in the third. Hurt, who had 155 yards in the game at the time, is the 10th player in Lafayette history to hit the rushing plateau.
Holy Cross rallied for the third straight time after a Lafayette score and tied the game at 28-all with a 70-yard drive, capped by Maher's second touchdown catch of the game on third-and-goal from the seven.
The ensuing kickoff produced what may have been the turning point in the game, as Randy Wright hit Tim Watson at the 26-yard line and forced a fumble, which Sean Lamkin recovered for Holy Cross. Randolph went to Maher for nine and eight yards before coming back to Brock, who hauled in an 11-yard touchdown pass that gave the Crusaders their first lead of the game at 35-28 with 12:24 remaining.
Three punts - two by the Leopards, and one by the Crusaders - gave Holy Cross the ball at its own 44 with 6:45 left, and Randolph's unit was able to erase most of the game clock while moving the ball in position for a clinching field goal. Mike DeSantis hit from 20 yards with 1:31 left to put Holy Cross ahead 38-28, and Maurer's final pass of the game was intercepted by Casey Gough deep in HC territory.
Lafayette will travel to Colgate next Saturday for a 1 p.m. game with the Raiders in a battle of teams which shared the Patriot League championship last season.
Game notes
* Lafayette's 265 rushing yards are the most since rolling up 279 yards on the ground in its 24-10 win over Lehigh in 2004. The Leopards ran for 344 yards the previous week vs. Holy Cross.
* Hurt's previous career-high was 149 yards, which he set on 29 carries against Columbia last season.
* Hurt now has six career games with 100 rushing yards and nine games with multiple rushing touchdowns. He moved into sole possesion of fifth on Lafayette's career rushing touchdown list with 25 scores.
* Hurt also set his career-best with 175 all-purpose yards, surpassing the 157 yards he had at Lehigh last year. The final 37 came on Pat Davis' fourth-down touchdown pass to Hurt which gave the Leopards a 23-19 win.
* White had 10 or more yards on four of his six rushing attempts. He entered with 51 yards on 11 carries.
* Maurer scored his 14th career rushing touchdown - one shy of forging a four-way tie for 10th in Lafayette's record books.
* Romans has 65 tackles in just over five games this season, and 10 or more stops in all five full games which he has played as a starter. He was credited with 2.0 tackles for a loss on one solo stop and two assists.
* Junior Marcel Quarterman, Lafayette's Rookie of the Year in 2004, made his first career start at safety and broke up two passes. Marvin Snipes (34) and Dan Liseno (32) extended their consecutive games started streaks, and Torian Johnson also started the 34th game of his career (non-consecutive).
* Joe McCourt '05 and Maurice Bennett '06 were two of nearly a dozen Lafayette greats that were introduced in a ceremony before the game.
* John T. (Jack) Bourger '71, James R. Fisher '77 and the F.M. Kirby Foundation Inc., the three lead donors for the Fisher Field at Fisher Stadium project, were honored during the coin toss.
