Oct. 28, 2006

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HAMILTON, N.Y. (www.lafayette.edu) - Senior tailback Jonathan Hurt had 233 all-purpose yards and scored three touchdowns, two on career-long plays from scrimmage, to lead Lafayette (3-5, 2-1 PL) to a 27-10 win over Colgate (3-5, 2-1) on Saturday afternoon at Andy Kerr Stadium.

The victory is the Leopards' first over the Raiders since 1995, ends a five-game losing streak, and puts them back in the thick of the Patriot League championship race. Lafayette's last win, on Sept. 9 at Bucknell, was also its first league win this season.

Hurt scored on a 64-yard screen pass on the first play of the second quarter, an 80-yard run that put Lafayette ahead 17-7 late in the third, and a three-yard run on the first play of the fourth period. He ran for 158 yards on 19 carries and gained another 75 yards on two receptions, both career-highs.

Jordan Scott put Colgate on the board first with a four-yard run midway through the first quarter. Lafayette didn't pick up a first down until its fourth possession, when Brad Maurer hit Hurt with a swing pass for 11 yards, and Hurt went 64 yards for the touchdown three plays later.

Two exchanges of punts erased most of the second quarter before Marvin Clecidor intercepted a pass by Mike Saraceno and gave the Leopards the ball at the Colgate 44-yard line with 36 seconds left, but three incomplete passes and an illegal touching call wrapped up the half.

Lafayette made the first big play of the second half, as Saraceno completed a pass to David Morgan for a first down near midfield, but Clecidor knocked the ball out and Keith Bloom fell on it at the 43 yard-line. Pass plays to Joe Ort for 19 yards and Travis Hutson for nine yards on third-and-20 brought up a 43-yard field goal attempt by Rick Ziska, and the senior made the kick - only his third field goal of the season - to give Lafayette a 10-7 lead with exactly 8:00 on the clock in the third quarter.

Hurt put the Leopards ahead 17-7 with his 80-yard sprint with 2:21 left in the third, as he stepped out of a tackle at the 40 and went untouched down the left sideline.

Shaun Adair was the next Leopard to strike with a big play, as he fielded a punt by Colgate's Jason Sutton at the 40 and returned it to the Raiders' eight-yard line before Sutton bumped him out of bounds. Maurer carried for five yards on first down, and Hurt went in on the next play to stake Lafayette to a 24-7 advantage.

A 33-yard field goal by Mike Buck cut the lead to 24-10 with 11:47 remaining after Saraceno led a 12-play, 58-yard drive.

Lafayette took over at its own 11-yard line following the kickoff and embarked on a 15-play, 81-yard drive that drained 8:36 off the clock and included a half-dozen of the Leopards' 12 first downs in the game. Hurt started the march with a 16-yard run, and Lafayette didn't face a third down until it reached the red zone while running 14 of the 15 plays on the ground. Ziska capped the drive with a 25-yard field goal that extended the advantage to 27-10 with 3:11 left.

Colgate moved inside the Leopards' 10-yard line on its final possession before the defense held, with Nigel Bryant stopping Saraceno two yards short of the goal line on the final play.

Lafayette will travel to Fordham for a 1 p.m. start next Saturday in the Bronx as the calendar turns to November.

Game notes
* Hurt set his career-highs in rushing (157) and all-purpose (175) yards last week against Holy Cross. He scored multiple rushing touchdowns for the 10th time and went over the 100-yard mark for the seventh time.
* Hurt's previous longest career plays both came against Lehigh last season - the 37-yard pass from Pat Davis that he caught for the game-wining score, and a 62-yard run in the first quarter.
* The senior tailback jumped from 10th to eighth on Lafayette's career rushing list, passing Rodger Shepko '83 and Nick Kowgios '85. He has 2,160 yards in his career, two more than Kowgios, who had 2,158. He also moved within one career rushing touchdown of Tom Costello '92, who is fourth in Lafayette history with 28 rushing scores.
* Sophomore D.J. Brown earned his first career start on the offensive line, opening up at right guard. Classmate Will Orozco also received the first extensive action of his career, playing most of the contest at left guard.
* Two Leopards had career games in the secondary - junior safety Marcel Quarterman and sophomore corner Marvin Clecidor.
* Quarterman had nine solo tackles, including a seven-yard tackle for a loss of Colgate tailback Jordan Scott. Quarterman also made a huge stop on the Raiders' first possession when he hit Scott at the line of scrimmage on fourth-and-one from the five to keep Colgate out of the end zone.
* Clecidor hit the trifecta for a defensive player, with an interception, a forced fumble and a sack, which came on Colgate's final possession.
* Andy Romans made nine tackles, the first time he hasn't had double-figures in a game he has completed as a starter. Kyle Sprenkle also had a strong game, with seven tackles (five solo), including two for a loss.
* Ziska hadn't been called upon to kick a field goal in a month, since Lafayette's game at Princeton on Sept. 23, but hit both field goals and three extra points against Colgate. His first kick, a 43-yard effort from the right hash, gave the Leopards a 10-7 lead that they would not relinquish. He also punted six times for an average of 39.0 yards, with a long of 47.