Oct. 16, 2010
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EASTON, Pa. -- Lafayette secured its first victory of the season with a 28-21 decision over Stony Brook on Saturday afternoon at Fisher Stadium. Freshman tailback Pat Mputu rushed for 102 yards and the Lafayette defense held the Stony Brook rushing game, which was averaging 216 yards on the ground, to 159 yards.
Senior wide receiver Mitchell Bennett accounted for two touchdowns and a two-point conversion while Davis Rodriguez added a pair of field goals, including a fourth-quarter score.
Early on in the first quarter, Stony Brook converted a pair of third downs and marched deep into Lafayette territory at the Lafayette 11. The Lafayette defense made a stand and forced a field goal attempt. Defensive linemen Michael Phillips and Rick Lyster broke through and blocked the kick which Kyle Simmons recovered and returned 12 yards to the Lafayette 41-yard line.
Lafayette drove 35 yards in the waning minutes of the first quarter before an O'Neil pass to Hayes and his subsequent fumble turned the ball over to the Seawolves on the Stony Brook nine-yard line. O'Neil finished the day 15-of-24 for 142 yards two touchdowns.
The Lafayette defense forced a punt into the swirling wind and the Leopards took over at the Stony Brook 34. Three straight carries by freshman TB Marcellus Irving accounted for 17 yards, but two penalties put Lafayette 2nd-and-19 on the 21-yard line. O'Neil found Bennett across the middle for the score and a 7-0 lead with 11:56 left in the second quarter.
Stony Brook (2-4) responded with an 11-play, 69-yard drive, culminating with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Michael Coulter to Chris Fenelon with 6:52 left in the half. Brock Jackolski had 35 rushing yards on the drive, including a 22-yard scamper that picked up a 3rd-and-2.
Lafayette added a late first-half score, aided by a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that followed a Stony Brook sack that would have placed Lafayette out of field-goal range on a windy day. Instead, Rodriguez was left with a 30-yarder which he converted for a 10-7 lead at halftime. The Seawolves were penalized 11 times for 119 yards.
In the third quarter, Lafayette took a 10-point lead, scoring on an eight-yard touchdown pass to Bennett - the first time in his career that he had two TD grabs in a game. The Leopards were 1st-and-goal at the eight, but a holding penalty, left them 1st-and-goal at the 18. O'Neil and the Leopards scored on the jump ball pass to the 6-4 Bennett to lead 17-7 with 6:39 left in the third.
Four and a half minutes into the fourth quarter, a one-yard run by Coulter cut the Lafayette lead to 17-14. The drive was a lengthy one for the Seawolves who used 16 plays to cover 74 yards in 6:05.
O'Neil, who had taken a knee to the helmet, did not come out for the Leopards' next drive, giving way to senior QB Marc Quilling. The Leopards used a steady diet of the run game to move the ball down the field. Layton reeled in a crucial 3rd-and-9 with five minutes to go. The Leopards settled for a 29-yard field goal on the drive, but the important outcome was the fact that the drive ate up 7:52 on 14 plays and left Lafayette with a 20-14 lead with 2:43 left in the game.
That score gave the Lafayette defense some room to work with and it paid off. Stony Brook started its drive at the 15, but a pair of sacks (one by Leroy Butler and one by Mike Grimaldi) gave Stony Brook a 4th-and-24 at the team's own 1-yard line. The Lafayette defense stopped Stony Brook's last gasp.
Lafayette wasted no time, taking a two-touchdown lead scoring on Quilling's QB sneak to lead 28-14. The Seawolves added a score with nine seconds left and attempted an on-sides field goal, but the Leopards recovered to end the game with the 28-21 win.
Defensively, Brandon Ellis made a career-best 16 tackles with two pass breakups from his defensive back spot while senior co-captain Mike Schmidlein added 12 tackles at linebacker, despite battling a recurring shoulder injury.
Lafayette (1-5) travels to Fordham one week from today in a 1 p.m. kick-off.
NOTES:
Starters Kevin Doty (TE) and Jake Crooks (OT) were limited to special teams action on Saturday while tailbacks Jerome Rudolph and Alan Elder both missed the game due to injury. Sophomore CB Kyni Scott also sat out due to injury. Leopard wide receiver Mark Layton, who made five catches for 46 yards, played a significant amount of snaps in the defensive backfield to aid the ailing unit.
Jet Kollie, the reigning Patriot League Special Teams Player of the Week served as the special teams captain for the game.
