EASTON, Pa. – Colgate snapped Lafayette's three-game conference win streak with a 16-0 final on Saturday afternoon on Senior Day at Fisher Stadium.
The Leopards move to 3-2 in Patriot League play, heading into the regular-season finale Nov. 23 at Lehigh in the 155
th Meeting of college football's most-played rivalry. The Leopards need a win in Bethlehem, Pa. to stay in the hunt for the Patriot League title, as Holy Cross (4-1), Lehigh (3-2) and Bucknell (3-2) are all in the mix for at least a share, with only Lafayette and Holy Cross in the running for the Patriot League's automatic qualifier for the FCS Playoffs. Lafayette needs a win and a Holy Cross home loss vs. Georgetown to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2013.
On Saturday, Colgate's defense limited Lafayette to 248 yards of total offense and 1-of-15 on third down. Meanwhile the Raiders' offense possessed the ball for nearly seven minutes more than the Leopards. Lafayette freshman QB
Keegan Shoemaker (12-34-1) passed for 117 yards and ran for 49 more. Shoemaker completed passes to seven receivers, but was without top targets
Nick Pearson,
Zadok Scott,
Joe Gillette and
Quinn Revere.
Defensively, Lafayette held Colgate (4-8, 3-3) to 224 yards of total offense, the best mark for the Leopard defense this season by 40 yards (Georgetown). Junior LB
Major Jordan made 11 stops while his freshman counterpart,
Marco Olivas, made 10 tackles and registered 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack.
It was a low-scoring game throughout with Lafayette trailing 6-0 at halftime. The Leopards were not without opportunities in the first half. After a three-and-out on the first offensive possession, Lafayette recovered a fumble on a punt and took over at the Colgate 39. The Leopards picked up a first down before being forced to punt for a second time.
Colgate scored the only points of the first half just before the end of the first quarter. A 27-yard completion from Grant Breneman (14-21-0 for 129 yards) to Malik Twyman set up the score. Tyman's subsequent 13-yard rush was initially ruled a touchdown, but overruled on replay. On the next play, Breneman punched it in to cap a 59-yard drive over 3:17. Senior DL
Ryan Barnett blocked the PAT.
Five minutes into the second quarter, Lafayette forced a punt and took over at its own 21-yard line. The drive started with a 36-yard strike to a diving
Julian Spigner. The Leopards picked up two more first downs, but faced 4
th-and-2 at the Colgate 20. On the play, Shoemaker inched forward one yard, but was short of the first down.
Lafayette's offense got the ball back with 2:20 left in the half, still trailing 6-0. Shoemaker hit
Jordan Hull (18 yards),
Jake Taggart (11 yards) and
Selwyn Simpson (11 yards) for first downs as the Leopards efficiently moved the ball. Lafayette faced a 4
th-and-1 situation at the Colgate five-yard line and Simpson picked up the requisite yard. On the next play, Leopards freshman WR
Julius Young fumbled a handoff, ending the scoring chance with 17 seconds left in the half.
As Colgate took over to start the second half, the Raiders ran eight minutes off the clock, covering 68 yards on 14 plays. Lafayette's defense was backed up against its own goal line, but Olivas and
Billy Shaeffer (7 tackles) stuffed the Colgate ball carrier at the one-yard line.
On the third play of the ensuing drive, Shoemaker was picked off by Collin Heard, who had dropped an interception in the first half. Heard returned the pick 16 yards. The Raiders converted the opportunity, scoring on an 11-yard fake reverse run by Twyman to lead 13-0 with 5:17 in the third.
On the next four possessions, the teams exchanged punts. The next score did not come until the 4:32 mark in the fourth quarter when Chris Puzzi hit a 25-yard field goal that stretched Colgate's lead to 16-0 and ran five minutes off the clock.
Lafayette's final possession covered 46 yards on 12 plays but ended at the Colgate 37-yard line near the two-minute mark.
Lafayette (3-8, 3-2) will look to rebound when it travels to Lehigh for a 12:30 p.m. kick at Goodman Stadium.
