ALBANY, N.Y. – Albany scored on the first play of the game and never looked back in a 36-7 final over Lafayette on Saturday at Casey Field.
 
A pair of freshmen, DL Damon Washington and LB Marco Olivas, stood out statistically for the Leopards, combining for 26 tackles. Washington, who made his first career start, had a career-high 14 tackles while Olivas' even dozen was also a career-high. Senior Ryan Barnett registered six stops with a pair of sacks.
 
Freshman QB Keegan Shoemaker was 22-of-37 for 230 yards, with seven of those completions going to rookie WR Joe Gillette for 105 yards and his second-straight 100-yard game.
 
Albany (2-2) seized the momentum at the opening whistle, as Donovan McDonald took the opening kick-off at the two-yard line and ran it back 98 yards for the TD.
 
Seven minutes later, another big play led to a second Albany score. QB Jeff Undercuffler hit a wide-open Karl Mofor for a 48-yard touchdown. Albany's Dylan Burns missed his second PAT of the day and Albany led 12-0.
 
The hosts added two more scores before the end of the first half. L.J. Wesneski broke away from a couple of would-be tacklers and crashed into the endzone for an 18-yard touchdown. Then, the Great Danes added a 26-yard field goal as time expired for the 22-0 halftime lead.
 
The Leopards got the offense going in the third quarter, taking advantage of a turnover when Otis Thrasher stripped the Albany ball carrier and Yasir Thomas was nearby to recover. Shoemaker picked up a key third down on the ensuing drive with a 19-yard pass to Gillette on 3^rd-and-11 at the Albany 40. Two plays later, John Gay finished the eight-play drive with a 14-yard scoring run, his third touchdown of the season. Lafayette trailed 22-7.
 
Albany answered with an eight-play, 60-yard drive at the end of the third quarter, finishing with a three-yard pass from Undercuffler to Murad Hussain for the 29-7 score. The final scoring play
came 3:26 into the final quarter as Undercuffler (19-25-1 for 212 yards 4, TD) threw a 14-yard touchdown.
 
Lafayette (0-4) returns home to host Penn on Sept. 28 at 3:30 p.m. on Homecoming Weekend.
 
NOTES:
 
Lafayette played without starters Keith Earle, Harrison Greenhill and Colin Hurlbrink on defense while the offensive line was missing Jake Marotti and Alex Barshaba.
 
Sophomore Joshua Roberts got the first start of his career at right tackle.