WORCESTER, Mass. – Lafayette churned out the signature victory thus far in the John Troxell era, a 38-35 Patriot League win over No. 11 Holy Cross on Saturday. Soph. RB Jamar Curtis carried the ball 30 times for 229 yards and punched in a pair of scores as the Leopards' offense was up to the task on a rainy and windy afternoon at Fitton Field.
 
For the 6-1 Leopards, it is the first triumph over a nationally-ranked team since 2013 (a win over Lehigh) and today's victory guarantees a winning season on College Hill for the first time since 2009. In addition, Lafayette snapped Holy Cross' 18-game Patriot League win streak, and improved to 2-0 in Patriot League play. 
 
The Leopards controlled the game from start to finish thanks to a balanced offensive attack and a defense that made timely plays. Leopard offensive coordinator T.J. DiMuzio paired Curtis' 229 yards (the most for a Leopard since 2014) with an efficient effort from QB Dean DeNobile, who was 12-of-17 for 262 yards with a pair of passing touchdowns and one more on the ground.
 
The teams traded first quarter scores. A 40-yard pass from DeNobile to Elijah Steward set up the Leopards' score. Curtis picked up 23 yards on the drive, including a one-yard TD run off the right end to claim the lead at 8:34.
 
The Crusaders responded with a drive fueled solely by the ground game. Holy Cross QB Matthew Sluka ran for 51 yards on the drive and finished it with a 29-yard score to knot the game at 7-7 with 4:55 left in the first.
 
The Leopards re-took the lead just before the end of the first quarter. With the ball near midfield, DeNobile connected with Steward for 40 yards down to the seven-yard line. Steward finished the day with five catches for 99 yards. Three plays later, DeNobile punched it in from a yard out to give Lafayette the lead 14-7 at the end of the first quarter.
 
The momentum stayed with the Leopards, clad in all white for their second game on grass this season. They extended the lead five minutes into second quarter when soph. TE Dallas Holmes got behind the Holy Cross coverage and DeNobile hit him for a 53-yard TD. Jack Simonetta's PAT stretched the lead to 21-7 where it remained through halftime.
 
In the second half, the Leopards' opening drive ended with a kick, a 32-yard field goal by Simonetta that expanded the lead to 24-7. The drive ran nearly six minutes off the clock, covering 15 plays.
 
Just over a minute later, Sluka brought the Crusaders back within 10, breaking away for a 70-yard TD run. He finished the game with 330 rushing yards and three touchdowns.  
 
A minute later, the track meet continued. Lafayette freshman Troy Bruce returned the kick off 40 yards to midfield. Two plays later, rookie Carson Persing separated himself from a defender and was on the business end of a 43-yard TD strike from DeNobile, expanding Lafayette's lead to 31-14.
 
The No. 11 Crusaders rallied, with Sluka running in a four-yard touchdown just before the end of the third quarter. Eight minutes into the final quarter, Jordan Fuller pulled the hosts within three points (31-28), scoring on a 19-yard run up the middle.
 
The Leopards got the ball back with eight minutes left in the game and proceeded to pound it on the ground. DeNobile handed the ball off to Curtis eight straight times, picking up three first downs before the sophomore broke away for a 41-yard score that gave Lafayette some breathing room.
 
Holy Cross added a score with a minute left and went for the onside kick, but the Leopards recovered to finish off the Crusaders, 38-35.
 
Defensively, senior captain Marco Olivas finished with a team-high nine tackles while Saiku White and Billy Shaeffer added seven apiece and Shaeffer added 1.5 sacks.  
 
Lafayette stays on the road to close out October, traveling to Georgetown on Saturday for a 12:30 p.m. kickoff.

Notes: Curtis' 229-yard game was the first 200-yard rushing game since 2014 and the sixth game of his career with 100 or more rushing yards. Curtis needs 73 rushing yards to be the first Leopard since Ross Scheuerman in 2014 to run for 1,000 yards in a season.
 
The Leopards have won five straight games for the first time since reeling off seven in a row in 2009.
 
Lafayette has not turned over the ball in the last four games.
 
The Leopards are off to a 2-0 Patriot League start for the first time since 2017.
 
When the Leopards emerged for warmups on Saturday, they were promised "a long day." The game duration was just three hours and 16 minutes, just the third longest game of the season.