EASTON, Pa. – Colgate handed Lafayette football its first Patriot League loss of the season on Saturday, beating the No. 16/20 Leopards 37-34 in overtime on Saturday at Fisher Stadium.
 
It was a tale of two halves for Lafayette (6-2, 3-1) which lead 17-0 at halftime but was outscored 37-17 in the second half and overtime. The Leopards, who played without two of their top three tailbacks in Jamar Curtis and Jermaine Conyers, saw the continued emergence of rookie Troy Bruce at the position as he finished the game with 26 carries for 138 yards (both career highs) and a touchdown.
 
Sophomore quarterback Dean DeNobile threw for 237 yards and three touchdowns while connecting on 29-of-44 attempts with one interception. Colgate's Jake Stearney came off the bench to complete 13-of-21 for 146 yards and three scores. The Leopards lost the turnover battle, handing it over three times in a game in which just 18 seconds separated the teams in terms of time of possession.
 
Lafayette led for the entire first half, initially scoring at 6:29 in the first on Jack Simonetta's 37-yard field goal. Five minutes later, Lafayette extended the lead to 10-0. DeNobile threaded a pass over a Colgate defender's shoulder to rookie Carson Persing for a 39-yard score that held through the end of the first quarter.
 
The Maroon and White padded their lead mid-way through the second quarter. Junior Chris Carasia leaped over a defender and pulled down a 12-yard touchdown pass. The scoring play capped a 94-yard scoring drive, the Leopards' longest scoring march of the season. Lafayette led 17-0 at halftime.
 
In the second half, Colgate scored 21 straight points to rip the momentum from the Leopards. The first touchdown was a 28-yard pass from Stearney to Winston Moore to cut the lead to 17-7. The second score was set up by a 43-yard flea flicker from Stearney to Treyvhon Saunders (19-113). Two plays later Brendan Cassmajor took a direct snap into the endzone. Lafayette held the lead 17-14 mid-way through the third quarter.
 
With 6:05 left in the third quarter, Colgate's offense got the ball at the Lafayette 33-yard line after a 16-yard punt. It didn't take long for Raiders to take their first lead of the game, as Stearney hit Saunders for a 20-yard touchdown.
 
On the ensuing Lafayette possession, the Leopards went back to the ground and Bruce was up to the task. He ran six times for 65 yards, with his final carry for four yards into the end zone as Lafayette re-took the lead 24-21.
 
As the fourth quarter started, Colgate re-captured the lead with a 13-play scoring march concluded by a Chris Gee three-yard run at 10:48. The Raiders stretched their advantage to 31-24 with six minutes left in the game as Jacob Jaworski converted a 31-yard field goal on a drive that had been kept alive by a 16-yard Stearney run on fourth down.
 
Trailing 31-24, Lafayette got the ball back with 3:28 left in the game, needing a touchdown. The Leopards went to the air. DeNobile completed six passes for 69 yards (including a pair of fourth-down conversions) with the final strike hitting Elijah Steward for five yards and a touchdown. Simonetta's PAT on the hold of Darren Wu was good, tying the game with 24 seconds left and sending it to overtime.  
 
In OT, Colgate won the toss and chose to go on defense first. The Raiders held Lafayette to a 22-yard field goal that briefly gave the Leopards a 34-31 lead. Like Lafayette, Colgate began its possession at the 25-yard line. Gee ran twice for a total of 12 yards before a Stearney to Hutchison 13-yard TD pass ended the game, 37-34.
 
Defensively, the crew of Billy Shaeffer, Tim O'Hearn, Preston Forney and Saiku White combined for 26 tackles and five tackles for loss. Shaeffer accounted for seven tackles and three tackles for loss, including his team-leading ninth sack of the season. Junior LB Reggie Thomas, who has seen more time at linebacker as of late, chipped in with five tackles.
 
Lafayette, which remains in the hunt for a Patriot League title, next hosts Fordham on Nov. 11 on Senior Day at Fisher Stadium with a matchup with Lehigh in #Rivalry159 set for Nov. 18.

NOTES:
Lafayette 2013 Patriot League team was honored during Saturday's game.

It was the first overtime game for the Leopards since 2017. Lafayette is now 3-9 all-time in overtime.

Shaeffer's ninth sack of the season is the most for any Leopard since 2000 and the second most in a season at Lafayette.