Complete Game Notes

The Match-Up: No. 25 Lafayette makes its first trip to Richmond in two decades (first as a Patriot League opponent) with a 2 p.m. Saturday match-up. Both teams are riding two-game win streaks, with the Leopards winning at Holy Cross (21-13) and at home vs. Colgate (59-42) while Richmond beat Fordham (17-14) at home and Georgetown (31-24) in D.C. Both teams also have rivalry games slated for week 12 with Lafayette hosting Lehigh in Rivalry 161 and Richmond traveling to William & Mary.

Top 25: Lafayette jumped into the Top 25 polls for the first time this season on Nov. 10 following the Colgate win. The Leopards' 2025 poll debut comes at No. 25 in the AFCA FCS Coaches Poll, while they continue to receive votes (69) in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll.

Last Time Out: The Lafayette offense erupted for 533 yards and 59 points in a win over Colgate. Junior RB Kente Edwards had 260 yards on 20 carries for three TDs to go along with senior QB Dean DeNobile's day that included four passing touchdowns. Avery Jones registered two momentum-shifting interceptions in the first half, both resulting in points and the Leopards' largest first-half offensive output (38 points).

Monday Spoils: After the Colgate win, juniors Kente Edwards and Jack Simonetta were named the Patriot League Offensive and Special Teams Players of the Week, respectively. It's the fifth award of the season for Edwards who ran for a career-best 260 yards. For Simonetta, who was 8-8 on PAT and booted a career-long 49-yard FG, it's his first award of the season and third of his career.

A Grand Performance: Kente Edwards' 260-yard day vs. Colgate pushed him over 1,000 yards for the season (accomplishing the feat in seven and a half games). Edwards has 1,032 yards, marking the third straight season that Lafayette has featured a 1,000-yard rusher. He is averaging 129 yards per game and 7.8 yards per carry to go along with 15 TDs . 

Getting the Point(s): With two games remaining, Lafayette has eclipsed its 2024 offensive points total (307) with 336. Colgate was the Leopards' fourth game in 2025 scoring 40-plus. Within the Patriot League, the Maroon and White boast the second-leading scoring offense, averaging 33.6 ppg (Lehigh, 33.7 ppg). Lafayette's sits 26th in the NCAA.

Patriot, Past, Present and Future: Lafayette is 5-0 in Patriot League play for the first time since 1994. The Leopards finished conference action 5-0 in 1994, 1992 and 1988, only playing five league games for the season. Lafayette is playing seven conference games in 2025 (the first time since 2003), with the addition of Richmond and will play nine league games in 2026 when Villanova and William & Mary join Richmond and Georgetown as associate members. 

With a Win on Saturday, Lafayette Would: 
• notch program win No. 714
• improve to 6-0 in Patriot League play for the first time in Lafayette history
• win four straight in the series vs. Richmond which dates back to 1922
• post three-straight victories for second time this season
• manage the program's second-highest season win total (8) in John Troxell's four seasons
TD Records: Lafayette's single-season touchdowns record is 16 shared by Joe McCourt (2004), Tom Costello (1989) and Jamar Curtis (2024). With his 13th, 14th and 15th TDs of the season vs. Colgate, Kente Edwards moved into fourth, needing one more score to tie for first and two more to hold the record on his own. 

Getting His Kicks: Junior K Jack Simonetta booted a career-long 49-yard field goal against Colgate, to improve to 5-of-5 on the season. It was the longest of his career by nine yards. He is also currently 45-of-46 on PAT's this season. 

Edwards Nationally Ranked: Junior RB Kente Edwards leads the nation in rushing yards per carry (7.82), is third in the nation in rushing TDs (15) and scoring (11.3), fourth in rushing yards per game (129), sixth in all-purpose yards (137.4) and eighth in total rushing yards (1,032).

On the Sideline: John Troxell '94 is in his fourth season at the helm of his alma mater's football program, a tenure that includes a Patriot League title and NCAA playoff berth in his second season. That 2023 campaign saw the Leopards post the most wins in a campaign in more than 40 years. The team went from 4-7 (3-3 PL) in year one (2022) to 9-3 (5-1 PL) in year two (2023). Both seasons were capped by wins over archrival Lehigh. During his time on College Hill, Troxell's teams have finished .500 or better in three of four seasons.
    Troxell was named the Patriot League Coach of the Year in 2023 and was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award.

Gadson Goin' Clubbin': Soph. CB Ryan Gadson has been one of the top defensive contributors, despite suffering an injury in week two that required surgery and forced him to miss two games. He has returned to the lineup with his wrist/hand taped like a club and has played in the last five games. The Fort Myers, Fla. native is second on the team in tackles (51) and has interceptions in each of his last two games. He is tied for first in the Patriot League with 11 passes defended (8 PBU and 3 INT). 

Positive Trends: The Leopards are 6-1 when scoring first, when leading at halftime and when committing fewer turnovers (with Oregon State the lone outlier). Lafayette is 6-0 when rushing for 200+ yards and 5-0 when hitting for 400+ yards of total offense.

Get a Hand On It: Senior LB Tighe Cummiskey collected his second punt block of the season at Oregon State, pacing the Patriot League and ranking fourth in the nation.

Career Charts: Senior QB Dean DeNobile rests 
• 3rd in career completion percentage (64.9%)
• 4th in career completions (579), needing 52 to move to third 
• 5th in career passing yards (6,516) and passing TD (50),
needing 205 yards and one TD to move to fourth place 
• 5th in all-time passing touchdowns (50), requiring one to move 
    to fourth place
• 8th in single-season passing yards (2,417 in '24)
• 5th (20 '23), 9th (18 '24), 11th (16 '25) single-season TD passes

Historically Accurate: Leopard QB Dean DeNobile sits third at Lafayette in career completion percentage (64.9%) trailing only Ryan O'Neil '12 (66.50%) and Drew Reed '17 (65.2%). He lands fifth in Patriot League history behind O'Neil and Reed, as Lafayette has three of the top five most accurate passers in Patriot League history. 
    All three seasons that DeNobile has been a starter rank in the top 15 for single-season completion percentage: 66.7 for sixth in '23, 65.1 for eighth in '24 and 63.1 for 13th in '25. 

500 Club: Lafayette's win at Holy Cross guaranteed the Leopards at least a .500 record for the third-straight season. The only sub-.500 season in the John Troxell era was his first campaign when the team went 4-7 overall and 3-3 in PL play after inheriting a 3-8 team.

Three For 10: With his 15-yard score against Oregon State, freshman Matthew Scerbo made it three consecutive games with a touchdown reception. Scerbo is still second on the team in receiving touchdowns, behind Elijah Steward (4).

Catching Up: Senior Eli Steward has ascended the career receiving ranks. With a four-catch, 68-yard day vs. Oregon State, he moved into fourth place with 2,246 career receiving yards after advancing into second for career completions (172) against Bucknell. He also sits in 10th place for career receiving touchdowns (12). Steward needs 22 catches to climb past Mark Ross '14 to become the career receptions leader and 139 receiving yards to surpass Phil Yarberough '01 in third.

Record-Breaking Outing: Lafayette racked up a school-record 670 yards of total offense to dominate Bucknell 62-24 on Oct. 11. Dean DeNobile threw for a career-best five touchdowns on his way to 316 passing yards. The Leopards also featured two 100-yard rushers in Ethan Weber (136) and Jakyre Henley (107) to grind out 348 rushing yards. Six different players scored touchdowns with Weber, Henley and Elijah Steward adding two scores apiece. The Leopards had three, one-play scoring drives, as Jason Penza (79), Weber (67) and Henley (70) all ran in scores to start and end drives. 
    The 62-point eruption was the highest single-game scoring output since 1944, when the Leopards shut out Lehigh 64-0 to close out the campaign. 

Bicentennial Excursion: Lafayette's trip to Oregon State was part of the school's Bicentennial, taking several Lafayette's athletic teams to non-traditional locales in 2025-26. Corvallis, Ore. is the farthest west that a Lafayette team traveled in 144 seasons. The previous western boundary game was Colorado Springs, Colo. vs. Air Force (9/4/21).   

DeNobile Dialed In: Senior QB Dean DeNobile put together consecutive 300-yard passing games. Versus Fordham, he completed 25-of-35 for 314 yards with two touchdowns to a season-high nine targets. Against Bucknell, he hit on 26-of-34 for 316 yards (spread around to eight receivers) and a career-best five TD strikes. His Bucknell performance pushed him over 6,000 career passing yards and earned him Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week honors for the first time this season. Against Colgate, he tossed four TD passes.

Solid Starts: Lafayette has begun its last three seasons with a 3-1 mark, a solid number considering that the loss in each of those campaigns came at the hands of an FBS foe.
 
Third-Down Offense: The Leopards have made the most of their third-down opportunities, ranking second in the league and 13th in the country in third-down conversion rate (.471). 

One-Two Punch: RBs Kente Edwards and Ethan Weber are responsible for 138 of the Leopards' 336 points. The duo has contributed 23 total TD's and 1,630 rushing yards.

Racking Up The Sacks: The Leopards' revitalized pass rush has tallied 22 sacks. Jaylon Joseph has set a new single-season high (7.5) while Olivier Camerlain, Robert Stevens, Darien Riley and Darson Jeanty each have at least two. Twelve Leopards have registered sacks. (In 2024, nine players contributed for a total of 12 sacks).

Limiting the Run: Lafayette's youthful defense, which returned just one starter, has had success limiting the run game. The Leopards have allowed 130.2 yards per game for the season (third in the PL), but just 97.5 ypg against FCS opponents.

26 On the Run to Player of the Week: Junior RB Kente Edwards piled up three straight 100-yard rushing games (the third-straight season a Leopard running back has achieved that feat) and was named Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week each of those times. Edwards had a 150-yard, three-touchdown effort vs. Columbia in week four. At Georgetown (9/13), he had 255 yards with four touchdowns (both career highs). It was the 13th 200-yard game since 1990 and first since 2023, and his four-rushing-TD performance was the first since 2006. Edwards ran for 127 yards at Stonehill in his first career start. At Holy Cross, Edwards carried the ball a career-high 28 times for 146 yards and two TD's to garner his fourth weekly award. Versus Colgate, he churned out a career-best 260 yards and three TD en route to his fifth of award of the season.

The Opponent: Richmond (6-4, 3-3) welcomes Lafayette after a 31-24 win over Georgetown. The Spiders are on a two-game win streak (17-14 win against Fordham on Nov. 1) and have tallied wins over Colgate (24-19), Howard (13-12), VMI (38-14) and Wofford (14-10) with losses to No. 14 Lehigh (21-14) in the season opener, FBS North Carolina (41-6), Bucknell (33-28) and Holy Cross (28-22). 
    Richmond often uses a pair of quarterbacks to run the offense. Kyle Wickersham has seen the majority of the snaps (105-of-159, 990 yards, 5 TD), while Ashten Snelsire (42-of-78, 705 yards, 8 TD touchdowns) also has spent time as the signal caller.
    Soph. Isaiah Dawson has 35 receptions for 472 yards and four scores, both of which are team highs. Tailback Aziz Foster-Powell takes a bulk of the carries, rushing for 501 yards on 104 attempts.
    LB Peyton Seelman (106 tackles) leads a Spider defense that's allowing less than 300 yards of offense.
    Russ Huesman (Chattanooga '83) is in his ninth year patrolling the Richmond sideline.