WASHINGTON, D.C. - Lafayette accumulated 579 yards of total offense in a 42-37 win over Georgetown on Saturday afternoon, notching a Patriot League-opening win to improve to 2-1 overall on the season. It was the fifth straight win for the Leopards in a conference-opening clash.
 
Junior RB Kente Edwards followed a 127-yard performance from week two at Stonehill with another career day. Edwards tallied 19 carries for 255 yards and four touchdowns, averaging 13.4 yards per carry.  The tailback's 200-yard rushing day was the first for a Leopard since Nov. 11, 2023. Senior WR Elijah Steward chipped in 113 yards and a touchdown on seven receptions. QB Dean DeNobile completed 18 of his 28 passes, throwing for 290 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
 
Winning the toss, Lafayette deferred to the second half. Looking at a 3^rd-and-17, the hosts' first drive appeared to stall. An offsides penalty kept things alive, allowing Georgetown QB Danny Lauter to connect with Nicholas Dunneman for a 12-yard gain and a fresh set of downs. For the drive, the Hoyas offense went 3-for-3 on third downs. Lauter found WR Isaiah Grimes for a 19-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 9:18 in the first.
 
The Leopards answered with a score on their opening drive, relying on Edwards to scamper 70 yards untouched to the endzone to kick off his career day.
 
Georgetown picked up where it left off, as Lauter found five different receivers on the ensuing possession to move the chains. On 2^nd-and-10 within Lafayette territory, Jaylon Joseph collected a sack to force third down. A Beckham Dee stop on third down forced a field goal attempt. The 45-yard attempt by the Hoyas was no good, putting the Maroon and White back on the field with 1:23 left in the first quarter.
 
DeNobile's second pass of the afternoon targeted receiver Mason Kuehner, who promptly ran 44 yards to the Georgetown 28-yard line. DeNobile found Kuehner for a 10-yard gain before Carson Persing pulled in a nine-yard touchdown with 14:48 in the second, putting the Leopards on top, 14-7.
 
Lafayette kept the Hoyas in check defensively on the following drive, with tackles from Paul Widerman and Tighe Cummiskey forcing a three-and-out. The Maroon and White retook the field. A 48-yard touchdown pass to Steward capped off a four-play, 1:31 scoring drive. In the first half, Lafayette had a 11:24 time of possession, in comparison to Georgetown's 18:36.
 
With the score at 21-7 in favor of the Leopards on the Hoyas one-yard line, the offense looked poised to score. On 3rd-and-goal with 2:18 left to play in the first half, the hosts' defense got to DeNobile, sacking him and forcing a fumble. Naiteitei Mose recovered and ran 90 yards, taking it back all the way to the endzone to cut the deficit to 21-14. Georgetown held Lafayette to a punt, proceeding to move the ball downfield with ease. Lauter completed passes of 19, 20, and 37 yards to set up shop in the redzone. A Savion Hart one-yard rush knotted things up with 41 seconds remaining in the half.
 
The Leopards received the ball to open the third quarter, looking to retake the lead. On 3rd-and-7 with 10:07 in the clock, Chigozie Oge-Evans brought down DeNobile while Cody Pham recovered the Hoyas' second fumble of the afternoon. Starting its possession on the Lafayette 45, Georgetown dinked and dunked down the field before taking a 24-21 advantage on a 32-yard field goal by Thomas Anderson.
 
Lafayette's next drive started on its 25-yard line with 6:42 in the third. After picking up a first, DeNobile threaded the needle to Steward for a 36-yard gain. Edwards parlayed the pass for his second touchdown of the day, rumbling 28 yards to regain a 28-24 lead.
 
The hosts responded with a nine-play touchdown drive that lasted 4:16, using Hart to find the endzone once again and turning the lead back to the Hoyas, 31-28.
 
To start the fourth quarter, Lafayette's offense commanded a 12-play drive. The Maroon and White converted two of their three third-down opportunities, only stopped on the one-yard line of Georgetown. Coach John Troxell kept his offense on the field and it paid off, with Edwards breaking across the goal line to complete the touchdown hat trick. Lafayette swung the lead back in its favor, 35-31, with 9:55 remaining.
 
The Hoyas' next drive failed to go anywhere, resulting in a punt to the Lafayette 17-yard line. Edwards retook his position in the backfield and proceeded to pick up 22 and 10 yards on consecutive carries. His third handoff of the drive turned into his fourth score of the afternoon, running 51 yards to the endzone to increase the advantage to 42-31.
 
Georgetown collected a late touchdown with 43 seconds left, but was unable to pick up the two-point try. After Persing recovered the onside attempt, DeNobile knelt the ball and cemented the 42-37 final.

Defensively, junior Avery Jones made nine stops while soph. Kevin Dodard added eight. The Leopards shut down the Georgetown run game, holding the Hoyas to 90 yards on the sunny afternoon. 
 
The Maroon and White re-take the field on Friday at 6 p.m. against Columbia, the first night game at Fisher Stadium since 2018.

Notes: 
Lafayette is 2-1 for a third straight season and the Leopards improve to 5-3 in games played on Sept. 13.

Edwards' four-touchdown day was the first since Jon Hurt punched in four scores vs. Georgetown on Nov. 11, 2006.

With 18 completions, Dean DeNobile jumped three spots on Lafayette's career completions. Now with 438, DeNobile moved past Rob Curley '10 (429), Sean O'Malley '21 (432) and Brad Maurer '07 (434) into sixth place all-time. 

Classmate Eli Steward was the recipient of seven throws for 113 yards moving past Mark Layton '11 (1780) and Matt Mrazek '18 (1860) into seventh place with 1882 career receiving yards and past Layton (146) and Shaun Adair '09 (148) to sixth place for career receptions (152). 

The last 200-yard rushing game for Lafayette was Nov. 11, 2023 (Jamar  Curtis, 31 carries for 204 yards)