The Match-Up: The Leopards open their home slate with a rare Friday night game at Fisher Stadium. Lafayette welcomes reigning Ivy League co-champion Columbia for the Leopards' first night game since 2018. Friday is the first of four straight home games for the Maroon and White who opened the season with three consecutive road tests.
Last Time Out: Lafayette commenced Patriot League play in style on Saturday afternoon, beating Georgetown 42-37. The Leopards ran for 290 yards, 255 via the legs of
Kente Edwards, who finished with four touchdowns. Defensively, Lafayette limited Georgetown to 90 yards on the ground with
Avery Jones and
Kevin Dodard combining for 17 tackles. Lafayette is limiting opponents to 106 rushing yards per game (allowed 163.9 in '24).
Home Openers: Lafayette is 92-50-3 all-time in home openers. The Maroon and White have won their last three home lid-lifters, beating Sacred Heart 6-0 in 2022, Columbia 24-3 in 2023 and Marist 56-14 in 2024.
26 On the Run: Junior RB
Kente Edwards churned out 255 yards on 19 carries on his way to four touchdowns (all career highs) in the Georgetown win, the 13th 200-yard game since 1990. It was the first 200-yard+ rushing game for the Leopards since was Nov. 11, 2023 (
Jamar Curtis, 31-204). Edwards scored on runs of 70, 28, 1 and 51 yards on his way to
Patriot League Offensive Player of Week honors for a second-straight week. The one-yard TD came on 4th-and-goal and gave Lafayette the lead for the final time. Edwards' 51-yard TD on the next possession put the game out of reach (leading 42-31). Edwards averaged 13.4 yards per carry, coming off a week two performance in which he ran for 127 yards in his first career start. It was the first four-TD game for a Leopard since Jon Hurt punched in four scores vs. Georgetown on Nov. 11, 2006. Edwards' 255-yard rushing game placed him in fourth on the single-game rushing yards chart, becoming the first person since Ross Scheurmann (2014) to join the top 10.
On the Way Up: With 18 completions at Georgetown,
Dean DeNobile (438) jumped three spots on Lafayette's career completions list, ascending 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, sliding past Mark Layton '11 (1780) and Matt Mrazek '18 (1860) into seventh place with 1,882 career receiving yards and past Layton (146) and Shaun Adair '09 (148) to sixth place for career catches (152).
National Notice: ESPN's College Football Final handed out a helmet sticker to
Kente Edwards following the Georgetown game. Edwards currently ranks first in the nation in rushing touchdowns (7), second in rushing yards (409) and first in scoring (14.0).
With a Win on Friday, Lafayette Would:
• notch program win No. 709
• begin the season 3-1 for the second time in the last three seasons (2023)
Familiar Face: Columbia defensive coordinator Justin Stovall '07 made his mark as a player at Lafayette, helping guide the Leopards to Patriot League titles and NCAA Playoff Appearances in 2004, 2005, and 2006 under head coach Frank Tavani.
Runaway Road Win: The Leopards rolled up 319 rushing yards at Stonehill led by a stellar day from junior RB
Kente Edwards in his first career start. The Annandale, N.J. native carried the ball 12 times for 127 yards and three scores. He scored on runs of 4, 2 and 78 yards. It was the Leopards' first 70-yard running play since Nov. 11, 2023. For his work, Edwards was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week.
It was also the first time since Sept. 30, 2023 that Lafayette had 300-plus rushing yards (316 vs. Bucknell). Soph.
Ethan Weber had six carries for 77 and a TD, while
Jason Penza (6-47) and
Dean DeNobile (4-13) added rushing TD's of their own.
Back in the Backfield: The Leopards' defense wreaked havoc on the Stonehill offense.
Ahmir Crawley,
Darien Riley and Dominic Selivitelli all tallied sacks, with Selvitelli earning his first career quarterback takedown. Crawley led the team with three tackles for loss.
Stronger Leg: Soph.
Christian Bush took over the punting duties to start 2025 and recorded a 57-yard punt in each of the Leopards' first two games. Those boots surpassed the Leopards' longest punt of 2024 (51 yards). He is currently averaging 43.0 yards per punt which ranks him second in the Patriot League and 24th in the nation.
The Opponent: Columbia opens its 2025 campaign, coming off a 7-3 mark a season ago. The Lions next face Georgetown, Princeton and Lehigh before six-straight Ivy League opponents to close out the season.
Junior QB Chase Goodwin is expected to command the Columbia offense. Named as a team captain ahead of the season, Goodwin brings starts in five contests, completing 78-of-117 pass attempts for 879 yards and six touchdowns. Senior Cole Freeman, a dynamic athlete who made three starts as a QB in 2024, made the switch to wideout in the offseason. Senior RB Malcolm Terry ran for 388 yards and a TD on 74 attempts last season and will vie for carries in 2025 along with Griffin Johnson and Lucas Bullock.
Senior captain Jack Smiechowski returns to lead the defense in 2025. The team captain ranked third on the team in tackles (66) while leading the team in tackles for loss (7) in 2024.
Lions' coach Jon Poppe enters his second season. Prior to his arrival, Columbia finished 2023 with a 3-7 record (last in the Ivy League). A year later, Poppe turned in a 5-2 league record, leading led to a three-way tie for the Ivy title with Dartmouth and Harvard.
