The Match-Up: Patriot League play begins for the Leopards when they square off against Georgetown for a Saturday matinee in Washington, D.C. It's the final of three straight road games to open 2025.
Lafayette is coming off a dominating 42-26 win over Stonehill, while Georgetown comes in following wins over Davidson and Wagner.
Head coach
John Troxell is in his 20th career season on the sidelines and fourth for the Maroon and White. He will be coaching his 197th career game on Saturday afternoon.
Runaway 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 (all career highs). 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.
Persing Performs: On a day that was dominated by the Leopards' run game, senior WR
Carson Persing amassed five catches for a career-best 108 receiving yards. He reeled in a 52-yard catch with five minutes left in the third that set up Lafayette's final score.
Patriot League Opener: Saturday's game is the Patriot League opener for both teams. Lafayette is 22-17 in conference openers, with play beginning in 1986 as the Colonial League, and 20-15 since 1990 when the league took its current name. Since 2000, the Leopards are 13-11 in Patriot League openers, having won the last four: 28-23 at Fordham in 2024, 56-22 vs. Bucknell in 2023, 24-14 at Bucknell in 2022 and 24-10 vs. Colgate in the spring 2021 season).
With a Win on Saturday, Lafayette Would:
• notch program win No. 708
• claim its fifth straight Patriot League opener
• begin the season 2-1 for the third consecutive season
• improve to 5-3 all-time on Sept. 13
Stronger Leg: Soph.
Christian Bush took over the punting duties to start 2025 and has recorded a 57-yard punt in the Leopards' first two games. Those boots surpassed the Leopards' longest punt of 2024 (51 yards). He is currently averaging 43.3 yards per punt which ranks him first in the Patriot League and 23rd in the nation.
Running Into The Competition: Saturday's contest features two of the Patriot League's leading rushers in
Kente Edwards and Savion Hart. Hart paces the conference in rushing yards (192), rushing yards per game (96.0) and yards per carry (9.14). Edwards finds himself right behind the Georgetown product, ranked second in yards per carry (7.0) and fifth in rushing yards (154). Both tailbacks are tied for rushing TDs, with three.
Get To Know Beckham Dee: LB
Beckham Dee's impact has been immediate, leading the Leopard defense with 15 tackles in two games. Dee joins Lafayette after transferring from Penn State after one season. Dee comes from a football family, as his father was a quarterback at Carnegie Mellon. After graduation, Dee's early career plans include working as an investment banker. In his spare time, he has taken up golf.
Easton vs. Easton: The second series meeting of Lafayette (Easton, Pa.) and Stonehill (Easton, Mass.) went to the Leopards in a 16-point decision. The Leopards' program football began in 1882 and Lafayette is in its 144th season of football. Stonehill's program started more than 100 years later in 1988. The Skyhawks are in their fourth season of FCS football, now as a member of the Northeast Conference.
Easton, Mass. is a town of 25,058 which is part of the Greater Boston area. It was settled in 1694 and was officially incorporated in 1725. Easton, Pa. was incorporated as a city in 1887 (first settled in 1739). The city of 29,538 is located at the confluence of the Lehigh and Delaware rivers in the Lehigh Valley (the third largest metropolitan area in the commonwealth).
Stevens Steps Up: Junior
Robert Stevens stepped into a starting role at linebacker in the opener at Bowling Green. The Anthropology and Sociology major from Washington, D.C. led the team with a career-high 11 tackles, while adding in a sack. He sat out the Stonehill game due to injury.
Hosak @ TE: Junior
Ethan Hosak made his second career start at tight end at Bowling Green. The Economics major reeled in two passes for 30 yards, including 24 yards after the catch. In 2024, he had nine catches for 65 yards and three touchdowns as a sophomore. So far this season, he has four catches for 43 yards in two games.
Team Notes From BG: Several positive statistical notes emerged from the Leopards' first game in Ohio in 144 years. The Leopard offense did not commit a turnover in 58 plays at Bowling Green. The Maroon and White defense limited the Falcons to 265 total yards (156 rushing and 109 passing) and allowed just 19 points.
Get To Know 15: Jason Penza is a sophomore QB from Crystal Lake, Ill. This past summer, Penza had an externship and performed research focusing in finance. In addition to football, Penza plays the guitar and the piano, and almost turned professional in wakeboarding.
Penza received plenty of action in his freshman campaign when offensive coordinator
T.J. DiMuzio used him as a dual-threat option. In seven games, Penza tallied 28 rushing attempts for 171 yards, 52 of which came against Bucknell (11/2). He completed five of his six passing attempts for 31 yards. In the 2025 season opener, he ran five times for 23 yards and also completed 2-of-2 for six yards in the air and followed with an 18-yard completion at Stonehill to go along with six carries for 47 yards and a TD.
Going The Extra Mile: Lafayette will travel 4,508 miles in the 2025 campaign to face off against its opponents. The Leopards' trip to Oregon State is the longest in the program's history, with 2,922 miles separating the two schools. The shortest distance Lafayette will travel for a road game is 213 miles, venturing to Washington, D.C. vs. Georgetown.
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.
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.
Captains of the Ship: Seniors
Dean DeNobile,
Elijah Steward,
Brian Baucia and
Phillip Peiffer all were selected as recipients of the Chris LaPietra '89 Captain Award ahead of the 2025 slate.
For DeNobile, its the second straight season that the QB has been named team captain. Steward earns captaincy after leading the Lafayette offense in receiving for the third straight season. Baucia returns to anchor the interior of the offensive line, a position that he's held for 33 games over three seasons. Peiffer returned to Easton for a fifth season after a season-ending injury in 2024.
FBS Foes: For the first time since 1993 (Buffalo and Army), Lafayette will face two FBS opponents in a season, playing Bowling Green and Oregon State in 2025.
Lafayette opened 2024 at Buffalo and faced No. 21 Duke in week two of 2023. The Leopards have sprinkled in FBS opponents intermittently over the last eight seasons, playing Army in 2016 and 2018, Air Force in 2021 and Temple in 2022. The Leopards are slated to play Connecticut, Air Force and Akron in the coming seasons.
The Opponent: Georgetown is off to a 2-0 start after roughing up Davidson (51-14) and Wagner (31-20) to open the season. Following their week three matchup with the Leopards, the Hoyas play Ivy League foes Brown and Columbia on the road and then host Morgan State before finishing with six league games.
QB Danny Lauter enters his senior season as a two-year starter at the helm of the offense. In 2025, Lauter has passed for 299 yards and three touchdowns while completing 63 percent of his attempts. Senior WR Jimmy Kibble, a 2024 All-Patriot League Second-Team honoree, has hauled in 138 receiving yards and two TDs thus far. Junior RB Savion Hart leads the ground game, averaging 96 rushing ypg to go along with three touchdowns.
Defensively, LB GianCarlo Rufo paces Georgetown with 20 tackles, including 14 vs. Wagner. Junior DB Quincy Briggs assists in controlling the air attack, intercepting three passes in his first two games. Six players have rung up seven sacks in 2025.
Currently in his 11th season as the head coach, Rob Sgarlata owns a 5-5 record against Lafayette.
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.
