Leopards give up lead, game to Crusaders
After being down by 14, Holy Cross reels off 40 points for the win.
On one offensive series Saturday afternoon, two of Holy Cross’ best pass receivers dropped sure-touchdown passes that went off their hands and the Crusaders were also disrupted by a pair of 10-yard holding penalties.
Yet, after all those negative plays, on a fourth-and-4, Holy Cross quarterback Geoff Wade hooked up with tight end Derek Mountain for a 27-yard touchdown.
It was that kind of afternoon for the Crusaders, who fell behind 14-0 in the first quarter and then reeled off 40 consecutive points for a 40-14 Patriot League victory over Lafayette in Fisher Stadium in Easton.
On a day when the wind was enough of a factor that all 54 points were scored by the team that had the wind at its back and teams going with the wind outgained those playing against the wind 464-99, Holy Cross made the most of the middle 30 minutes to end Lafayette’s modest two-game winning streak while evening its league mark at 2-2 with back-to-back wins over the league’s Lehigh Valley teams. The Leopards are 2-3 in the league.
Leopards’ coach John Garrett admitted that he was “surprised at the result of the game because of the good start we had in all phases of the game. But they really responded well to being
down, and from that moment on, they outexecuted us and we had some critical miscues that led to easy scores and they made a lot of explosive plays.”
Garrett often talks about needing to be able to “flip the switch,” and that’s what the Crusaders (3-6) were able to do. They outgained the Leopards 342-71 in the second and third periods — and 26 of those Lafayette yards came on a fake punt that provided a brief, but unproductive second life in the second quarter. The Leopards got no points from it.
Holy Cross, on the other hand, was able to capitalize on those “critical miscues” about which Garrett spoke.
Lafayette, with back-to-back false starts and a seven-yard loss on one play, punted from deep in its own territory. The Jacob Bissell kick was blocked and recovered by the Crusaders at the Leopards’ 8-yard line. On second down, Domenic Cozier scored Holy Cross’ first TD of the day.
On Lafayette’s next series, a wild center snap resulted in a 19-yard loss that ruined a possession. A couple of minutes later Holy Cross scored again to take a 17-14 lead, which it never lost.
And in the third quarter, a special teams breakdown by Lafayette led to a 45-yard punt return by the Crusaders’ Richie DeNicola to the Leopards’ 34. Less than two minutes later, Cozier scored again to make it 34-14.
Wind definitely played a role in the play of the game, although Garrett admitted it wasn’t nearly as bad as the previous week at Fordham, when Lafayette abandoned the passing game (only nine throws) for the run (58 rushing plays) en route to a victory over the Rams.
“We gave up some big plays to open receivers and we didn’t execute well enough on offense to get guys open and to match their explosiveness,” he said. “The turnovers hurt, too.”
The one that hurt most was a pass interception by Holy Cross’ John Smith in the third period. On third down after the pick, DeNicola got behind the Lafayette secondary for a 50-yard TD from Wade.
Wade, who had a big game against Lafayette two years ago in Fisher Stadium, was 16-for-22 on Saturday for 289 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Garrett mentioned that 18.1-yards-per-completion average as another big factor. DeNicola had 103 yards on five receptions, and the Crusaders also had a 35-yarder by Tenio Ayeni, a 32-yarder by Martin Dorsey and Mountain’s 27-yard TD.
“Give all credit to them because they executed after a high level, down 14 points, and controlled the game from there,” Garrett said.
Lafayette, which rolled up 280 yards rushing last week at Fordham, had just 83 Saturday, and 58 of them came on a touchdown run by C.J. Amill, the longest run from scrimmage this year. He had just seven more net yards on eight other carries. Nick Pearson capped a 12-play drive to give Lafayette a 7-0 lead on a threeyard run. Holy Cross’ Cozier had 53 yards and three short (1,1 and 2 yard) touchdowns.
Up next
Lafayette must prepare for a difficult test next Saturday at Army West Point, which is 7-2 after defeating Air Force 17-14 Saturday. And finally, it’s Lafayette-Lehigh No. 154, Nov. 17 at Fisher.
Paul Reinhard is a freelance writer.