Lafayette holds on to beat Colgate; Lehigh falls to Holy Cross
Lafayette College first-year coach John Troxell said from the start of the 2022 season that he had a championship-caliber defense.
Unfortunately, injuries and inconsistency on offense prevented the Leopards from making a run at the Patriot League title, but the defense has never rested.
The Leopards defense was stellar again Saturday at Colgate’s Andy Kerr Stadium. Lafayette built a 21-10 halftime lead and the defense make it stick for a 21-16 win that snapped a three-game losing streak and gave the Leopards a 3-6 record overall, 2-2 in the league with two games left in the season.
Lafayette has matched last season’s win total with games at Fordham and at home against Lehigh remaining.
The Leopards’ running game helped control the pace of the contest. Senior running back Jaden Sutton had 22 carries for 83 yards and a touchdown and also ran for three key first downs on the team’s last offensive drive to close it out.
Freshman Jamar Curtis ran for 77 yards on 14 carries to take the pressure off sophomore quarterback Ah-Shaun Davis who was 13 of 20 passing for 140 yards and a TD pass covering 10 yards to Carl Smith. Elijah Steward also scored a touchdown on a reverse.
On defense, seniors Jyaire Stevens and Marco Olivas combined for 15 tackles.
The Leopards limited the Raiders’ read-option rushing attack to 124 yards, holding them well below their season average of 169.8 yards per game. Lafayette also held Colgate’s dual-threat quarterback Michael Brescia in check, limiting him to 45 yards rushing and 125 yards passing.
Holy Cross 42, Lehigh 14: Holy Cross was able to clinch the Patriot League championship for the fourth straight year, but got some resistance from Lehigh early at Fitton Field in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Mountain Hawks junior quarterback Dante Perri threw a pair of touchdown passes to bring Lehigh within a touchdown on two occasions, but the No. 6-ranked Crusaders continually kept coming up with answers.
Holy Cross (9-0, 5-0 Patriot) overpowered the Lehigh defense for 338 rushing yards. The Mountain Hawks, who have lost seven straight games to fall to 1-8, 1-3 and can do no better than match last year’s 3-8 record, had 281 yards on offense and trailed just 21-14 a minute into the second half before Holy Cross scored the final 21 points.
Holy Cross took a 14-0 lead with 9:30 to go in the first half, behind a two-yard Jordan Fuller touchdown rush and a one-yard run by Peter Oliver.
Lehigh’s defense made its biggest play of the day on the first play of the second half when sophomore Logan Jones intercepted a pass. He returned the interception for what looked like a touchdown but it was negated by a penalty. Instead, Lehigh took over at the Holy Cross 40, and two plays later Perri hit first-year player Geoffrey Jamiel for a 39-yard TD. It was Jamiel’s first career TD.
It was all Holy Cross from there. Lehigh was hurt by 10 penalties for 96 yards lost. Holy Cross quarterback Matt Sluka completed threw for only 126 yards with a touchdown and an interception but ran 16 times for 146 yards and a score. Oliver rushed had 136 yards rushing.
“We’re still not there yet, I understand that,” Lehigh coach Tom Gilmore after making his first return to Holy Cross where he coached for 14 seasons. “But there were a lot of good things and it was a shame we let this game get away from us because we are a lot closer than the score indicated.”
Lehigh is at home against Colgate at noon Saturday and then closes the season on Nov. 19 at Lafayette.