The Fordham football team retained the Liberty Cup with a wild 47-41 overtime win over Holy Cross on Saturday. Zack Miklos/ The Fordham Ram
By ANTHONY PUCIK
It cannot be stressed enough. Sophomore Chase Edmonds is a special football player. He had another big day for Fordham football, who defeated Patriot League rival Holy Cross 47-41 in overtime to retain the Ram-Crusader Cup for the fourth straight season.
Junior quarterback Kevin Anderson has struggled on his first drive of the game this season for the Rams, and Saturday proved no different. After a great kickoff return gave Fordham the ball at the Crusader 45, Anderson was picked off on the third play from scrimmage. Holy Cross took advantage, going 80 yards down the field and capping the drive with a nine-yard touchdown run by Brendan Flaherty to go up 7-0 early in the first quarter. Another long kickoff return gave the Rams great field position, but Anderson was once again picked off, ending Fordham’s drive. This time, Holy Cross would settle for a 47-yard field goal from backup kicker Zane Wasp to go up by 10.
“It certainly wasn’t the opening sequence that we hoped for on either side of the ball,” said head coach Joe Moorhead. “We talk about start fast and finish strong, and certainly we didn’t do that this week.”
The Ram offense did eventually get going on its third drive of the game, and this time it would find the end zone. Anderson found his senior wide receiver Ben Johnson from three yards out to cut the Holy Cross lead to 10-7 late in the first.
“It was great to be back,” Johnson, who has had some injury troubles since the Army game this season, said.
The Crusaders and Rams exchanged punts on their next two drives, and Holy Cross quarterback Peter Pujals connected with wide-out Jake Wierczorek for a 30-yard score to give the visitors a 17-7 lead after one quarter of play.
Fordham responded on its next drive, going 69 yards and ending with Edmonds’ first touchdown of the afternoon from 12 yards out to make it 17-14 Crusaders. The Rams’ defense came up big on the next drive when Fordham junior defensive back Jihaad Pretlow picked off Pujals, and followed up with a 13-yard touchdown run from Edmonds to give the Rams their first lead of the game, 20-17 after a missed extra point. After an uncharacteristic three drives of scoring between both teams, Fordham got the ball back after the Crusaders failed to convert on a fourth down. Eight plays later, Johnson scored his second receiving touchdown of the game on a 33 yard pass from Anderson to make it 27-17 Rams at the half.
“We stuck with our game plan,” Moorhead said. “We were able to score some points and we also settled down defensively.”
The Holy Cross offense started off on the right foot in the second half, going 73 yards in five plays and ending with a 34-yard touchdown pass from Pujals to wide receiver Kalif Raymond to cut the Fordham lead to three, but on the ensuing kickoff Pretlow took it 87 yards to the house to give Fordham a 34-24 lead.
“It’s special to get back in the end zone after three years being not in the end zone and primarily playing defense, just stopping people from getting in the end zone,” Pretlow said. “I’m definitely hoping that there’s more to come in the near future.”
Holy Cross responded with a score of its own on its next drive, when Pujals connected with Flaherty on a 20-yard reception to make it 34-31 Rams. Fordham punted on its next drive and the Crusaders took the lead 38-34 on the next series with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Pujals to Raymond. Fordham answered on its next drive, when Edmonds found the end zone for the third time, after rushing from seven yards out, giving the Rams a 41-38 lead after three quarters of play.
In the fourth, Holy Cross got into field goal range, but Crusader kicker Connor Fitzgerald missed a 37-yard attempt. Junior kicker Makay Redd missed an attempt of his own on the next drive for Fordham from 44 yards out, keeping the lead at just three for the Rams. Four drives went by without scores, two for the Crusaders and two for the Rams, and Holy Cross got the ball back with just 49 seconds remaining in regulation. Pujals drove the Crusaders down the field, and with five seconds left Wasp connected from 48 yards out to send the game into overtime.
Fordham won the toss and elected to give Holy Cross the ball first in OT. The Crusaders were only able to gain six yards to the Fordham 19, setting up a 37-yard field goal attempt for Wasp. Fordham partially blocked the kick and it went wide right, meaning that any type of scoring for Fordham on its drive would win them the game. The Rams handed the ball to Chase Edmonds five straight times, and on the fifth he walked into the end zone for the seven-yard score, giving the Rams the 47-41 victory.
“There’s not a time where Chase doesn’t want the ball in his hands,” Moorhead said. “Chase said ‘give it to me’ and Garrick [Mayweather] said ‘run behind me,’ and I said ‘alright, sounds like a plan.’”
Edmonds had, for him, a modest day on the ground, only rushing for 162 yards, but added four touchdowns to his impressive sophomore campaign. Meanwhile Johnson, who only had two receptions heading into this game, ended with 68 yards on three catches and two touchdowns. Despite the loss, Pujals had a fantastic day for the Crusaders, completing 35 of 70 passes for 508 yards and four touchdowns.
The Rams improved to 6-1 on the season and 2-0 in Patriot League play with the victory. Fordham’s next contest is another Patriot League matchup this Saturday, Oct. 24, at home against Lehigh at 1 p.m.
