HAMILTON – It was Senior Day at Colgate, but it was juniors who found the end zone for the Raiders in their 21-14 Patriot League victory over Fordham at Crown Field at Andy Kerr Stadium. The win gave Colgate a 6-5 record for the season and the Raiders finished 4-2 in the Patriot League. The victory marks the first .500+ season for Colgate third-year Fred '50 and Marilyn Dunlap Head Coach
Stan Dakosty.
"Great win. Great crowd for senior day today. We sent the seniors off on a high note," said Dakosty. "I couldn't be prouder of the whole program. Coaches spend so much time in the office, away from home, away from their families. We all care about these guys and everyone puts their heart and soul into it. This is a great day for our players and a great day for Colgate Football."
Following a quiet and lackluster first half by each team, Colgate kicked off to the Rams to open the third quarter. On the second play from scrimmage Colgate's
Christian Sweeney had a strip sack on C.J. Montes at the Fordham 31.
Andrew Taddeo recovered the fumble. Following a 2-yard sack of quarterback
Jake Stearney, a pair of Stearney to
Treyvhon Saunders passes advanced the ball to the Fordham 9. Two runs by
Jaedon Henry moved the ball to the Ram 1 where junior quarterback
Michael Brescia reached paydirt to break the scoreless tie.
Colgate extended the lead to 14-0 on its next possession going 75 yards in seven plays. Stearney drove the team to the Fordham 28 and was replaced by Brescia who promptly took the ball 28 yards up the middle for the score with 5:07 remaining in the third quarter.
"Brescia was ready to go today," Dakosty continued. "There were some situations that dictated runs and he did a great job. Jake Stearney faced some adversity early in this game, but he's such a mature strong-minded kid. He came in, made some big throws, and helped us on some scoring drives."
Fordham answered on its next possession with Montes scoring on a 1-yard run on the second play of the fourth quarter. Montes was 5-of-6 through the air on the drive which was aided by a pass interference call against the Raiders.
A pair of penalties on the ensuing kickoff gave the Raiders great field position and Colgate wasted little time in taking advantage. The personal foul followed by an unsportsmanlike conduct call moved the ball to the Fordham 48. Four plays later, on a 3rd-and-9 play, Stearney absorbed a late hit out of bounds which tacked on an additional 15 yards and moved the ball to the Ram 18.
A Henry rush and a completion from Stearney to Saunders led to third and goal from the 11. Junior running back
Brendan Cassamajor, operating from the wildcat formation, carted the ball over the left side to the endzone for a 21-7 Raider advantage with just over 11 minutes remaining.
Fordham was able to drive to the Colgate 8 on the next possession, where on 4th-and-goal, Montes' pass was broken up at the line of scrimmage by
Austin McClendon.
Colgate gained one first down, but on 4th-and-9 from its own 21,
Shelby Pruett's punt was blocked giving the Rams the ball on the Raider 16. Following an incompletion, Montes found Mekai Felton deep in the right corner of the endzone to pull the Rams within 21-14 with 3:26 remaining.
Colgate took over at its own 35 after the Fordham kickoff went out of bounds. The Raiders gained a first down but incurred a holding penalty that moved the ball back to their own 35. A run by Cassamajor and a pair of rushes by Henry gained five yards. On 4th-and-15, Fordham roughed Pruett while trying to block the punt and gave the Raiders a first down and the ability to run out the clock.
Senior tailback Henry closed his season in style with 106 yards rushing on 25 carries. Brescia added 63 yards on the ground. Saunders had six receptions for 76 yards. Defensively Sweeney had a monster game with eight solo tackles, the strip sack, two other tackles for losses, and two pass break ups.
Tyler Flick had seven tackles to finish his fifth year, and
Rich Mellien also had seven tackles with a pass broken up.
Colgate finished third in the Patriot League standings, and closed the season winning its last three games and six of the last seven.
"Going forward, winning six out of the last seven is a great springboard into the offseason," Dakosty said. "We've got to bring it every day. We had some humbling experiences that we can all learn from, but we also had that success to know that it's attainable. We have a lot of guys coming back. The momentum is there. We know what Colgate Football is, but these guys are writing their own version of this history and I'm just fortunate to be their coach in the process."
