Colgate Prevails 24-14 Over Fordham in New Look Patriot League Opener
BRONX, NY – Making the most of scoring opportunities has long been the key to the outcome of any athletic contest. After moving the ball down a long field, a team must be able to cash in and gain momentum by putting points on the
board.
In college football it might be even more important.
Colgate managed to prevent Fordham from achieving that goal, and in the end, the Raiders used a late touchdown to win 24-14 over the Rams on Aug. 28 at Jack Coffey Field at Joe Moglia Stadium on the historic Fordham campus
.
It was the season opener for both teams.
It was also the first completed game in the new-look Patriot League, which expanded to 10 teams for the first time in league history. Villanova and William & Mary joined this league this season, while Richmond is in its second season as a member of the Patriot League.
The conference opener on Aug. 27 between Lafayette and Georgetown was declared a no-contest when prolonged lightning strikes hit the Washington, D.C. area and caused a two-hour delay before league officials made the decision to end the contest. Georgetown was leading 13-7 at the time.
The visiting Raiders put the game out of reach when Danny Shaban ran in from 29 yards out with 1:53 remaining in the game to give Colgate a 24-14 lead after Luke Vogeler added the conversion kick.
Fordham’s bid for a late rally came up short after the Rams moved the ball out to their own 47-yard line before being stopped on fourth down and all Colgate did was go into Victory Formation to run out the final 84 seconds of the contest.
A holding penalty on the opening kickoff proved to be a harbinger of things to come.
After starting on its own nine-yard line, the Rams wasted little time in driving to the Colgate-18 before being forced into a field goal situation. But Bennett Henderson’s attempt from 34 yards out was off the mark and putting the early momentum squarely on the shoulders of the Raiders.
And boy did they respond.
Colgate marched down the field and capped the drive in 11 plays when Shaban scampered in from one-yard out and Vogeler’s PAT gave the Raiders a 7-0 lead just 4:08 into the contest.
Late in the second quarter Fordham was thwarted on another golden scoring opportunity. The Rams drove deep into Colgate territory, but were stopped short of the goal line and Colgate quarterback Jake Stearney guided his team down the field on a drive that covered 98 yards in 11 plays before the senior quarterback scrambled in for the final eight yards to extend the lead to 14-0 with just over one minute left before halftime
It appeared Fordham addressed those missed opportunities during the break as the put together a pair of scoring drives to tie the game.
Fordham’s signal caller, Gunnar Smith, lofted a nifty pass to the left sideline that was hauled in by Ricky Gonzalez II for a 24-yard touchdown to put the Rams on the board and Henderson’s PAT made it 14-7 with 12:32 left in the third quarter.
Just over four minutes later Justin Johnson intercepted a Stearney pass and returned the ball 23 yards virtually untouched as Fordham erased the deficit and tied the game on Henderson’s second PAT.
Colgate’s Tyler Fontenot’s 49-yard punt midway through the fourth quarter proved to be timely and decisive.
The long punt pinned Fordham deep in its own territory and a quick three-and-out a Fordham punt put the Raiders in good field position with plenty of time to operate.
Colgate regained the lead with 7:23 remaining in the game when Vogeler booted a 37-yard field goal to give the Raiders the 17-14 advantage and setting up Shaban’s game-clinching run.
Colgate, which totaled 25 first downs in the game, racked up 434 yards of total offense in the game, while Fordham was limited to just 189 total yards on the night, including just 73 yards on the ground. The Rams managed just 11 first downs.
Shaban finished with a career-high 214 yards on 28 carries to lead all rushers in the game. He became the first Raider to rush for more than 200 yards since 2012 when Gavin McCarney (288) and Jordan McCord (203) combined for 491 rushing yards in a 65-51 win over Lafayette.
Stearney, meanwhile, completed 19 of 29 passes for 159 yards, despite being intercepted twice in the game.
Smith completed 13 of 27 passes for 116 yards and the one touchdown. Judah Ofori-Ansah topped the Rams with three receptions for 28 yards.
Colgate is scheduled to open its home schedule Sept. 5 when the Raiders host Holy Cross, who lost their home opener to natioally-ranked Lehigh this weeken 35-10.
Fordham, meanwhile, will make its longest road trip in school history as the Rams travel to Fargo, N.D. to take on North Dakota State in the Fargodome.
NDSU, winners of 10 of the last 15 FCS national championships, moved to FBS this season and are a football-only member of the Mountain West Conference.
The Bison opened its FBS era on Aug. 29 with an impressive 33-7 win at home against Jacksonville State.
| Colgate | 7 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 24 |
| Fordham | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14 |
COL: Stearney,Jake (159), Shaban,Danny (214), Fogler,Matt (45)
FOR: Smith,Gunnar (116), Louis,Yohan-Li (37), Gonzalez II,Ricky (37)
| Qtr | Time | Scoring Play | COL | FOR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 04:43 | COL – Shaban,Danny 1 yd run (Vogeler,Luke kick), 11 plays, 80 yards, TOP 05:24 | 7 | 0 |
| 2nd | 04:27 | COL – Stearney,Jake 8 yd run (Vogeler,Luke kick), 16 plays, 98 yards, TOP 09:21 | 14 | 0 |
| 3rd | 12:32 | FOR – Gonzalez II,Ricky 24 yd pass from Smith,Gunnar (Henderson,Bennett kick) 3 plays, 25 yards, TOP 01:02 | 14 | 7 |
| 3rd | 08:08 | FOR – Johnson,Justin 23 yd interception (Henderson,Bennett kick) | 14 | 14 |
| 4th | 07:23 | COL – Vogeler,Luke 37 yd field goal 7 plays, 46 yards, TOP 03:32 | 17 | 14 |
| 4th | 01:53 | COL – Shaban,Danny 29 yd run (Vogeler,Luke kick), 6 plays, 60 yards, TOP 03:52 | 24 | 14 |
| 24 | 14 |
A native of Bismarck, N.D., Ray is a graduate of North Dakota State University where he began studying athletic training and served as a student trainer for several Bison teams including swimming, wrestling and baseball and was a trainer at the 1979 NCAA national track and field championship meet at the University of Illinois. Ray later worked in the sports information office at NDSU. Following his graduation from NDSU he spent five years in the sports information office at Missouri Western State University and one year in the sports information at Georgia Tech. He has nearly 40 years of writing experience as a sports editor at several newspapers and has received numerous awards for his writing over the years. A noted sports historian, Ray is currently an assistant editor at Amateur Wrestling News.
