DeMorat, Sneed Impressive As Fordham Trounces Seahawks
BRONX, N.Y. – There was no grand entrance as Fordham took the field just prior to kickoff of its Homecoming game Oct. 9 against Wagner. There was no blaring music. No pyrotechnic displays.
Instead, the Rams reserved all the fireworks for the field.
Fordham scored on all six of its possessions in the first half and was in command from start to finish en route to a 56-7 win over the Seahawks in a non-conference tilt at storied Jack Coffey Field.
Fordham, which is 1-0 in Patriot League play following its 31-14 win over Stony Brook one week earlier, improved to 3-3 on the season with Saturday’s triumph. Wagner, meanwhile, is still looking for its first win of the season. The Seahawks are 0-5 on the year and 0-2 in the Northeastern Conference.
Trey Sneed ran in from four yards out with 5:59 remaining in the first quarter for the first points of the game and Nick Leineweber added the PAT to give the Rams a 7-0 lead.
It was just the second game of the season for Sneed who missed the first four games with an injury. He returned a week ago and ran for 147 yards as Fordham edged Lafayette 42-41. Sneed was the voted the PL offensive player of the week for his efforts a week ago.
Quarterback Tim DeMorat tossed a short pass to Fotis Kokosioulis that covered five yards to increase the Fordham advantage to 14-0 with 1:01 left in the opening period. DeMorat, the preseason offensive player of the year in the Patriot League, connected with Jack Lynch from 10 yards out less the four minutes later and found Kokosioulis for a second time, this time from 24 yards away, to help the Rams extend their lead to 28-0 with 6:22 remaining in the first half.
Wagner would finally crack the scoreboard late in the period on a two-yard scamper from Jaalon Frazier and a successful PAT off the foot of Austin Hosier. As it turned out it would the high-water mark for the Seawolves on the afternoon.
Sneed would add his second touchdown of the day on a one-yard burst and DeMorat added his fourth TD strike with a 17-yard pass to MJ Wright with 15 seconds remaining as Fordham extended its lead to 42-7.
The 42 points scored by the Rams in the first half were just short of the school record 48 points scored in the first half of a 2016 game against Elizabeth City State that Fordham won 82-21.
Backup QB Sean Holland and Antonio Cortez Feria added scoring runs in the third quarter to close out the scoring on the afternoon. Holland’s score came on a nifty 45-yard run to the left side and into the end zone early in the second half. Feria’s points on a short two-yard run just over two minutes later.
Fordham’s eight scoring drives consumed a combined 12:45 seconds.
DeMorat and Sneed led the Rams in passing and rushing, respectively. DeMorat was impressive in completing 19 of 23 passes for 339 yards and Sneed ended with a game-high 70 yards on 11 carries. Neither played in the second half against the Seahawks.
Kokosioulis was the leading receiver for the Rams. He hauled in seven passes for 101 yards. Teammates Carter Dequece and Cody Garrett also had solid performances for Fordham. Dequece tallied 94 yards on four catches, including one that covered 52 yards, and Garrett added a 49-yard reception as part of his two catches on the day.
Frazier ended the day with 102 passing yards after completing 13 of his 19 throws. Under heavy pressure by the Fordham defense most of the day, Frazier managed just one yard on 11 carries in the game. Ricky Spruill was the leading ground gainer for the Seahawks. He had 36 yards on 10 carries in the game.
James Conway led the Fordham defense with 12 (4 solo) tackles, including two tackles for loss on the afternoon. Jaden Vazquaz chipped in with seven (3 solo) stops of his own.
Tim Barrow led Wagner with six (4 solo) tackles in the game.
Fordham is scheduled to return to conference play next weekend when the Rams entertain Bucknell on Saturday at Jack Coffey Field. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. Wagner, meanwhile, is idle until an Oct. 23 date at home against Bryant.
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.
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