Fordham Stays Perfect with 32-30 Win over Holy Cross

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Bronx, N.Y. (November 2, 2013) – Fordham University head football coach Joe Moorhead turned 40 today as the Rams hosted the Holy Cross Crusaders in the annual battle for the Ram-Crusader Trophy. After the game, Moorhead thought he may have suffered his midlife crisis as the Rams were slow out of the gate but they came storming back in the second half, behind a school-record performance from quarterback Mike Nebrich, to pull out a 32-30 win in front of a sold out crowd on Jack Coffey Field.
 
With the win, the Rams, who entered the game ranked eighth in one NCAA FCS poll and ninth in the other, stay perfect with a 9-0 record while Holy Cross falls to 3-7. It is the first season since 2003 that Fordham has won nine games as the Rams remain one of three unbeaten NCAA FCS teams, joining top-ranked North Dakota State (8-0) and Coastal Carolina (9-0).
 
Nebrich shattered John Skelton's school record of 427 passing yards in a game, throwing for 524 yards and one touchdown, while also running for two more scores, and he also set a new school mark for total offense in a game, accumulating 556 yards, surpassing Skelton's record of 473. Both of Skelton's records were set against Holy Cross in 2009.
 
With his 524-yard passing day, the third best performance this fall in the NCAA FCS, Nebrich brings his season total to 3,111, the second best single season in Fordham history, 597 yards behind Skelton's school record of 3,708 set in 2009. He is the third Fordham quarterback to surpass the 3,000-yard mark in a season.
 
Nebrich's offensive outburst helped the Rams set new school records for passing yards and total offense in a game. The previous marks were 436 passing yards set against Marist in 1995 and 687 total yards set in 2009 by Old Dominion. The 700 yards of total offense is the seventh best single game so far this year in the NCAA FCS.
 
Nebrich's favorite receiver on the day was Sam Ajala, who caught 12 passes for 189 yards, bringing his season totals to 64 receptions for 1,140 yards, becoming just the fourth Fordham player to record more than 1,000 receiving yards in a season.
 
Also on offense, running back Carlton Koonce gained 146 yards on 28 carries with the one score for his sixth 100-yard rushing game of the season and the 14^th of his career. The 146 yards brings his 2013 total to 1,025 as he records his second straight 1,000-yard rushing season. He is just the second Ram to gain more than 1,000 rushing yards in a year,  joining Kirwin Watson, who had three.
 
Defensively, the Rams dug in after allowing 23 first half points, surrendering just seven points in the second half, that coming with 1:39 left to play in the game. Stephen Hodge led the Rams' defense, recording a career-high 15 tackles, 14 solo, including four for loss, and he forced a fumble and broke up a pass. Hodge has now amassed 43 tackles over the past three  games.
 
Trailing by 16, 23-7, Fordham largest deficit of the season, the Rams took over on their own 16 following a kickoff with 2:13 on the clock. Nebrich executed a perfect two minute drill, moving the team down to the Holy Cross ten where Nebrich did his best Indiana Jones impersonation, dodging tackles and diving into the end zone to cut the Fordham deficit to nine, 23-14, with just 12 seconds left on the clock. Nebrich connected on seven of nine passes on the drive.
 
The Rams used that momentum to open the second half as Levon Williams intercepted a Peter Pujals pass on the second play of the third quarter, giving Fordham the ball on its own 28. Nebrich moved the Rams downfield, completing four straight passes in the drive, the last a 13-yard gain to Marcus Jones that put the ball on the Holy Cross 25.
 
Three plays later, the Rams faced a fourth-and-one from the Crusaders' 15 when Koonce was able to stretch ahead for the first down. Three plays later, Nebrich ran it in from the seven to make it a two-point game, 23-21, with 8:01 left in the third.
 
The Rams were driving on their next possession, moving to the Holy Cross 25 but Koonce fumbled and the ball was recovered by Tyler Zeoli for the Crusaders.
 
Holy Cross couldn't take advantage of the turnover and punted the ball back to Fordham with 1:20 left in the quarter. Fordham got the ball to the Holy Cross 26 where, on the first play of the fourth quarter, Nebrich found Brian Wetzel open over the middle at the ten and Wetzel outraced the defenders to the end zone.
 
The Rams went for two and converted the try when Dan Light used a trick play as Nebrich held the ball by his hip while faking a handoff to Koonce. Light took the ball from Nebrich and bulled his way into the end zone and a 29-23 Fordham lead seven seconds into the fourth.
 
Holy Cross got to midfield on the ensuing possession but was forced to punt and the ball which was downed on the Fordham one. Koonce picked up ten yards on two carries to get the Rams away from the end zone and, later in the drive, used a 12-yard run to put the ball at midfield. The Rams advanced to the Holy Cross 22 where Michael Marando came on to boot a 29-yard field goal to up the Fordham lead to nine, 32-23, with 4:05 left.
 
The Crusaders took over on their own 43 following the kickoff and faced a fourth-and-two situation on the Fordham 33 seven plays in to the drive. The Crusaders converted on the fourth down and  got down to the Rams' five with 1:39 remaining when Pujals found Nate Stanley in the end zone for a score as Holy Cross made it a 32-30 game.
 
Holy Cross attempted an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff but the ball went out of bounds and the Rams took over on the Holy Cross 37. Three plays later, Koonce picked up a first down to ice the game for the Rams.
 
After Marando missed a 22-yard field goal with 8:20 left in the first, Holy Cross drove to the Fordham five where Pujals ran it in for a 6-0 Holy Cross lead.
 
Fordham got on the board on the next possession, covering 75 yards on eight plays with Koonce taking it in from the eleven to give Fordham a 7-6 lead with 16 seconds left in the first. The big play of the drive was a 15-yard completion from Nebrich to Ajala on fourth-and-five from the Holy Cross 41.
 
The Crusaders came right back, moving 56 yards on six plays with Pujals capping the drive with a 24-yard scoring strike to Kyle Toulouse to give Holy Cross a 13-7 lead 1:39 into the second.
 
The Rams threatened on the ensuing possession as Nebrich connected with Tebucky Jones, Jr.,  with a 52-yard pass but Jones fumbled and the ball was recovered by Holy Cross on its own one. The Crusaders converted the turnover into three points as John Macomber kicked a 46-yard field goal when the drive stalled at the Fordham 29 to make it a 16-7 game for Holy Cross with 7:47 left in the half.
 
The Rams drove down to the Holy Cross seven on their next possession but Nebrich was intercepted in the end zone by Zeoli to thwart the drive.
 
Holy Cross took advantage of its second straight forced turnover, moving to the Fordham 37 where Pujals hit Mike Fess with a scoring pass with 2:13 left to give the Crusaders their biggest lead of the day, 23-7.
 
Jones registered 120 receiving yards on six catches for the Rams while Wetzel finished with eight receptions for 83 yards.
 
Defensively, Ian Williams recorded seven tackles, four solo, while Brett Biestek added six, including three for loss.
 
The Rams return to action next Saturday, November 9, as they host the Bucknell University Bison for Senior Day in a matchup of Patriot League teams on Jack Coffey Field at 1:00 p.m.
 
Notes
Koonce's 146 rushing yards brings his career total to 2,846, good for fourth on the school's career rushing list, 144 behind Xavier Martin (2007-10) for third… His 14 career 100-yard rushing games is the second best total in school history (Kirwin Watson (2000-03) had 17 in his career)… It was the second game this year in which the Rams had two 100-yard receivers… Nebrich entered the game leading the NCAA FCS in completion percentage (74.1%) and raised it to 74.9% with his performance today while Hodge entered the contest leading the NCAA FCS in solo tackles/game and raised his average from 7.0 to 7.8… Marando has 44 PATs so far in 2013, the second most in a season in school history (school record is 47 by Micah Clukey in 2003)… Moorhead is now 15-5 as a head coach… Fordham had a season-high 39 first downs in the game, just seven shy of the NCAA FCS record… Fordham had eight tackles for loss and now have 19 in the past two games… The Rams have won two straight from Holy Cross but the Crusaders still lead the all-time series, 27-22-1… Holy Cross leads the all-time Ram-Crusader Cup games, 15-13… Field judge Vince Boccanfuso officiated his 300^th career game on the NCAA FCS level.