Fordham 54, Holy Cross 14: Rams run over Crusaders at Yankee Stadium
First published November 2016, Worcester Telegram and Gazette
NEW YORK — Holy Cross and Fordham met for the 54th time Saturday, a series which has been played in all sorts of venues.
They've met in Bermuda, Ireland, even the old Polo Grounds. And the series returned to the Bronx Saturday, this time at the new Yankee Stadium, the first time they've played at a home of the Bronx Bombers since 1923, not long after the construction of the House that Ruth Built.
But in the new Stadium Saturday, the Rams topped the Crusaders like they had done in the four previous meetings. Fordham scored touchdowns on its first three possessions en route to a 54-14 victory over Holy Cross before 21,375.
Rams running back Chase Edmonds led the way for Fordham by rushing for 119 yards and scoring touchdowns on runs of 41, 1, 4 and 18 yards. Edmonds, who also caught seven passes for 77 yards, had his seventh 100-yard rushing performance of the season.
"Chase Edmonds is a great player," said Holy Cross coach Tom Gilmore, whose team finished 4-7, 2-4 in the Patriot League. "We’ve seen him in the two prior years. and he’s the best back in the Patriot League. “He is a good player that makes plays when there aren’t necessarily plays to be had. He’s a once-in-a-generation player.”
Not to be outshined was quarterback Kevin Anderson, who completed 28 of 33 passes for 426 yards and three touchdowns for Fordham (7-3, 4-1). The Rams amassed 608 yards in offense to the Crusaders' 302.
Holy Cross quarterback Geoff Wade threw for 307 yards and a TD to Richie DeNicola for 36 yards. The other Holy Cross score came on a Diquan Walker 8-yard run.
HC senior wide receiver Brendan Flaherty finished with 10 catches with 115 yards, and Darius Lacy had 104 yards on four receptions. Flaherty was selected as the United States Marine Man of the Match.
Wade, who filled in for Peter Pujals off and on this season after the senior QB was injured against Dartmouth, looks optimistically to the future of the program.
“We have to work on what we can control," Wade said. “ A lot of that is just working our tails off during the offseason. I am optimistic about the team's future.”
Fordham got on the board just three minutes into the game, when Edmonds capped a six-play, 65-yard drive with a 41-yard touchdown run.
Makay Redd added the extra point, and the Rams were ahead, 7-0, just 2:42 into the game.
Fordham's defense, which held Holy Cross to minus-5 yards on 19 attempts, stifled the Crusaders on their first possession, and the Rams' offense drove right back, with Edmonds plunging in from the 1 to finish an eight-play, 67-yard march. It was 14-0 only 7:35 into the game.
Holy Cross senior Jake Wieczorek took the ensuing kickoff 38 yards to midfield, but the Crusader offense stalled after seven plays after failing to complete a fourth-and-3 pass from Fordham’s 24.
The Rams needed only five plays from there, the last on which Corey Caddle threw a nifty 27-yard TD pass to Jorge Salano on a halfback option, and Fordham had a 21-0 first-quarter lead.
Fordham added two more scores in the second quarter, on an Edmonds run and an Isaiah Searight 17-yard scoring catch. Walker had the lone score in the second quarter for the Crusaders, who trailed, 33-7 at halftime.
Senior defensive end Ryan Smith had three sacks for Holy Cross. Junior linebacker Nick McBeeth had 14 tackles, and senior linebacker Kyle Young added nine.
“I love every single one of these guys,” Wieczorek said. “We’ve really built such great relationships, and more than anything, I know we’ve worked so hard.”
“Holy Cross is a special place, and these are special guys,” Young said. “Things didn’t go as planned today, but it doesn’t take back everything we did and accomplished this year.”