Lafayette’s Kente Edwards has won the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week award five times this season. Don’t be surprised if he earns it for a sixth time when the league announces its latest weekly awards on Monday.
Edwards, a junior from nearby North Hunterdon High School in New Jersey, ran for a career-high 265 yards and a pair of touchdowns covering 61 and 70 yards to lead the Leopards to a 35-28 win over host Richmond on Saturday.
The victory put Lafayette, ranked No. 25 in one national FCS poll, at 8-3 overall and 6-0 in the Patriot League. The Leopards will host No. 4-ranked Lehigh at 12:30 p.m. Saturday in the 161st edition of college football’s most played rivalry. The winner will be the league champion and earn an automatic berth in the FCS playoff tournament.
Edwards went over 100 yards rushing for the sixth time this season and over 200 yards for the third time. He set the school’s single-season touchdown record with his 16th and 17th TDs of the season.
Lafayette never trailed and had leads of 7-0, 21-7, 28-14 and 35-21, but had trouble putting away the Spiders, who finished their season in the Patriot League with a 3-4 league mark. Richmond is 6-5 overall with its rivalry game against William & Mary coming up next weekend.
Richmond, playing on its Senior Day, had a potential game-tying drive in the game’s final minute that ended at the Lafayette 16.
But it didn’t matter how close it got. Lafayette got the win it needed to set up the showdown with Lehigh.
“I said this to the kids after the game that we played a really good team, and it’s hard to go down there on the road and win,” Leopards coach John Troxell said. “We just have to be a little better at situational football. We were up 14 and roughed the punter, and they got the ball back and scored and made it a seven-point game. We got it back to a 14-point lead and had the ball in the red zone, and a pass got tipped and picked off. Even if we just get a field goal there, we go up 17. They returned the interception to our 20 and punched it in and made it a seven-point game again. It seemed like every time we had a chance to finish the game, we just didn’t finish, and that’s something we’re going to have to do if we’re going to beat really good teams.”
All of that said, Troxell is thrilled with the way his team has responded to adversity this season.
Of the three Lafayette losses, two of them are to FBS programs — Bowling Green and Oregon State.
The other defeat was 38-28 to Princeton on a day that Edwards had just learned of the death of his father and was also injured.
“I’m ecstatic that we keep finding ways to win,” Troxell said. “I looked out there at one point Saturday and we had Matt Scerbo, Nick Bierman, Zane Woodridge out there at wideouts, and they’re all freshmen, and we had Hunter Ditrano out there at tight end, and Jakyre Henley is a sophomore, but is really a first-year player, and you think we’re so young. But the moment wasn’t too big for them.
“The guys produced, and they do what they are coached to do,” he said. “Look at any game in college football, and they’re not always the prettiest. Texas A&M was down 30-3 to South Carolina at halftime, and they came back and won. I’m sure they weren’t happy with the way they played in the first half, but they stay won and it’s the resiliency of our kids that they keep battling, believing, and fighting.
“We’ve had several games where we needed to show that resiliency. We had to battle back to beat Georgetown and Holy Cross. You’ve got to keep battling and having that trust factor. I think our kids believe in our staff and what we’re doing and how we’re doing it.”
No one has done it better than Edwards, who missed two full games and most of a third with an injury, but has come back strong.
“Kente is just a warrior,” Troxell said. “He’s playing as hard as he can. And he knows the O-line is doing a great job of opening up holes for him, but Kente has a great understanding of where he needs to be and when he needs to be there. He’s making the most of his opportunities. We need him because he’s just different. He has been our best player for most of the season.”
Leopards quarterback Dean DeNobile completed 14 of 21 passes for 165 yards and three TDs — one to Carson Persing and two to Bierman. Persing had six catches and Bierman had three grabs for 52 yards and the first two TDs of his career.
Defensively, Ryan Gadson (9), Avery Jones (8) and Xavier Johnson (7) and Robert Stevens (7) combined for 31 tackles. Richmond’s offense ran 95 plays, possessing the ball 13 more minutes than Lafayette, and outgained the Leopards 480-419.
But it wasn’t enough.
Troxell said that he and his coaching staff were already deep into preparation for what might be the biggest game against Lehigh in the rivalry’s long history.
“We had a team meeting at 10 o’clock Sunday morning, and we talked to the kids about not being distracted by all of the things that are going to be happening on and around campus,” Troxell said. “We have to worry about what’s happening in our building and on our practice field, and prepare the same way we’ve been preparing. I said that even on game day, when they get up and go to the team breakfast, there are going to be people all over campus. They just have to ignore it and think about what our goal is and what our job is to do in the game.
“This game is one of the reasons why I love being here,” Troxell added. “I loved it when I came here as a student and then loved it again as an assistant coach, and now I love it as a head coach. You live for these opportunities. It’s hard to win games and get to a point where you are playing for a championship. It’s really satisfying. I’m happy for our kids that they get this opportunity.”
Scoring summary
Lafayette 7 – 7 – 14 – 7 — 35
Richmond 0 – 7 – 7 – 14 — 28
FIRST QUARTER
L: Carson Persing 17 pass from Dean DeNobile (Jack Simonetta kick) 4:16
SECOND QUARTER
R: Kyle Wickersham 1 run run (Jayden Alsheskie kick), 12:56
L: Nick Bierman 26 pass from DeNobile (Simonetta kick), 10:20
THIRD QUARTER
L: Bierman 21 pass from DeNobile (Simonetta kick), 12:44
R: Ja’Vion Griffin 32 pass from Wickresham (Alsheskie kick), 2:56
L: Kente Edwards 61 run (Simonetta kick), 2:15
FOURTH QUARTER
R: Aziz Foster-Powell 12 run (Alsheskie kick) 6:50
L: Edwards 70 run (Simonetta kick), 6:09
R: Andreas Hill 5 pass from Wickersham (Alsheskie kick), 1:18
