The Lafayette defense forced four turnovers, and Kente Edwards ran for two touchdowns as the Leopards stayed unbeaten in the Patriot League with a 21-13 victory Saturday at Holy Cross.
Lafayette and Lehigh are both 4-0 and tied for first place in the league with two games to play before they meet Nov. 22 at Fisher Stadium in Easton.
Edwards, who had missed several games with an injury, got his fourth career 100-yard rushing game. He finished with 146 yards on 28 carries. The Lafayette running game managed 215 yards, with junior Ethan Weber contributing 67 and a touchdown.
Defensively, sophomore cornerback Ryan Gadson led a unit that allowed just two field goals with 10 tackles and an interception, while freshman linebacker Beckham Dee continued to pile up numbers, finishing with eight tackles and an interception. Junior defensive lineman Jaylon Joseph added two sacks, including a game-clinching tackle for loss with less than a minute left.
Edwards had a 10-yard run TD for the first score of the game.
The Crusaders got field goals covering 21 and 29 yards to make it 7-6 at halftime, and then a 59-yard punt return by Max Mosey gave Holy Cross a 13-7 lead with 5:23 left in the third quarter. Lafayette answered with a six-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a short Ethan Weber TD run with 2:57 left in the third period.
Following a Holy Cross punt, Lafayette got the ball for a final time with seven minutes left in Holy Cross territory. The Leopards went 48 yards in seven plays and stretched the lead to eight on Edwards’ 3-yard run and Jack Simonetta’s PAT kick with 2:39 left.
The Crusaders (1-8, 1-3) got to the 12-yard line with 25 seconds left. But Joseph tackled Holy Cross QB Dominic Campanile to end the game and give the Leopards their second straight win in Worcester.
Lafayette returns home to face Colgate at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
Scoring summary
Lafayette 7 – 0 – 7 – 7 — 21
Holy Cross 0 – 3 – 10 – 0 — 13
FIRST QUARTER
L: Kente Edwards 10 run (Jack Simonetta kick), 1:34
SECOND QUARTER
HC: Luis Palenzuela 21 field goal, 0:00
THIRD QUARTER
HC: Palenzuela 29 field goal, 7:35
HC: Max Mosey 59 punt return (Palenzuela kick), 5:23
L: Ethan Weber 1 run (Simonetta kick), 2:57
FOURTH QUARTER
L: Edwards 3 run (Simonetta kick), 2:39
