By Michael Kelley ’14
Photo courtesy of goleopards.com
Not even an 80 minute lightning delay could halt the Lafayette Football team in their 17-14 upset victory against William and Mary.
Lafayette (1-0) controlled the line of scrimmage and time of possession in sloppy conditions to gain their biggest non-conference win since 2008, when they beat nationally ranked Liberty 35-21.
The defense shined, holding the Tribe (0-2) to 197 total yards and forcing two turnovers. One of those turnovers came from Jared Roberts ‘15, who intercepted a pass 42 seconds into the game, setting the tone.
Later in the first quarter, quarterback Andrew Shoop ‘13 and the offensive unit drove 69 yards, capped by a 14-yard touchdown run by Vaughn Hebron ’13, who beat All-American cornerback B.W. Webb ’13 to score.
“[His] run was as good as a touchdown run as I’ve seen in a long time,” Head Coach Frank Tavani said. “It was uncommon effort. That’s what our pledge is to each other and to stay a family all season.”
Shortly thereafter, the officials cleared the field until 9 p.m. when the storm subsided. Whatever momentum the Leopards held was lost when play resumed. Shoop fumbled, leading to a Tribe touchdown.
“There was a definite change in them after the break,” Tavani said.
A missed field goal capped off a lackluster second quarter for Lafayette. After halftime though, the Leopards regained the advantage, starting with a forced fumble by defensive lineman James Coscia ’15. Off the turnover, Shoop connected with Mike Duncan ’15 for an 18-yard touchdown pass, putting Lafayette up 14-7.
“We had a good idea defensively by formation what they were gonna run,” Coscia said. “We were gonna dedicate ourselves to stopping the run… man to man and beef up the line.”
In the fourth quarter, Ethan Swerdlow ‘14 provided some insurance with a 34-yard field goal, making the score 17-7. A late Tribe touchdown made it a one-possession game, but Lafayette recovered the onsides kick to seal the victory.
There were a few pleasant surprises in week one, namely the offensive line and the special teams unit. The offensive line, featuring just two upperclassmen, gave up just one sack and paved the way for 122 yards rushing.
“We’ve been going up a great defensive line in our guys and we definitely compared those guys with ours and came away seeing that we can do it and control the game,” lineman Zack Mazur ’15 said.
A major question mark heading into the season, Tavani can breath easier going into this weekend’s game against Penn.
“I knew our offensive line would only get better going against [our defensive line in training camp],” Tavani said. “I don’t want to build them up too much cause like all of us, we have to continue to work.”
On special teams, Swerdlow repeatedly bailed Lafayette out of tough positions, punting eight times with a 39.6 average. The Leopards contained William and Mary’s dangerous return man, Webb, to six punt return yards.
“I give a tremendous amount of credit to our coverage teams who put some shots on [Webb] early on,” Tavani said.
With a solid win to kick off the season, things may be looking up for a Lafayette team that has gone 6-16 in their last two seasons.
