Turnovers and field goals headline Delaware game

Field goals and fumbles were the stories of the night for both Lafayette and the Delaware Blue Hens. In a game that had a 70-minute lightning delay and featured pouring rain throughout, the teams combined for seven field goals and seven fumbles in a 19-9 Leopard loss.

Freshman place kicker Jacob Bissell supplied all of the scoring for Lafayette with three 40-plus yard field goals. His last, a 47-yard bomb, was the longest field goal kicked by a Lafayette player since Ryan Gralish ’16 booted one 46 yards against Bucknell in 2012.

Junior quarterback Drew Reed came back from suspension to play in his first game of the season, but shared time with junior Blake Searfoss who got the start and had the better game statistically. Searfoss threw for 171 yards on 13 completions, including a 49-yard throw to sophomore Matt Mrazek that set up one of Bissell’s three field goals. Reed had 44 yards on five completions.

Lafayette’s reliance on the wide receiver corps continued as Searfoss and Reed combined for 215 of the Leopards’ 270 total yards. Lost yardage was a problem as the team only had 55 net yards on the night despite sophomore tailback DeSean Brown 78 net yard performance.

While the defense had the small victory of holding the Blue Hens to only one touchdown on the night, Delaware had 315 total yards of offense in the game. Sophomore linebacker Brandon Bryant had an impressive night, however, with 18 tackles. Bryant was honored with Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week for this performance.

The team now looks to regain momentum against a Princeton squad who, in typical Ivy League fashion, is playing their first game of the season. As the Tigers’ season-opener, this game puts Lafayette in an interesting situation.

The Leopards have had two games to work out the kinks and gain experience for a young squad, but they lack any sort of current-season film scouting of the Tigers who return only six offensive starters but lost on one starter on defense.

“There is no exchange for game experience,” coach Frank Tavani said. “Having no film [on them]—and I guaranteed they’ve watched us— that’s the nature of the game we’re in.”

Tavani is confident in his team’s ability to battle through the ups and downs of a football season.

“We cannot let our frustration override us right now,” Tavani said. “We have to have pride in what we’re doing. I am very pleased with the effort by this football team, the attitude by this football team, the leadership of this football team. They will fight you to the very end no matter what happens, week in and week out.”

While the Leopards season is still in it’s early stages, the end of the 2015 men’s basketball season is coming back into focus. The Patriot League-winning team will be honored at halftime of this Saturday’s game.