Jaden Stainforth ‘27
Staff Writer
Following four consecutive losses, including a bruising 45-7 loss against Miami (OH), Holy Cross Football finally won its first game last Saturday September 26th against Lafayette College, beating them 38 to 30. HC Football finds itself in a similar situation to last year in which it also took four consecutive losses of non-conference play before they secured a victory against a Patriot League rival. Does this suggest that Holy Cross Football is currently unable to win in a nonconference matchup? Although they are slated to play Harvard, Georgetown, and Villanova, recent trends seem to indicate that something needs to change if they want to hold themselves as a real contender outside the Patriot League itself.
Even still, Patriot League wins are not effortless to achieve for Dan Curran’s team. The Crusaders led throughout the entire game but the Lafayette Leopards were able to cut the lead to 30-24 with a little over four minutes left in the third quarter. Opening the game with a three-and-out, long snapper Colin Mackey ‘30 from New Canaan, Connecticut recovered a muffed punt to give the Crusaders the ball back for what would be their first scoring drive, with Joseph Williams ‘29 ultimately carrying the ball across the line.
The Crusader defense then forced a three-and-out against Lafayette, with Lincoln Fisher ‘29 blocking a punt. Holy Cross recovered the ball at the Lafayette 19-yard line, setting David Lynch ‘28 up nicely to connect with Mason McSweeney ‘28 for a 19-yard touchdown. After Lafayette scored their own touchdown, Lynch threw a 14-yard pass to Ty Curran ‘28 to counter the Leopard’s response.
In the second quarter, both the Crusaders and the Leopards traded field goals and a touchdown each, with the Crusaders leading 30-17 by halftime. Lafayette scored the only touchdown in the third quarter, connecting two long completions and seizing upon a pass interference call and cutting the lead to 30-24 with 4:09 left in the quarter. At the top of the fourth quarter, Lynch linked with Curran again for a 33-yd touchdown pass to complete a six play 3:24 minute possession. In addition, Lucas Weir ‘29 successfully completed a two-point conversion to extend the lead to 38-24. While Lafayette responded with their own touchdown, they ultimately failed their two-point attempt as well as their onside kick attempt.
While Lynch ‘28, Fisher ‘29, Curran ‘28, and Weir ‘29 certainly made their mark in the contest, running back Joseph Williams ‘28 and linebacker Adam Due ‘27 certainly deserve a mention. Williams ‘28 achieved a season-high 44 yards on 10 carries, and Due ‘27 had nothing short of a fantastic day on defense. By the end of the game, he had two tackles for loss, a seven-yard sack, a forced fumble, a quarterback hurry and to cap it all off a fourth-quarter interception.
Head Coach Dan Curran and his squad continue their road trip with a visit to another Patriot League team, this time against the College of William and Mary, this Saturday October 3. With kickoff scheduled for 3:30pm, the game will be streamed on ESPN+ as well as broadcast on Williamsburg’s local radio station 92.3FM the Tide. All is to play for as William and Mary is on a 3 game losing streak and like Holy Cross also 1-2 in conference play, despite holding an overall season record of 2-3. Hopefully they can continue this positive momentum in this upcoming matchup and turn the tide on what has been an otherwise difficult season.
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