Bucknell University
Lafayette
Kizekai has Big Day in Bucknell Football's 38-21 Loss to Lafayette
11/8/2008 7:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 8, 2008
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LEWISBURG, Pa. - Lafayette quarterback Marc Quilling was 17 of 26 passing for 274 yards and three touchdowns and Tyrell Coon rushed 30 times for 169 yards as the Leopards defeated Bucknell 38-21 in football action Saturday afternoon at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. The Bison were plagued by three turnovers as they lost their fourth consecutive home game.
A.J. Kizekai was a bright spot for Bucknell (4-5, 1-3 Patriot League) as he broke the Bison career and single-game records for kickoff yards. He also opened the Bison scoring with a 100-yard kickoff return in the first quarter, breaking the program record of 99 last recorded by Terrence Parham in 1996. Kizekai totaled 210 return yards on his six returns, giving him 2,039 in his career. He now has five career touchdowns of longer than 79 yards, including two in the last two weeks.
Bucknell hung tight with Lafayette, which did not commit any turnovers, despite the Leopards outgaining the Bison 474-222 in the game. Bucknell, trailed just 24-21 midway through the third quarter, but Lafayette added the final two touchdowns of the game.
The Bison trailed 14-7 midway through the second quarter after a Lafayette (7-2, 3-1 PL) punt. Quarterback Andrew Lair, who was making his second start of the season, engineered a six-play, 56-yard drive that ended with him lofting an eight-yard pass to Shaun Pasternak in the back right corner of the endzone, tying the score at 14-all with 3:59 on the clock.
Bucknell's defense then forced the Leopards to punt, giving the Bison a chance to take a lead into halftime for the second time in its last seven games. However, on the fourth play of the drive, Lair completed a short pass across the middle to Pasternak, who proceeded to fumble. Lafayette marched 43 yards in 73 seconds to set up a go-ahead 20-yard field goal for Davis Rodriguez just before the halftime horn.
The Leopards then opened up their biggest lead of the game to that point on their first drive of the second half thanks to a pair of big plays. After a penalty pushed Lafayette back to its own 8-yard line, Coon rushed for 38 yards on a 1st-and-20 play. Two plays later Quilling found Michael Conte for a 51-yard touchdown to make the score 24-14.
A little trickery led to Bucknell's final score as the Bison ran a successful halfback option with Justin Pulgrano finding a wide open Pasternak for a 37-yard completion. It was Pasternak's 10th touchdown reception of the year, tying Lester Erb's program record. Pasternak has now caught at least one touchdown in four consecutive games.
Trailing 24-21 in the third quarter, the Bison had a chance to defeat Lafayette, a squad that they had lost to six consecutive times. However, Bucknell punted twice and turned the ball over a pair of times on its final four drives.
While Bucknell lost by 17 points, its 21-point output was impressive as it was the second-most points a team had scored against Lafayette this year. The Leopards entered the game ranked second nationally in scoring defense, yielding just over 14 points per game.
In addition to his 210 kickoff returns yards, Kizekai totaled 26 rushing yards and 49 receiving yards, giving him a career-high 285 all-purpose yards. That figure ranks seventh on the Bison single-game list and moves Kizekai past 4,000 career all-purpose yards.
In his second start of the season, Lair was 9 of 12 passing for 85 yards as his longest completion was a 22-yard strike to Kizekai. Freshman C.J. Hopson also saw time under center in the second half and completed 3 of 5 passes for 10 yards. Pasternak caught a total of seven passes for a team-high 82 yards, giving him 830 on the year as he bids to become the second player in Bucknell history to record 1,000 receiving yards in a season.
On the defensive side of the ball, Greg Jones led the Bison with 13 tackles, marking his third double-figure tackle outing in the last four games. Andy Romans and Mark Leggiero tied for the Lafayette team lead with nine apiece.
Bucknell, which is 3-1 on the road this season, wraps up its road slate next Saturday, Nov. 15, at Lehigh. Kickoff for the game is slated for 12:30 p.m. The Bison have lost 10 straight to the Mountain Hawks.
