Bucknell University
0-4 , 0-1
Lafayette
2-3 , 1-0
Football Falls 24-14 at Home to Lafayette
10/1/2022 7:18:00 PM | Football
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Rushawn Baker barreled two yards into the end zone to give Bucknell a 6-3 lead late in the second quarter of Saturday's Homecoming game against Lafayette, but the Leopards went on to score 21 unanswered. Coleman Bennett added another Bison touchdown and a two-point conversion late, but it wasn't enough as the Leopards held on for a 24-14 victory at a rain-soaked Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.
Lafayette quarterback Rent Montie ran for touchdowns in the second and third quarters, including one of 42 yards 3:11 into the second half. Lafayette put the lead just out of reach when defensive back A.T. Ntantang returned an interception 80 yards with 8:01 to play in the game to make the score 24-6.
Bucknell quarterback Ethan Grady completed 20 of 40 attempts for 199 yards and three interceptions. Baker finished with 71 yards rushing on 15 attempts. Marques Owens hauled in three catches for 44 yards, and Josh Gary caught three for 41 yards.
Bucknell piled up 307 yards for the game compared to 257 for the Leopards.
"Statistically, we won in most of the areas with the exception of putting points on the board, some critical third downs on defense and fourth downs where we gave up first downs. Our defense continues to play well, but not well in those situations," said head coach Dave Cecchini. "Our offense got into the red zone five times but only managed to score 14 points."
Bucknell saw several opportunities to score points in the first quarter, including on the opening kickoff of the game when Bennett ran it back 97 yards to the end zone, but a holding penalty wiped it off the board and pushed the Bison all the way back to their own 10-yard line. After forcing a Lafayette punt, Bucknell drove 45 yards on eight plays down to the five, but again it couldn't capitalize and turned it over on downs.
The Leopards opened the scoring on their second possession, moving the ball 88 yards on 13 plays and settling for a 24-yard field goal to make it 3-0 at the 13:42 mark in the second quarter. Lafayette had a chance to add on another field goal on its following drive, but the attempt hi the upright from 21 yards out.
The Bison caught a break when they punted the ball away from their own 27-yard line with 4:12 to go in the half and Lafayette's returner dropped it, allowing Caleb Gillen to recover it at the Leopards' 20. Bucknell took advantage, as Bennett hauled in a one-handed catch for 14 yards, and two plays later Baker turned in his second touchdown of the season. The extra point attempt was missed, however, and the Bison settled for a 6-3 lead.
With just 2:05 to play in the half, Lafayette drove 45 yards on seven plays and scored on a 1-yard run by Montie to make it 10-6 going into the locker rooms.
After forcing Lafayette to punt on its opening drive of the third quarter, the Bison gave it back three plays later as Ntantang grabbed his first of two interceptions in the game. It was on Lafayette's second drive of the half that Montie ripped off the 42-yard run up the middle of the defense to push the lead to 17-6.
Bucknell saw another chance to score points two possessions later after moving the ball 36 yards on 13 plays down to the Lafayette 23, but a 40-yard field goal attempt was blocked with 4:14 to go in the third.
Lafayette added its final touchdown on the pick-six with just over eight minutes to play in the game. On Bucknell's final drive, Grady connected with Derrick Anderson Jr. for 23 yards, Christian Tait for 12 yards, and Josh Gary for 14 yards down to the Lafayette 13. Bennett ran it in from there for his first score of the season. He also caught the two-point conversion and ran it in, making it 24-14 with 2:16 to go. The Bison were unable to get the ball back the rest of the way.
Ben Allen led Bucknell in tackles with 10, including one for a loss. Tyler Alston, who finished with nine tackles, posted 1.5 sacks. Patrick Quinlivan had a sack for 12 yards as well.
"The team we played today is an up-and-coming team, and the team that we're about to play is as veteran as veterans come. They're a very well-oiled machine on offense and defense and special teams, they have a number of fifth-year and sixth-year players back from a team that's won the Patriot League four years in a row, so they know what they're doing. It's a winnable football game if we learn these lessons," said Cecchini. "We are doing enough well as a football team to be competitive. It's just for us to continue down the right path, fix the mistakes that we made, learn from our mistakes, move forward and play 60 minutes of more consistent football."
Bucknell heads to Worcester, Mass. next weekend to take on Holy Cross at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 8.
Team Stats
LAF 3, BUC 0
LAF - Trestik,Jakob 24 yd field goal 13 plays, 88 yards, TOP 06:12
LAF 3, BUC 6
BUC - Baker,Rushawn 2 yd run (), 4 plays, 20 yards, TOP 01:59
LAF 10, BUC 6
LAF - Montie,Rent 1 yd run (Trestik,Jakob kick), 7 plays, 45 yards, TOP 02:01
LAF 17, BUC 6
LAF - Montie,Rent 42 yd run (Trestik,Jakob kick), 3 plays, 45 yards, TOP 00:56
LAF 24, BUC 6
LAF - Ntantang,A.T. 80 yd interception (Trestik,Jakob kick)
LAF 24, BUC 14
BUC - Bennett,Coleman 13 yd run (Bennett,Coleman pass), 6 plays, 62 yards, TOP 01:33
