By Max Prinz

Fordham football dropped its final game of the regular season on Saturday, falling to Army 42-31. Though it was just their second loss of the season, it was perhaps the Rams’ most painful.

The defeat greatly lowers Fordham’s odds of a receiving a first-round bye in the FCS playoffs.

“I told the guys ‘losing should sting, it should hurt,'” head coach Joe Moorhead said after the game. “But, I’m only giving them about 12 hours to hang their head.”

The Fordham run defense, a big question mark all season, faced its toughest challenge against the Black Knights.

Army, which runs a triple-option offense, punished the Rams’ run defense all day long. Particularly notable was the Black Knights’ 20-play, 84-yard drive that ran over 11 minutes off the clock in the third and early fourth quarters.

“The triple-option is something that’s unique and something you don’t get an opportunity to prepare for the entire season,” Moorhead said. “They did an excellent job making adjustments in the second half and came out and moved the ball pretty well.”

Further, the Rams were simply unable to stop Army in short yardage situations and get their offense back on the field. The Black Knights converted six times on third down and four times on fourth down, demoralizing the Fordham defense.

“Our kids fought and they tried hard,” Moorhead said. “I tip my hat to [Army]. They did a great job converting third and fourth and shorts.”

The Black Knights finished with 382 yards on the ground and over 35 minutes of possession.

The Rams started the game strong, taking a 10-point lead midway through the second quarter. They scored the first touchdown of the game on a fake-punt pass. Sophomore Joe Pavlik took the snap and lobbed the ball up towards the endzone, where it was tipped and caught by senior running back Marc Desisto.

“It’s a call for when you’re in a position where you can’t make the field goal because its out of your range and you’re too tight in to punt,” Moorhead said. “The kids executed it well. You want the defense to think its a punt and you send your gunners down to go up and grab the ball.”

The momentum shifted back towards Army just before the half. Fordham’s offense was halted inside its own 10 yard line, forcing Pavlik to punt out of his own end zone. Given the smaller space, Army charged through the line, blocked the punt and recovered the ball for a touchdown to take a 14-10 lead.

“There was a little bit of a tangible shift in momentum and you could sense it from the guys,” Moorhead said. “That one play didn’t cost us the game, but it certainly didn’t help.”

Fordham is guaranteed at least one more game, after qualifying for the FCS playoffs by winning the Patriot League. The Rams will find out their place in that tournament tomorrow at 11 a.m., during the FCS selection show.

“We talk about three more feet- this is where three more feet kicks in,” Moorhead said.

Max Prinz is the Sports Editor for the Fordham Ram.