UPDATED VERSION
By Drew Casey
When a team loses over 80 percent of its starters and faces an opponent in a higher division to start the season, one might expect a letdown.
But for the Fordham football team against Army West Point on Friday night, that was not the case.
The new-look Rams knocked off the Black Knights 37-35 in front of nearly 23,000 fans at Michie Stadium on the campus of the United States Military Academy.
“We’ve set the bar very high to get our second FBS win in three years,” fourth-year head coach Joe Moorhead said. “I couldn’t be more proud of these guys. It’s a huge step for our program.”
The contest went back and forth throughout as neither team gained a double-digit lead at any juncture, and was ultimately decided by an unplanned fake extra point turned two-point conversion.
Army West Point opened the scoring just 99 seconds into the game after a miscue by junior quarterback Kevin Anderson. The signal caller, making his first start at Fordham, quickly took advantage of his next chance as he scampered for a six-yard touchdown just over three minutes later.
“The whole time we fought together as a team,” Anderson said. “It was just a family victory.”
The Black Knights added another score later in the first quarter before sophomore running back and Patriot League preseason offensive player of the year Chase Edmonds answered for the Rams with a 14-yard scoring run.
Fordham then took its first lead of the game when junior kicker Makay Redd knocked in a 22-yard field goal to put the Rams ahead 17-14.
Army West Point retook the lead nearly seven minutes later, but another Edmonds touchdown run and a Redd 27-yard field goal as time expired put Fordham up 27-21 at the halftime break.
Following a halftime firework display, the defenses for both sides took center stage as both forced three-and-outs to start the final thirty minutes.
“I told these guys they had thirty minutes to make a memory for a lifetime,” Moorhead said when asked about the halftime message. “I thought our defense really came out and bowed their back in the second half and got a bunch of stops.”
Less than five minutes into the third quarter, a poor snap by the Black Knights’ special teams unit forced Army West Point punter Alex Tardieu to run out of the back of the end zone for a safety to put the Rams up 29-21.
Black Knight running back Matt Giachinta aided the special teams unit later in the quarter, scoring on a one-yard run, before quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw successfully converted the two-point conversion on the ground to tie the game at 29.
Early in the fourth quarter Edmonds found the end zone for the third time on the ground to again put Fordham on top. Things got interesting on the extra point as junior holder and punter Joe Pavlik decided to attempt a two-point conversion. Though not by design, Pavlik eluded Black Knight tacklers and found the end zone to put Fordham up by eight, 37-29.
Army West Point did not fade as Bradshaw connected with junior receiver Edgar Poe on a 27-yard strike to put the team within two. Bradshaw, however, was unsuccessful on the two-point try as the Fordham defense, led by sophomore safety Caleb Ham and sophomore linebacker Niko Thorpe, blew through the offensive line and quickly got into the backfield.
Army West Point had one final chance to tie it late in the game, but a fourth down pass was broken up by the Fordham defense to seal the win in the final minute.
“I just was so excited,” Anderson said of that moment. “[I] grabbed my teammates. [I] looked them in the eyes. This is victory. It’s the best formation in football.”
Fordham’s win was the first for an FCS school against an FBS school this season. The Rams last defeated an FBS opponent in 2013 as they edged Temple 30-29 in Philadelphia. Last year, the team came up short at West Point as the Black Knights came out on top, 42-31.
Following Friday’s victory, Edmonds was honored with multiple weekly awards for his three touchdown, 250-all-purpose-yard performance. The Harrisburg, Pennsylvania native was named NCAA FCS National Player of the Week and a College Sporting News National All-Star, among other accolades.
The team’s next chance at victory is Saturday at 6 p.m. as it opens up Jack Coffey Field for the first time this season and welcomes Villanova to Rose Hill. Villanova fell to the University of Connecticut 20-15 in their season opener this past Thursday.
Students are encouraged to attend the primetime showdown between two nationally-ranked FCS teams. Fordham is ranked 16th in this week’s FCS Coaches’ Poll, while Villanova is ranked second.
