Heading into this weekend, it seemed like it would be difficult for Fordham and the College of the Holy Cross to top last year’s drama-filled, overtime thriller between these two Patriot League rivals.
But on a beautiful family weekend Saturday at Moglia Stadium, the Rams and the Crusaders played another all-time classic.
Despite 600 yards of total offense for the Rams, Holy Cross defeated Fordham 49-47 to claim the annual Ram-Crusader cup. This was the seventh consecutive victory for Holy Cross over Fordham dating back to 2017. Both teams are now 5-3 on the season, but the Crusaders sit at 3-1 in Patriot League play while the Rams are a disappointing 1-2.
Sophomore quarterback CJ Montes and junior running back Julius Loughridge both had career days in the loss. Montes threw for a career-high 410 yards and four touchdowns, while Loughridge added an outstanding 211 yards and three touchdowns. But Montes also suffered the first interception of his Fordham career, a critical pick-six late in the fourth quarter.
After the game, Fordham head coach Joe Conlin was disappointed with his team’s lack of discipline in the loss. Fordham were penalized 10 times for 81 yards, compared with five penalties for 35 yards for the Crusaders.
“Too many mistakes. You can’t beat a good team, the defending champs, if you have that many penalties. Obviously, we turned the ball over and they didn’t,” Conlin said. “We shot ourselves in the foot.”
Fordham started out fast on Saturday, scoring a touchdown on the opening possession of the games. Montes hit graduate student Garrett Cody on a deep ball over the middle of the field for a 36-yard touchdown, a perfect beginning to the afternoon for the Rams.
Holy Cross quickly responded with two scores of their own on back-to-back possessions to go up 14-7 in the first. Quarterback Joe Pesansky connected with receiver Jalen Coker on a 41-yard strike for the first score, while running back Jordan Fuller punched the ball in from the one-yard line to put the Crusaders up for the first time on the day.
On Fordham’s next two possessions, Loughridge made his presence felt. In the final minute of the first quarter, the sophomore broke a 45-yard touchdown run to get Fordham within one, although the extra point from senior Brandon Peskin was no good. That missed extra point proved to loom large as the game continued. After a three-and-out from Holy Cross, Loughridge again ripped a huge touchdown run. This one happened on 4th-and-2 from midfield, with Loughridge breaking through the Crusader defense for the 50-yard score.
Loughridge’s second touchdown was the start of five consecutive scores from both teams. Fuller and Holy Cross came right back with a one-yard touchdown of their own, which was immediately followed by a 55-yard touchdown bomb from Montes to graduate student receiver MJ Wright. That made the score 27-21 Rams, but Holy Cross again had an immediate response to go back on top 28-27.
The back-and-forth action did not stop there as Montes once again found Cody on a deep ball, this one for a 47-yard touchdown over the top of Holy Cross’s defense.
With Fordham leading 34-28 heading into halftime, the scoring picked up in the second half right where it left off in the first. Pesansky connected with a wide-open Tyler Purdy off play action from a heavy formation to once again give the Crusaders a one-point edge.
The Rams then restored their six-point lead on a five-yard touchdown from Montes to senior Mekai Felton.
Both offenses finally began to stall in the fourth quarter. The Crusaders missed a short field goal attempt, and the Rams were forced into back-to-back punts. Holy Cross finally broke through with under seven minutes to play, as Purdy scored his second touchdown of the day on a 14-yard rush. Fordham trailed 42-41 at this point, with the narrow one-point edge coming as a result of Peskin’s missed extra point way back in the first quarter.
As Montes and Fordham attempted to drive down the field and retake the lead, disaster struck. Montes had not thrown an interception all season up to this point, but his first one came at a huge moment. With the ball in Holy Cross territory, Montes was picked off by Matt Duchemin who returned it 68 yards to the house for the pick six. This made it 49-41 Holy Cross with 4:55 to play.
But, it was still a one-possession game. A touchdown and two-point conversion from the Rams would tie things up and send the contest to overtime. Montes marched Fordham’s offense methodically down the field, eventually getting set up inside the Holy Cross five-yard line with one minute to play. Loughridge then scored his third touchdown of the day from short-distance, meaning Fordham only needed a two-point conversion to tie.
On the crucial two-point attempt, Montes threw a shovel pass inside to Loughridge, but he was swallowed up and stopped mere inches from the goal line by the Holy Cross defense. The Crusaders escaped from Moglia Stadium with the 49-47 win, with Fordham once again suffering an absolutely heartbreaking loss at the hands of Holy Cross.
Conlin chuckled in the postgame press conference when asked about Holy Cross’s seven-game winning streak against the Rams. “I appreciate the reminder,” he laughed. “They’re good. We seem to have bad luck against them… They seem to be really good games. Clearly, I have to do a better job down the stretch to get this team to the finish.”
Fordham’s Patriot League title aspirations seem to be down the drain after their second loss in just three conference games so far this season.
The Rams can still hope for an at-large bid to the FCS Tournament, but that would require them to win out the rest of the way.
Even then, there are no guarantees.
Fordham will be back in action next Saturday against Bucknell University at Moglia Stadium. That game is set for a 1 p.m. start and can be streamed live on ESPN+ or listened to on WFUV 90.7 FM.
