Football round up: Harvard, UMass, Holy Cross win
It was a good Saturday on the grid iron for Harvard, Massachusetts and Holy Cross. The Crimson beat Lafayette 35-10, UMass won at Towson 27 - 14 while Holy Cross beat Fordham 36 - 31.
Gino Gordon gained 170 yards and two touchdowns on just 12 carries, leading Harvard over winless Lafayette 35-10 on Saturday.
With sophomore quarterback Colton Chapple making his first start for the Crimson (2-1) in place of an injured Andrew Hatch, Harvard led 21-0 before the Leopards (0-4) scored on Davis Rodriguez's 45-yard field goal 33 seconds before halftime.
Gordon, who had 92 yards on 10 carries in the first half, ran 74 yards for a touchdown on third-and 15 to put Harvard ahead 28-3 with 8:59 left in the third quarter. He didn't play the rest of the way and finished with a 14.2-yard average per carry.
Chapple was 6-for-11 for 82 yards and a touchdown for the Crimson, who have beaten two Patriot League opponents this season by a combined 69-16.
Ryan O'Neil completed 27 of 42 passes for 210 yards for the Leopards but was sacked four times for 32 yards.
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John Griffin ran for a team-high 118 yards and scored the game's final touchdown as Massachusetts beat Towson 27-14 on Saturday night.
The Minutemen (4-1, 2-0 Colonial Athletic Association) took an early 7-0 lead after a 1-yard touchdown run by Jonathan Hernandez in the opening quarter that capped a 12-play, 67-yard drive.
Towson scored on a 3-yard fumble recovery by Marcus Valentine and a 5-yard pass from Chris Hart to Alex Blake to take a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter.
After Caleb Violette's 33-yard field goal pulled Massachusetts to within four points, the Minutemen went on an 11-play, 97-yard drive for a go-ahead touchdown just before halftime.
Massachusetts padded its lead with a 23-yard field goal from Violette early in the third quarter and a 5-yard touchdown run from Griffin as the Minutemen kept the Tigers (1-4, 0-2) off the board the rest of the way.
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Ryan Taggart threw for a touchdown and ran for another as Holy Cross racked up 500 yards on offense to beat Fordham 36-31 on Saturday.
Taggart's first score came in the first quarter on a 1-yard run to give the Crusaders a 7-0 lead.
Fordham quarterback Blake Wayne then threw a 6-yard touchdown pass and ran one in from 11 yards out to put the Rams (2-3, 0-1 Patriot League) on top 14-7.
Holy Cross (2-3, 1-1) answered with a 41-yard field goal from Rob Dornfried, a 26-yard touchdown reception by Bill Edger and a 17-yard scoring run from Sam Auffant to retake the lead 23-14.
Leading 30-24 early in the fourth quarter, Taggart threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Alex Schneider to give Holy Cross a 36-24 advantage after Dornfried missed the extra point.
Taggart ended with 289 yards passing and 75 more on the ground.
