The St. Lawrence University football team fell behind early but scored three touchdowns and a field goal before the end of the first quarter to take a 24-7 lead and cruised to a 48-13 victory over the University of Rochester Saturday afternoon in a Liberty League matchup at Edwin Fauver Stadium in Rochester.
"Today was a great team win," said head coach Dan Puckhaber. "We had 20 special teams points, four different on offense scoring a touchdown, our second-team offense was able to go in and perform at a high level and our second string defense was able to make plays and compete. We were able to ge6t a lot of people in the game and those guys were able to execute and compete the way we want them to."
After Rochester (1-4 overall, 0-3 Liberty League) opened the scoring with a 53 yard run just one minute into the ball game, St. Lawrence (6-0, 3-0) put together a 13-play, 72-yard drive that was capped by a Sean Richardson to Mitch Gallagher 12-yard scoring pass that knotted the game at 7-7.
The Yellowjackets fumbled the ensuing kickoff return and Scott Arens picked up the loose ball and scampered into the end zone for another touchdown and a 14-7 St. Lawrence lead.
Rochester started another drive with less than three minutes left in the quarter but the Saints defense forced a three-and-out. The 40-yard punt was returned by James Holley-Grisham 49 yards for the touchdown as the Saints forged ahead 21-7.
With 30 seconds left in the quarter, Holley-Grisham intercepted a pass and returned the ball 38 yards setting up a 22-yard field goal by Andrew Carvalho and giving the Saints a 24-7 lead with just seven seconds left in the opening quarter.
In the second quarter, Richardson connected with Vincenzo Ferraro on a 78-yard pass play and Rodrick Payne capped the drive with a 15-yard scoring catch on a pass form Richardson as the Saints covered 98 yards in five plays in less than a minute to take a 31-7 lead.
After the St. Lawrence defense came up with another stop in the red zone as Evan Lapice broke up a pass on a fourth down attempt, the Saints drove back down the field and scored on a Daly Hebert 36-yard field goal with 10 seconds left in the half for a 34-7 lead at the intermission.
In the third quarter Richardson found First-Year receiver PJ Brennan with a 27-yard scoring pass for the only points of the period.
First-Year quarterback Brett Morris started the fourth quarter and completed a 13-play, 97-yard drive with an 11-yard scoring pass to tight end John Maye as the Saints pulled ahead, 48-7.
Rochester capped the scoring with 30 seconds to play on a nine-yard pass play.
Holley-Grisham finished with 152 return yards that included five punt returns for 138 yards.
"James (Holley-Grisham) was able to show today just how special a player he is and how he can affect the game on offense, defense and special teams," said Puckhaber.
Richardson threw for more than 300 yards on 21-of-39 passing and also led the rushing attack with 61 yards. Ferraro was the top receiver in his first game back after missing a pair of games with an injury and finished with three catches and 95 yards.
Alec Dietsch led the defense with 11 tackles including none solo stops and three tackles for loss.
"We are where we want to be headed into the bye week," said Puckhaber. "We can get some guys some rest and a chance for us to continue to improve."
The Saints have an off week before returning to action at Merchant Marine on Oct. 22 for the annual Hoffman Cup game.