CANTON, N.Y. – Rochester's defense stood tall in the second half but the Sgt. Lawrence defense held off several Yellowjacket forays as the Saints won, 14-10, in a Liberty League football game at Leckonby Stadium.
The Yellowjackets dropped to 2-2 overall, 1-1 in the league. The Saints posted their fourth win of the year (4-1 overall) and they are 2-0 in the league. SLU is tied for first place in the standings with Hobart. Rochester is tied with WPI and Union. Merchant Marine and RPI are both 0-1. Their game was postponed due to the government shutdown. Springfield is 0-2.
Rochester got on the scoreboard late in the second quarter with a 25-yard field goal by
Mark Torosian. The kick game after a touchdown pass to
Adam Schempp was called back for a penalty. That cut the SLU lead to 14-3.
The Yellowjackets took the second half kickoff and marched down to the SLU 8 where they faced first and goal.
Dean Kennedy recovered his own fumble for a two-yard loss on first down. He threw incomplete for Schempp on second down. On third down, he scrambled to the 4 and out of bounds. SLU got one of its five sacks on fourth down to get the ball back.
On their next possession, the Yellowjackets drove 49 yards in 11 plays, all on the ground, to score a TD and pull within 14-10. The key plays were an eight yard run by freshman
Shane Saucier on second and three, a 20-yard sprint by
Myles Allen on third and two. That got it down to the six. Allen gained five on the next carry to put the ball on the one. He was thrown for a one-yard loss on second down, but
Devin White stepped up, running in from the two and Torosian's PAT made it 14-10.
St. Lawrence pinned Rochester at its own four with roughly a minute left. Kennedy went to the air. He found
Mason Parmelee for 23 yards, Tom Hayes for eight more.
Nick Perpignan ran for 12 yards, then caught a six-yard pass. Kennedy hit Hayes for 17 more and he lateraled to
Derek Wager who tacked on six, but was tackled as the final horn went off.
Maurice Irby scored both SLU touchdowns. He caught a 15-yard pass from Mike Leffbine in the first period, then ran it in from the one in the second quarter.
Rochester rushed for 113 yards and SLU gained 120. Kennedy was 24 of 44 for 293 yards with one interception. He was sacked five times. Leffbine completed 16 of 33 for 13 yards and one TD. He was picked off once.
