CANTON, NY – The University of Rochester football team fell in its regular season finale on Saturday, dropping a 37-17 decision to host St. Lawrence University at Leckonby Stadium.
Rochester's loss moves the Yellowjackets record to 5-5 on the season and 2-5 in the Liberty League, with St. Lawrence finishing 4-6 overall and 3-4 in conference play.
Strong second and fourth quarters by the Saints proved to be the difference in the game, with the hosts outscoring Rochester 27-0 over those two periods. After the score sat 3-3 following the first, St. Lawrence put up 13 in the second quarter to head into halftime up 16-3.
Rochester chipped away at the lead in the third, scoring two touchdowns to St. Lawrence's one, trimming the lead to 23-17, but the Saints finished strong, scoring two more times in the final period to finish off the 20-point victory.
The Saints aerial attack proved to be the difference, with St. Lawrence completing 26-of-33 passes for 377 yards. Will Lederman did most of the work, tossing for 349 yards and two touchdowns. Three other individuals completed a pass for 28 yards, with kicker Clayton Fogler competing a touchdown pass on a fake field goal.
URochester had a balance effort offensively, rushing for 158 yards while throwing for 245, but the 403 yards of total offense was not enough. First-year quarterback
Shawn Bellenger completed 21-of-33 passes for 245 yards and a touchdown, also throwing an interception.
Cole Raux led the 'Jacket rushing attack with 95 yards and a touchdown, while
Jake Adelmann chipped in 34 yards on three carries.
Through the air,
Aidan Papantonis hauled in 10 catches for 139 yards and a touchdown. Papantonis' touchdown score was the 18th receiving touchdown of his career, matching the University of Rochester football all-time record with three other players. Fellow senior
Andy Talone added four catches for 41 yards.
On defense, linebacker
Daniel Santos posted 10 tackles, including six solo stops, while defensive backs
Braydon Felsinger and
Brendan McDonald each added seven tackles apiece.
Jack Diggins chipped in four tackles, a sack and pass break-up.
Rochester was able to score first, midway through the opening quarter on a 21-yard field goal from first-year kicker
Seungyoon Shin. The Saints were able to answer on their next drive, with Fogler connecting on a 45-yard field goal, knotting the game at 3-3.
Less than a minute into the second, Fogler and the Saints converted the fake field goal, with the kicker finding Ryan Surhoff for a 9-yard pass for the first touchdown of the contest.
The Yellowjackets reached the Saints red zone on their following possession, but on a 4th-and-2 from the 18-yard line, Raux was stopped for a loss by Sam D'Amico, turning the ball over on downs.
After the teams traded punts, St. Lawrence got the ball back with 68 seconds left in the half at their own five and marched 95 yards for a touchdown, boosting the lead to 16-3. The big play was a 47-yard bomb from Lederman to Shea Goodwin up the left side, going from the Saints 39-yard line down to the Rochester 14-yard line. After a timeout, Lederman hit Nicholas Huhtala for a 14-yard touchdown.
The second half started strong for the Yellowjackets, with Rochester scoring its first touchdown of the game following an 11-play, 67-yard drive. Bellenger hit Raux with for a 21-yard gain, while also getting chunk gains through the air to
Jackson Kane and Papantonis during the possession. After reaching the one, Raux plunged in for his fifth touchdown of the season, with Shin's extra point making it 16-10.
St. Lawrence immediately responded with a quick 5-play drive to regain a two touchdown advantage. Lederman found Matt Ciesielski on a 54-yard touchdown for the third Saints passing score of the day.
The back-and-forth quarter continued, with Rochester finding pay dirt again on its next possession, this time with Bellenger hitting Papantonis on a fade route in the back right corner of the endzone from 10 yards out.
On the second play of the fourth quarter, Lederman was able to scamper up the middle and slalom through the 'Jacket defense on a 25-yard touchdown run to put the Saints up 30-17.
Rochester's next possession stalled out and the Saints used the momentum that was on their side to put the game away with another touchdown, their fourth straight scoring drive dating back to the end of the first half.
The final score was looking like another Lederman rushing TD, but the SLU quarterback fumble the ball at the goal line with teammate Joseph Silver falling on it for the fumble recovery score.
Looking to get back into it, the Yellowjackets reached the Saints red zone again, but Bellenger's pass was picked off at the 1-yard line, thwarting a late URochester scoring chance.
