A strong first half and a balanced attack on both sides of the ball led the St. Lawrence University football team to a 26-18 win over Buffalo State on senior day at Leckonby Stadium to close out the 2024 season for the Saints.

The Saints rotated four quarterbacks on Saturday, with William Turner going 6-for-10 for 70 yards and Daniel Lawther passed 4-for-7 for 39. Will Lederman also picked up a stint as quarterback and led the ground game with 67 yards. All three each recorded a touchdown for the Scarlet and Brown. Both Oskar Baldwin and Cole Salyards recorded five receptions for 52 and 44 yards, respectively.

On defense, first-year Ethan Metro logged a career-best 12 tackles, including five for the loss of 26 and 3.5 sacks for the loss of 21. Savino Morelli recorded 10 tackles, 2.5 for the loss of nine and a sack for the loss of seven. Ryan Surhoff, Daniel George and Liam Perkins each tallied seven tackles, while Metro, Perkins, Dexter Seeley and Clayton Fogler all forced a fumble.

The Bengals got the ball rolling, as Cody Phillips capped a 75-yard drive with a three-yard run to put Buffalo State on the board. Nick Sciandra's kick was good for the 7-0 lead at 7:25 in the first quarter.

St. Lawrence responded with a touchdown of their own, as Lawther and Salyards connected with a 13-yard pass. Fogler's first kick of the day was good for the 7-7 tie.

A short punt for the Bengals set the Saints up with a good field position with 11 seconds remaining in the first.

SLU used that good position, this time with Lederman at quarterback. Lederman found a wide-open Baldwin and the Saints took a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter.  

With 7:03 to play in the second, Fogler came up big for the Saints, as he recorded his best field goal of the season at 45 yards to increase St. Lawrence's lead to 17-7. And with 2:35 remaining Metro took down Amir Cameron in the end zone for a safety and a 19-7 advantage.

Buffalo State looked to rebound and scored on a two-yard touchdown run from Ale Wilson with 36 seconds left in the second quarter to bring the game within four at halftime.

Early in the third, Turner found Shea Goodwin on the far right with a 10-yard pass and Fogler was 3-for-3 on extra points to give the Saints some insurance points for the 26-15 lead.

The Bengals final points came with a 25-yard field goal at 1:32 of the third, and the Saints locked down on defense to hold Buffalo State scoreless in the fourth to seal the season-finale win.



Buffalo State's Amir Cameron spent most of the game on the run, netting 76 yards for the Bengals. Defensively, Quadir McEachin led with 10 tackles, while Shamond Phillips recorded three tackles for the loss of 12 yards and two forced fumbles, and Basiaka Butcher logged two interceptions.

St. Lawrence finished with a 11-7 edge on first downs and put up 213 yards on offense to Buffalo State's 176. Defensively, the Saints recorded nine sacks for the loss of 71 yards.

The Saints closed the season 3-6 overall and 2-4 in Liberty League play, while Buffalo State closed their season at 3-7 and 1-5.

Prior to the game the Saints honored the 17 members of the Class of 2025 – Oskar Baldwin, Marquize Barmore, James Berry, Matthew Dahill, Daniel George, Nicholas Giardina, Josh Larson, Daniel Lawther, Joseph O'Neil, Thomas Our, Evan Pastino, Liam Perkins, Jed Saltus, Cole Salyards, Trent Sargent, Dexter Seeley, William Turner.