Aidan Morris nailed three field goals,
Sean Miles added a touchdown and
Cole Phelan brought in nine catches for 109 receiving yards as the St. Lawrence University football team triumphed in the Hoffman Cup game on Friday evening, 18-10 over the Norwich Cadets in Northfield, Vt.
The Saints improve to 0-1 on the season with the victory, while the Cadets drop to 0-1. It's the sixth straight time St. Lawrence will be hauling the Hoffman Cup back to Canton, with their current win streak in the game dating back to 2019.
The game's first points came with just over six minutes remaining in the first quarter, on a 31-yard field goal from Zach Zegarra of the Cadets, following a 12-play Norwich drive where they stormed into good field position from their own two-yard line. That was largely thanks to a 39-yard pass, aired by Cadets quarterback Landon Beecher mid-drive. St. Lawrence's defense stuffed Beecher on third down forcing the field goal.
St. Lawrence and Norwich traded drives until the 1:33 mark of the opening quarter, when Will Patenaude fumbled at the Norwich 33-yard line and
Jack Finnegan made the clutch recovery to give the Saints advantageous field position late in the quarter. That allowed the special teams to come out for the first play of the second quarter and convert on a field goal, with
Aidan Morris tying the game 3-3.
Before halftime, the Scarlet and Brown bought themselves their first lead after the game's first major. Following a Norwich punt, Finnegan made another impact on the game downfield. His 35-yard return brought St. Lawrence into the red zone, where quarterback
Sean Miles cashed in with a rushing touchdown near the goal line to make it 9-3 St. Lawrence. The point-after was good and the Saints held a 10-3 lead at half.
The only points of the third quarter came via a St. Lawrence safety, which brought the score to 12-3, then that set up the Saints' specials to help provide some insurance in the final quarter. First, Cheer found his dance partner
Cole Phelan for a 14-yard gain to the Norwich 30-yard line, then back-to-back runs from
Caeden Perreault and
James Gescheidle put them within range for a field goal. Morris then nailed it from 37 yards to make it 15-3.
That proved to be crucial for the Saints after Beecher made a connection with Jahmir Dixon down the right side for a 24-yard touchdown, Norwich's first of the game at 7:43 of the fourth quarter to cut the Saints' lead down to five.
St. Lawrence then relied on their defense late in the contest, and they delivered.
Brennan Twombly and
Zach Brown each snared errant throws for pivotal fourth-quarter interceptions in the one-score game. Morris later added his third field goal of the night for a 18-10 advantage at the 2:23 mark, all but sealing the contest.
Cheer's 134 passing yards came via 16 passes on 30 attempts. Perreault led the ground game for St. Lawrence with 107 yards on 16 carries, with a long carry of 19 yards. SLU out-rushed the Cadets 156-17. Phelan was by far the most productive receiver for either team in the game with his 109 yards.
Drew Lazcano led the defense with six tackles, forced a fumble and added a pass breakup. Finnegan finished the day with a fumble recovery tacked onto three tackles and a pass breakup.
Savino Morelli also posted two tackles for loss.
Special teams and the turnover battle also swung in St. Lawrence's favor.
Jack Johnson blocked a Norwich punt in the third quarter, and
Luke Robillard recovered it at the SLU 33-yard line to set up good field position.
Rory McGuire punted seven times for 246 yards.
The Saints won the turnover margin 3-1, forcing two interceptions and a fumble recovery, and converted three of five red-zone chances into points while Norwich scored on its only trip inside the 20.
St. Lawrence now sets to open their home schedule under the lights on Friday, September 11, when they host St. John Fisher at 7 p.m. from Weeks Field at Leckonby Stadium.
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