WORCESTER, Mass. – Senior running back Domenic Cozier carried the ball 17 times for 153 yards to lead the Holy Cross football team to a 31-10 victory over Colgate on Family Weekend. The Crusaders improve to 4-4 overall and 2-0 in the Patriot League with the win, while the Raiders fall to 1-8 on the season and 0-3 in the conference.

Following the game, Cozier received the Dr. Edward N. Anderson Award, which is presented annually by the Holy Cross Club of Greater Worcester to the Most Outstanding Player in the Family Weekend game. Cozier, who also received the Anderson Award in 2018, becomes just the seventh player to take home the trophy twice.

The Crusaders opened the scoring at the 10:25-mark of the first quarter on a four-yard touchdown run by sophomore tailback Peter Oliver. After Chris Puzzi put Colgate on the board with a 38-yard field goal midway through the second quarter, junior quarterback Connor Degenhardt hooked up with freshman wide receiver Ayir Asante for a 31-yard touchdown to make the score 14-3. Then just before the half, Degenhardt found junior wide out Tenio Ayeni with a 13-yard scoring strike to put Holy Cross up 21-3 at the break.

In the third quarter, Degenhardt threw a 58-yard touchdown pass to Asante and sophomore placekicker Derek Ng booted a 20-yard field goal to make the score 31-3. The Raiders then concluded the scoring with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter on a 24-yard scoring strike from Grant Breneman to Garrett Oakley.

Degenhardt completed 11 of 20 passes on the afternoon for 267 yards and three touchdowns, while Asante totaled four receptions for 144 yards and two scores. Senior defensive back Corey Stefanik led the Crusader defense with seven tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble and a pass breakup, and senior defensive back Chris Riley added three tackles, an interception and three pass breakups.

Holy Cross returns to action next Saturday, Nov. 2, when it travels to Lehigh for a 12:30 p.m. game.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
• The Crusaders defeated Colgate for the first time since 2011, when they won 37-7.
• Holy Cross' 235 rushing yards as a team were its most since running for 405 yards against Lehigh in 2018.
• The Crusaders finished with over 500 yards of total offense for the second time in the last three weeks.
• Holy Cross senior offensive lineman Max Daurelle and Colgate senior defensive lineman Nick Wheeler both switched their jersey number to 69 for the game, in honor of their high school teammate John Chamberlin who passed away earlier this week.
• The Crusaders wore white helmets for the first time since the 1970s.