In a matchup of the final two teams undefeated in Patriot League play this season, the Holy Cross football team will travel to the Bronx, N.Y., to face Fordham on Saturday, Nov. 13. Kickoff at Jack Coffey Field is set for 1 p.m.
The Crusaders (7-2, 4-0) most recently defeated Lafayette by a score of 35-10 in Holy Cross' regular season home finale. The Crusaders racked up a season-high 517 yards of offense while holding Lafayette to just 171, including 33 rushing yards.
Junior wide receiver
Ayir Asante caught three touchdowns and had 137 receiving yards, while senior running back
Peter Oliver carried the ball 18 times for 105 yards. Sophomore quarterback
Marco Siderman completed 18 of his 23 passing attempts for a career-high 173 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns. Fellow sophomore quarterback
Matthew Sluka passed for a touchdown and 97 yards in the air and rushed for another touchdown and 61 yards on the ground.
As a result of his performance, Asante earned Offensive Player of the Week honors from the Patriot League.
Holy Cross is holding its conference opponents to 11.5 points per game this season; its opponents have averaged just 28.8 rushing yards per game in league play. Overall, the Crusaders are conceding just 19.9 points per game, while scoring an average of 32.6 points per game.
The Crusaders are tied for the national FCS lead with 15 total interceptions on the year. Senior cornerback
John Smith leads the Patriot League with four picks; five Crusaders have recorded multiple interceptions this year (Smith, junior cornerback
Devin Haskins, senior linebacker
Liam Anderson, senior safety
Cristos Argys and senior safety
Walter Reynolds).
Holy Cross' opponents are averaging just 267.1 yards per game, the sixth-best mark in FCS.
One of the leaders on that defense, junior linebacker
Jacob Dobbs, was added to the watch list this week for the 2021 Buck Buchanan Award, which is awarded annually to the top defensive player in FCS. During the 2021 season, Dobbs has been a dominant leader on defense for the Crusaders. He ranks tied for fourth among all FCS players with 10.8 total tackles per game; he leads the Patriot League with 13.5 tackles for loss and 52 solo tackles. In total this year, Dobbs has 97 tackles, eight sacks, four quarterback hurries and two pass breakups. Dobbs ranks third among all active FCS players in career solo tackles per game, at 5.23 per contest.
Holy Cross is undefeated on the road this season.
The league's top defense in Holy Cross will be pitted against the conference's top offense in Fordham. The Rams average 464.3 yards of offense per game while scoring 35.0 points per contest.
Fordham is led by quarterback Tim DeMorat, who has completed 193 of his 325 attempts for a total of 2,641 yards and 27 touchdowns this season. DeQuece Carter has caught nine touchdowns and averages 76.0 receiving yards per game, while Fotis Kokosioulis has caught 11 touchdowns with an average of 72.1 receiving yards a game.
