WORCESTER, Mass. – The Holy Cross football team cruised past Lafayette for a 35-10 victory on Saturday, Nov. 6 in the Crusaders' regular-season home finale at Fitton Field.

The Crusaders (7-2, 4-0 Patriot League) racked up 517 yards of offense while holding Lafayette (3-6, 2-2) to just 171, including 33 rushing yards.

Junior linebacker Jacob Dobbs finished with eight tackles and a sack to lead the Holy Cross defense. Seven different Crusaders recorded a sack on the day.

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.

The Crusaders next hit the road to face Fordham – the only other team undefeated in Patriot League play this season – on Nov. 13.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Freshman running back Jordan Fuller ended a 10-play, 68-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown rush with 5:30 remaining in the first quarter.
• Asante caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Siderman to extend the Holy Cross lead to 14-0 with 8:09 to go in the second quarter.
• The Leopards got on the board with a 50-yard interception return for a touchdown, cutting the score in half with 2:46 left in the first half.
• Holy Cross' defense forced a three-and-out to open the second half, capped by a sack from senior defensive lineman Jason Modak. After a short Lafayette punt, the Crusaders started a drive at the Lafayette 42-yard line, and moved down the field quickly to set up a six-yard touchdown run for Sluka.
• The Crusaders extended their advantage to 28-7 after Asante caught a 47-yard touchdown pass from Sluka with 4:37 left in the third.
• Siderman connected with Asante for the second time on Saturday with 10:46 left in the fourth, with a 16-yard completion extending the Holy Cross lead to 35-7 and giving Asante his third touchdown of the day.
• Lafayette had a late field goal to make the score 35-10 with 3:17 to go.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:

• Asante becomes the first Crusader to catch three touchdowns passes in a game since Brendan Flaherty had four for Holy Cross – also against Lafayette – on Oct. 24, 2015.
• 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.