Marist football traveled to Easton, Pennsylvania today to take on their highest-ranked FCS opponent ever in the Patriot League powerhouse No. 19 Lafayette, falling 56-14.
After a 31-10 loss in new head coach Mike WIllis’s home opener against Georgetown, their next opponent proved to be even tougher. Boasting the top rank in the Patriot League Coaches poll and coming off a 2023 season sharing the league title with Holy Cross while receiving a bid in the FCS playoffs, the Red Foxes had a difficult matchup from the get-go.
The Leopards also boast the Patriot League Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and Player of the Week Jamar Curtis, who rushed for 20 attempts and 87 yards in the Leopard’s 40-35 comeback win against Monmouth. Curtis did not skip a beat against Marist, with 12 rushes for 80 yards and three touchdowns in the first half alone.
From the first whistle, Marist found themselves at a disadvantage. Forced into a three-and-out on their first offensive drive, Lafayette freshman runningback Gianlucca Tiberia found a hole and blocked the Marist punt. The football ricocheted to the Marist endzone into the hands of freshman defensive back Xavier Johnson. Without their offense on the field, Lafayette went up 7-0 in less than two minutes of play.
Marist’s second offensive drive featured promise from their developing quarterback sophomore Enzo Arjona, leading a 75-yard touchdown drive ending in a touchdown pass to graduate student receiver Mohamed Diawara, his first touchdown of the year. The drive featured two big plays from graduate student running back Tristan Shannon, including a 33-yard rush and a crucial fourth-down reception leading Marist to their first score.
After the Marist touchdown, the Leopards proceeded to score four unanswered touchdowns against the Red Foxes in the first half. Junior quarterback Dean DeNobile hit nearly every pass in the first half–15-for-17 for 163 yards–while Curtis overpowered the Marist line to get the offense to march downfield. Lafayette only had one punt in the first half–forced by a Miles Kauderer tackle for loss–and had 302 offensive scrimmage yards to Marist’s 84.
Though the Red Foxes got a fourth-down stop on Lafayette at the Marist four-yard line, the offense stalled, forcing a Marist punt. Another nightmare on special teams from Marist, as freshman receiver Mason Kuehner took it to the house for a 47-yard return.
The overpowering momentum from Lafayette carried into the second half, with the Leopards already up 35-7. DeNobile got his first passing touchdown of the day on Lafayette’s first drive of the second half, which was quickly followed by Arjona’s first turnover of the season: a 16-yard pick-six by sophomore defensive lineman Jaylon Joseph.
Lafayette went up 49-7 with 11 minutes remaining in the third quarter, pulling their offensive starters the following drive.
Though the win was out of reach, Marist forced their first turnover of the game with a powerful hit from redshirt freshman safety Connor Fitzgibbon and recovered by redshirt junior linebacker Anthony Comestro.
The Red Foxes also got the chance to test out redshirt freshman Sonny Mannio in at quarterback in the fourth quarter, who threw a laser beam pass to transfer redshirt junior Jack Rilling, hauling it over the shoulder for 39 yards. Mannio finished the drive with a lob pass to Diawara, dominating the defensive back in the one-on-one matchup for his second receiving touchdown of the game.
While Lafayette takes on Ivy League Columbia next week, Marist finishes their non-conference schedule with one more Patriot League opponent in Bucknell. Kickoff is next Saturday at 6 p.m. in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.
Edited By Jimmy Tsiantoulas
Graphic Credit: Raegan Van Zandt
Photo Credit: Ricky Torres
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