Game Leaders
Team Stats
Passing Yards
Rushing Yards
Turnovers
Time of Poss.
NORTHFIELD, VT. - The Norwich University football team could not overcome a slow start on Sept. 10, falling 29-14 to visiting St. Lawrence in the team's home opener. The Saints (1-1) opened a 14-0 lead en route to the decision.
Coach Mark Murnyack's Cadets, despite falling to 0-2, managed a pair of second half scoring drives as part of 294 total yards of offense. Senior running back Andrew Fulford (Gloucester, Mass.) registered 107 yards to lead the attack.
SLU (1-1) held an edge in total yards (453 to 294) and time of possession (40:25 minutes to 19:35) in achieving the victory. Ethan Sutton led the visitors with 10 catches for 115 yards and three touchdowns. Marcus Washington added 222 yards and a score on the ground. The Saints (1-1) opened up the scoring at 9:58 in the second, when Washington ran the ball in from two yards out to put his team up 6-0. The play capped off a nine-play, 71-yard drive that took nearly five minutes off the clock. John Wittig converted a two-point conversion, running it in just inside the right pylon to push the score to 8-0 which is how it stood at the break.
SLU extended its lead in the third quarter when Nik Busharis hit Sutton on a 25-yard out-and-up in the right corner of the end zone. A failed two-point conversion made the score 14-0. The home team answered that score with an eight-play, 67-yard drive. Fulford bowled in from five yards out as the Maroon and Gold cut the disadvantage to 14-7. However, Sutton took over the game after that, hauling in back-to-back touchdown receptions that pushed the score to 27-7.
The Cadets managed to add a score with 4:15 left to go in the game when junior quarterback Kris Sabourin (Georgia, Vt.) hit freshman wide receiver Derrick Pitts (Schenectady, N.Y.) with a 15-yard touchdown pass. SLU's Phil Hamilton trapped Sabourin in the Cadet end zone for a safety with just over two minutes left that accounted for the 29-14 final.
Norwich senior defensive back Colby Leclerc (Raynham, Mass.) paced the defensive unit with 10 tackles. Sophomore linebacker Jimmy Labell (Stanhope, N.J.) added nine tackles, including two and a half for losses, and a fumble recovery.
Norwich will look to get in the win column next week when they travel to Oneonta, N.Y., to take on Hartwick College. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.