More Than A Chase Edmonds Show At Rose Hill; Fordham wins third straight

Fordham Rams Win Third Straight

By Rich Mancuso/Sports Editor

It was the Kevin Anderson show and not Chase Edmonds Saturday afternoon up at Rose Hill on the campus of Fordham University.  It has become Edmonds and the Fordham offense the past few weeks and that was expected again. But a Yale football team, designed to stop the rush caused the Rams to pass and quarterback Kevin Anderson was the show.

Not that Edmonds was totally silent in a Fordham 44-37 win, their second straight that improved their season mark to 4-2. Anderson tied a career mark with five touchdown, four in the first half, finishing with 270 yards. Edmonds, who was silent most of the game failed to score and was limited to 121 yards on 18 carries.

More importantly, the Rams got away with a win after committing  their most penalties of the season, 12 for 110 yards, and that has been a strength as one of the top five in Patriot League play that does not give up many.

Fordham moves to 4-2 after 44-37 win against Yale. Photo credit: The Fordham Ram

Overall, another satisfying win for Fordham as they now prepare for Georgetown next week at home, a Patriot League opponent that will conclude a stretch of three straight at Rose Hill.

“The offense has what is commonly known as a run pass option in our run game,” said head coach Andrew Breiner. “Not what Yale was presenting was a look, an advantage to the box as far as defenders and our offense is designated that if you add defenders to the box then the run game, the ball is distributed to the edge.”

In football terms, that meant Edmonds does not get the chance to run and seek more records. This day, it was Anderson with the pass and coming up a touchdown shy from breaking his record. But fans come to see the Chase Edmonds show, and for the most part they were satisfied once the reality set in that Yale was not going to allow one of the nation’s top runners to get the ball.

Edmonds would run for 121 yards and broke the 1,000 yard barrier a third straight year. Outside the  confines of Jack Coffey Field, and after the Fordham team took their turn ringing the bell, a ritual after a win, Edmonds would say, “It was a team effort. My man Kevin did the job today.”

Anderson, who passed for 181 yards against Lafayette last week in a 58-34 win, is in the top six on the Fordham career passing yards and passing touchdown lists.  A senior, he has another year of eligibility due to his redshirt status and ranks third in pass efficiency among other quarterbacks in league play.

He threw touchdown passes of 15 and 69 yards to Robbie Cantelli, 55 and 19-yard passes to Corey Caddle, and another 15-yard pass to Austin Longi. The pass to Longi gave Fordham a 15-14 lead and they never trailed after that.

“Said from the beginning, I  firmly believe Kevin is one of the elite quarterbacks on the FCS level ,”said Breiner. “He’s  one of those guys, probably one of the best and capable of being up there with any of them. Saw some things in  his game last week that were really encouraging. He’sheading towards a breakthrough.”

And if there are other teams that know how to keep the Edmonds running game thin, Anderson will be counted on to break through more.  But this Fordham team, as the coach says, is balanced and works as a team even if has been a Chase Edmonds show one week and a Kevin Anderson show the next.

“We always look to have a great team balance,” Anderson said. “We’re  not going to have enough passing yards every game because we have the best running back in the nation, the best player in Chase Edmonds.”

He added about the Yale attack, “They  tightened  over hands, took away stuff to do, popping up the box. It makes it harder.  So we took a couple of other shots. When a team plays like that you have to throw it.”

And despite the significant amount of penalties, the coach was satisfied. Who can blame him because there is that combination of Edmonds and Anderson who also have become best friends as roommates on campus.

Question is, who becomes the show next week up at Rose Hill as Fordham continues their quest for another Patriot League title?

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