It took some time, but Fordham gave their homecoming crowd something to cheer about.
Rams running back Carlton Koonce ran wild on Cornell, rushing for 176 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries in the Rams’ 34-27 come-from-behind win in front of a sellout crowd at Jack Coffey Field.
“Whatever it takes to win,” Koonce said. “Thirty-one carries is 31 carries. It didn’t even feel that way. We try to stay balanced as much as possible. If I run the ball that will help open up the pass a bit. It just so happened to play out that way, I’m happy it turned out the way it did.”
Fordham wide receiver Brian Wetzel added eight passes for 153 yards and a touchdown while adding another 90 yards on returns. Quarterback Ryan Higgins connected with Wetzel for two key plays on Fordham’s two touchdown drives in the third quarter.
Wetzel’s 63-yard catch set the stage for a 15-yard touchdown run by Koonce and a 14-yard grab on Fordham’s next possession helped set up a 35-yard pass from Higgins to Sam Ajala to give the Rams a 20-14 lead.
“Honestly, I was just looking for the sticks,” Wetzel said. “I knew Ryan was scrambling right so I came back to the sideline and thank god he found me. We knew that they had two freshmen cornerbacks so we decided to show them how the big boys play.”
Fordham’s no-huddle offense allowed for little time for Cornell to recover on defense after big strikes in the second half. The Rams were able to score quickly after big passes from Higgins on three drives.
“You could tell that our tempo got to them a little bit,” Higgins said. “You could tell they were tired and frustrated after we got some big passes down the field and that really gets to a defense. Once we got on them, we kept our foot on their throat pretty well.”
The Rams looked poised to jump out to a fast start but were unable to capitalize in the redzone in the first half, coming away with two just field goals.
“That was kind of a peculiar first half,” first-year Fordham coach Joe Moorhead said. “It just seemed like we never got in sync offensively in the first half. We didn’t execute the way we needed to in the first half.”
On the first play from scrimmage, Cornell quarterback Jeff Matthews completed an eight-yard pass to Luke Tasker before the senior wideout fumbled, giving Fordham the ball on the Big Red’s 33-yard line. Fordham elected to turn to kicker Patrick Murray to give the Rams an early 3-0 lead with a 30-yard field goal.
“It was the opening drive and I wanted to get some points on the board, “ Moorhead said. “I wanted to take the momentum of the recovered fumble and moving the ball a bit because when you’re facing an offense like that you’re going to need points.”
The Rams were able to keep the game close thanks to their defense and a few Cornell miscues in the first half. The Big Red drove all the way down to the Fordham 4-yard line and lined up on 4th-and-1 before the Rams dodged a bullet with a false start and missed field goal from John Wells.
The Rams answered back with a field goal of their own following a 76-yard drive that had Fordham knocking on the door to the endzone for the second time in the first half. Cornell linebacker Michael Hernandez blew up a designed sweep for Michael Nebrich, who left the game after the play with a knee injury and did not return before Fordham extended its lead with a 29-yard field goal from Murray.
Cornell took the lead with 2:44 left in the first half on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Matthews to Jesse Heon. The Big Red extended its lead to 14-6 on a Matthews sneak with 7:21 left in the third quarter.
Matthews connected with senior wideout Luke Tasker for a 40-yard touchdown pass to close the gap to 27-21 before Fordham put away Cornell for good.
As for the Rams, they’ll be enjoying the post-homecoming game festivities in subtle fashion.
“We’re going to celebrate a little bit, but not too much,” Higgins said.
Added Wetzel: “Yeah, we’re playing it safe.”
asulla-heffinger@nypost.com