The unthinkable was happening on Saturday afternoon at Jack Coffey Field.
The dominant Fordham offense was struggling, allowing Sacred Heart to claw its way back from a second-quarter 17-point deficit. It was early in the fourth quarter, and the Pioneers, with all of the momentum, were near midfield.
“We just had to get the ball back,” Rams cornerback Levon Williams said. “That’s what we were saying on the defense. We just had get the ball back and play very aggressive.”
The Rams did end up getting the ball back — intercepting Sacred Heart quarterback RJ Noel twice in the fourth quarter — as the opportunistic defense enabled Fordham to hang on to defeat the Pioneers, 37-27, in the first round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
The first interception came with Fordham leading 31-27 and the Pioneers threatening. Noel underthrew a pass that was picked off by Jordan Chapman at the Rams’ 32. The junior cornerback returned the ball into Sacred Heart territory, and the Rams eventually kicked a field goal to take a 34-27 lead.
The second interception, the fatal blow for Sacred Heart, came with less than seven minutes remaining. Noel overthrew a pass down the left sideline that was hauled in at the Fordham 29 by Williams, who had eight tackles and two fumble recoveries to go along with the interception.
Michael Marando’s 33-yard field goal with 2:05 remaining put the game out of reach.
Early on, Sacred Heart had the advantage, as junior running back Keshaudas Spence rumbled 65 yards for a touchdown off the left side to give the Pioneers a 7-3 lead less than five minutes into the game.
“I saw him walking down the hallway after [the game] and I told him ‘Don’t run anyone over,’ ” Fordham coach Joe Moorhead joked afterwards about the 230-pound back.
Spence rushed for 194 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries, a gaudy 7.8 yards-per-carry average, but he also lost two fumbles, which the Rams converted into 14 points. The Pioneers entered the game with a plus-22 turnover margin, which led the FCS, but were minus-3 on Saturday.
Spence’s first fumble turned into a 32-yard touchdown pass from Michael Nebrich to Tebucky Jones (four catches, 72 yards), which gave Fordham a 10-7 lead the Rams never relinquished. Spence’s second fumble resulted in Nebrich finding Sam Ajala (seven catches, 128 yards) for a 19-yard touchdown pass and a 24-7 Rams advantage.
At that point, it looked as if the rout was on, but the Fordham offense stalled in the second half before the defense saved the day.
The Rams looked primed to take a 38-20 lead late in the third quarter, but Jones couldn’t haul in a touchdown from Nebrich, bobbling the ball as he went out of bounds, and Marando came up short a 44-yard field goal.
The Pioneers responded with a 57-yard run from Spence, which set up his 1-yard touchdown plunge that trimmed the deficit to 31-27 and forced the Fordham defense to make plays in the fourth quarter.
Next up for the 12-1 Rams — who won a playoff game for the first time since 2002 — is and seventh-seeded Towson (10-2), which boasts a season-opening victory over Connecticut.
Nebrich is confident that despite the offense’s subpar second half, they can play with anybody in the nation, a claim backed up by the fact the Rams are 12-0 this season when he has started a game.
“We’ve proved that we’re one of the best offensive units in the country,” Nebrich said. “We’re not going to fear any defense we face, especially Towson. We just have to go in and watch tape. We have tremendous confidence in Coach Moorhead and the offensive staff to get us a good game plan. We’re going to go down there, do what we do, and as long as we execute to our level, I don’t think they’ll be able to stop us.”