The Rams put on quite a show with one their most famous football alumni on hand.
With Arizona Cardinals quarterback John Skelton looking on from the sidelines, Fordham beat Lafayette 36-27 at Jack Coffey Field on Saturday afternoon.
“John’s a good guy, him and I have exchanged text messages and he came over afterwards and said ‘good game,’” Fordham quarterback Ryan Higgins said. “It was awesome.”
Fordham was explosive on both sides of the ball, compiling three 60-plus yard plays, including a third-quarter interception that sophomore cornerback Jordan Chapman returned 64 yards for a touchdown.
“I think that was definitely a turning point in the game,” Chapman said.
Fordham put the game out of reach after a Brendan Melanophy interception set up kicker Patrick Murray for a 25-yard field goal to put the Rams up two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter.
The Leopards added a touchdown on an Andrew Shoop pass to Jamel Smith with 1:25 left to pull within a TD, but it wasn’t enough.
After falling behind 10-0 early, Fordham put the ball in the hands of its star running back, Carlton Koonce. Koonce (189 yards, one TD) pulled the Rams to within three after capping off a four play, 72-yard drive that featured a 63-yard run from the senior.
“It’s a good feeling any time coach calls your number in a particular situation to come through,” Koonce said.
The big plays didn’t stop there, as Higgins looked a lot like Skelton did when he was the Rams’ signal-caller from 2006-2010.
Higgins linked up with sophomore receiver Brian Wetzel early in the second quarter for an 89-yard touchdown pass, the fifth longest in Fordham history and longest since Skelton threw an 98-yard strike to Asa Lucas in 2009.
“I’ve been close with John for a few years, I didn’t think I was trying to one-up him,” Higgins said. “That play was all Brian, he made the catch and scooted up the sideline and made them all miss.”
Fordham’s defense, without senior linebacker and captain Mike Martin, struggled early against the Leopards. On Lafayette’s first offensive play quarterback Zach Zweizig threw a 49-yard pass to receiver Mike Duncan off a flea flicker to set up for the game’s first touchdown.
Zweizig and Duncan would connect again in the second quarter for another 49-yard completion that would lead to an eventual touchdown run from running back Ross Scheuerman to extend Lafayette’s lead to 17-7, but Fordham was able to adjust.
“I think the performance by the defense in the second half was tremendous,” Fordham head coach Joe Moorhead said. “I feel like we made some good adjustments and challenged our guys.”
It wasn’t all pretty for the Rams. Lafayette picked on cornerback Ian Williams, who had a game-high 12 tackles but also gave up a touchdown and committed three penalties that extended drives for the Leopards. Fordham committed 13 penalties for 140 yards.
“We’re a team that has committed a lot of penalties this year,” Moorhead said. “The ones that are not smart, we have to continue to grind away and find a way to eliminate those because it’s not good football and not where we want to be as a team.”
The win ensured that Fordham will finish with a winning record for the first time since 2007, when the Rams won the Patriot League title.
“I just feel so good for the senior class,” Moorhead said. “They’ve gone above and beyond the call of duty and set the stage for what this program is going to be.”
asulla-heffinger@nypost.com