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Saints football wins Liberty League Title and earn NCAA bid

Posted 11/15/15

Austen Lauricella returned a kickoff 79 yards early in the fourth quarter and Mike Lefflbine threw a 4-yard TD pass to Vincenzo Ferraro three plays later leading the St. Lawrence University Football …

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Saints football wins Liberty League Title and earn NCAA bid

Posted

Austen Lauricella returned a kickoff 79 yards early in the fourth quarter and Mike Lefflbine threw a 4-yard TD pass to Vincenzo Ferraro three plays later leading the St. Lawrence University Football team to a 21-14 victory over Merchant Marine Saturday in front of an estimated 1,000 fans on Weeks Field at Leckonby Stadium in Canton. The win secured the first Liberty League title since 2010 as the Saints earned the automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Playoffs that begin November 21.

The win also secured the Hoffman Cup for the third straight year with the trophy that is awarded to the winner of the annual Merchant Marine vs. St. Lawrence football game.

St. Lawrence will wait until 6 pm Sunday to find out its next opponent as the matchups for the NCAA Playoffs will be announced via a selection show broadcast on the NCAA website at www.ncaa.com.

"I am proud of the way we finished the regular season," said Head Coach Mark Raymond. "We had to overcome some obstacles down the stretch and I give the guys a lot of credit for finishing strong."

For the third consecutive game, the Saints (8-2 Overall, 6-1 Liberty League) built a first half lead scoring a pair of touchdowns on Lefflbine passes. The senior quarterback connected on a 26-yarder to fellow senior Leondre Simmon late in the first quarter and then tossed a one-yard pass to Matt Gardiner with 35 seconds left in the first half for the 14-0 lead after the first 30 minutes of action.

The Saints held the first half lead despite turning the ball over an uncharacteristic five times with three fumbles and two interceptions in the first two quarters.

In the second half, neither team managed a score in the third quarter but Merchant Marine (3-6, 2-5) started a drive late in the third that ended with its first TD as the fourth quarter started as the Mariners scored on the first play of the quarter to cut the lead to 14-7.

The momentum after the 12-play drive was on the side of Merchant Marine but the Lauricella kickoff return changed that as he electrified the crowd with the 79-yard return that nearly went the distance but he was stopped at the Mariner six-yard line.

After a short run by Jake Gnieser and an incomplete pass. Lefflbine found wide receiver Vincenzo Ferraro in the middle of the end zone for the TD and a 21-7 St. Lawrence lead.

The Mariners answered with another long drive with eight plays and 65 yards and capped by a five-yard TD run by quarterback Matt McDaniels to trim the lead to seven points at 21-14 with 11:23 left to play.

Lefflbine and the Saints took over and needed a big drive and the running game led by Maurice Irby responded with a 14-play, 56 yard drive that consumed 8:31 off the clock. Irby rushed for 23 yards on the drive and caught a pass for another nine yards.

The biggest play of the drive came on a fourth down situation from the 29 yard line. Facing a 4th-and-12 Lefflbine found backup tight end John Maye for a 19-yard gain to keep the drive alive. Although the drive ended with a missed field goal by the Saints, it also left Merchant Marine with less than three minutes left to play.

"Mike (Lefflbine) really settled down after a rough start and made some big plays," said Raymond. "A lot of guys stepped up today. Lauricella had a couple huge plays and Maye with a great play coming in off the bench. We needed some guys to step up today and they did."

The Saints defense forced a turnover on downs after four plays and Lefflbine returned to the field needing to just take a knee on the final plays to secure the win.

It was the final regular season home game for the seniors on the team.

"This is a great senior class," said Raymond. "We didn't have a lot of seniors but these guys came in here and overcame a lot to get us where we are now."