Football falls to Lafayette in home opener

By Kaya DeAngelis

Stonehill football dropped a tough loss in their home opener against Lafayette College.

It was a beautiful day at W.B. Stadium, with almost 2,500 fans in attendance. The Leopards opened the scoring with a rushing touchdown off a 10-play, 75-yard drive. They added onto their lead in the beginning of the second quarter with another rushing touchdown to make the score 14-0.

Graduate student Zachary Kim led the Skyhawks offense, catching an 18-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Jack O’Connell to put Stonehill on the board.

The Leopards closed the first half with two more touchdowns. They were up 21-6 going into halftime.

Lafayette’s momentum carried into the third quarter, adding two more touchdowns off a 78-yard run (35-6) and a 48-yard kickoff return.

A late third quarter push got the Skyhawks back into the game when O’Connell threw a 38- yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Aidan Henry. The Skyhawks closed the gap to 42-13 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Skyhawks continued the scoring in the game’s final quarter. Just one minute in, Kim found the endzone on a deflected pass.

The Stonehill defense found their rhythm late in the fourth quarter. Senior linebacker Tyler Bannon forced a Lafayette fumble at the Stonehill 12-yard line, which was recovered for an impressive 90-yard touchdown run by junior defensive back Richard Mosley III.

Sophomore Anthony Busa had an interception to give Stonehill back the ball for the last minutes of the game. His catch would go on to be placed 4th on Sport Center’s Top 10 Plays of the Week.

O’Connell put up 269 passing yards, with three touchdowns in 25 completions. The final score was 42-26.