Football

Despite playing one of its best games of the season, the Lions' football team could not hold onto a lead and fell short in a disappointing 30-17 loss at Western Connecticut State University Saturday afternoon. Early in the fourth quarter, the Lions took a 17-10 lead after senior place-kicker Blake Abbott converted a season-long 42-yard field goal, but that's when the Colonials used a little Homecoming magic to get back into the game and score 20 unanswered points in the final frame.

With a tremendous defensive effort, the Lions' football team picked up its first conference victory against the Pioneers of William Paterson University by a score of 13-7 on Saturday afternoon. Despite a steady downpour, the Lions weathered the storm and survived two William Paterson drives in the final six minutes, each from inside their own 10-yard line, to take the game.

It was too little too late for the Lions as they came up short against the fourth-ranked Profs of Rowan University on Friday night, taking the 30-20 loss before a packed stadium at John Page Field. Despite digging themselves into a seemingly insurmountable 0-23 hole by halftime, the Lions turned a blowout into a nail biter by scoring three unanswered touchdowns in the second half.

In its best performance so far this season, the Lions' football team picked up its first victory with a convincing 42-20 trouncing of Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham at home on Friday night. Junior quarterback Chris Bell got the first start of his career and took advantage of a weak Devil's defense, throwing for 253 yards and three touchdowns.

Behind a struggling and inconsistent offense, the Lions football team suffered its second loss of the season to the Red Dragons of SUNY-Cortland 30-14 at home on Saturday. Failing to stop the run and convert when they needed to, the Lions were unable to sustain any sort of momentum to overcome the lead Cortland held the entire game.

The Lions were not kings of their own stadium during the football team's season opener Friday night, as they were manhandled to a 30-13 loss by a veteran Muhlenberg College team. With a sputtering offense, the Lions did nothing to dispel the legend of the Mules defense that led all of Division III in yards allowed last season.

Despite a highly successful 2004 campaign, the College's football team will try to improve upon last season's 8-2 mark with hopes of winning the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) after finishing as the runner-up in the past three seasons. Having lost numerous key players to graduation, the Lions will have some significant shoes to fill, namely those of offensive lineman Erik Sendel and defensive linemen Bryan Mulholland and Michael Sykes, members of the Class of 2005 who were all named to the 2004 All-East Team.

The College's football team posted a 37-0 victory over Kean University in its regular season finale Saturday. Fittingly, the seniors playing in the last home game of their careers were the players who led the Lions to victory. The Lions defense allowed just 31 total yards, forced an impressive six fumbles, recovered three of them and sacked the opposing quarterback eight times for their third shutout of the season.

The College's football team was stunned 43-0 by the State University of New York (SUNY) at Brockport Saturday afternoon. It was the first time the College has been shut out since 1996. "They were a good team," head coach Eric Hamilton said. "They have a lot of talent and numbers.

The College's football team kept their playoff chances alive for at least one more week with a 10-3 victory over New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) rival Montclair State University on Saturday night. It was the Lions' first win over Montclair in their last six meetings.

The College's football team did not disappoint a packed Lions' Stadium on Saturday in its homecoming game against Western Connecticut State University. Trailing by 12 points at halftime, the Lions stormed back and won 34-26. The Lions didn't start off their Homecoming game the way they had hoped.

The Lions football team improved to 4-1 on the year and 2-1 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) with a 22-14 victory over William Paterson University Friday night. The College has now won 11 consecutive games against the Pioneers. The win did not come easily, as the College had to stave off a late comeback attempt from the Pioneers.