Senior quarterback Mike Lefflbine set two school records and helped the offense put up the most pass completions in a game since 1976 as the St. Lawrence University Football team scored a 34-9 victory over Endicott College Saturday in the 2015 home opener on Weeks Field at Leckonby Stadium in Canton.
Lefflbine was 35-for-44 for 349 yards and two touchdowns leading the Saints (2-1) to one of the best passing days in school history. Lefflbine connected with first-year Patrick Bryant twice in the first half with the second TD coming on the final play of the half. That TD tied the quarterback fir the most career TD passes in school history with Kirk Dempsey who had 39 TD passes from 1975-77.
Lefflbine also broke the school record for completions in a game with his 35 successful passes. The old record was 29 set by Michael Baraldi against Rochester in 2009. The 35 completions by the team broke the school record of 31 set back in 1976 against Plattsburgh.
"Mike played great for us today," said Head Coach Mark Raymond. "We protected well and the receivers did a good job getting open and catching the ball."
Everything seemed to be working for the Saints offensively and defensively. The team racked up 425 yards of total offense which is the most since game one of last year when the Saints gained 458 against Coast Guard. The defense limited Endicott (0-3) to 134 yards passing and just 72 yards rushing on the day.
The Saints picked off two passes with James Holley-Grisham intercepting his first pass of the season and linebacker Alec Dietsch grabbing another. The interceptions extended the St. Lawrence streak of 26 consecutive games with at least one turnover.
"Everyone played well today in all three phases of the game," said Raymond. "I was happy with the way we prepared all week. I thought everyone played really well together for a solid team win."
St. Lawrence scored on its first two possessions of the game with the first coming quickly after a three=and-out Endicott drive and a short seven-yard punt gave the Saints the ball on the 27-yard line. Lefflbine connected with Vincenzo Ferrara and Mitch Gallagher before finding Bryant in the back of the end zone to give St. Lawrence a quick 7-0 lead.
After another three-play Endicott drive, Lefflbine drove the Saints down the field again completing his first four passes before Maurice Irby capped the drive with an eight-yard run up the middle for a 14-0 Saints lead.
Endicott answered with a drive down to the Saints 26-yard line but a pass on a fourth-and-two situation was intercepted by Dietsch to end the threat.
The teams traded punts for most of the second quarter until St. Lawrence started a drive with 54 seconds left in the half. Lefflbine completed a pair of passes over the middle to Gallagher and found Irby for a four-yard completion before the final play of the half when Lefflbine lofted a ball to the end zone where Bryant out-jumped the Endicott defender and came down in the end zone with no time remaining on the clock and the Saints took a 20-0 lead into the halftime intermission.
St. Lawrence opened the second half with a six play scoring drive highlighted by a 46-yard completion to Bryant down the sideline. Faced with a third-and-one on the 12-yard line, Gallagher took the direct snap and plowed his way into the end zone for a 27-0 St. Lawrence lead.
Endicott finally got on the scoreboard 10 minutes later. After a short St. Lawrence punt, Endicott started a drive from the 25-yard line and could not move the ball in three plays but settled for a 40-yard field goal.
The Saints capped its scoring at the start of the fourth quarter with a 10-play drive. Lefflbine connected with Bryant with a 12-yard gain late in the drive to move the ball to the one-yard line before backup quarterback Nick Frenger rushed the final yard for the TD and a 34-3 lead.
The teams traded interceptions, the second of which snapped a 160-pass streak without an interception for Lefflbine. The streak, that dates back to Nov. 1 of last year ended at 111-for-160 for 1,287 and 14 TDs since his last interception.
Endicott drove and scored as time expired in the game and since the extra point would not have had an impact on the game, by rule the extra point was not attempted and the final score ended up at 34-9.
Lefflbine completed passes to eight different receivers as Ferraro led the way with eight catches and Bryant finished with seven receptions and 115 yards. Gallagher added seven catches for 87 yards and scored a rushing TD. Gallagher now has a TD in 10 of the last 11 consecutive games for the Saints.
Irby led the rushing attack with 59 yards on 14 carries and a TD while Skyler Williamson was the top tackler with six stops. Chyron Brown-Wallace had five tackles, one sack and a quarterback hurry and Dietsch finished with five tackles and an interception.