For the first time since 1983, the St. Lawrence University football team put together a pair of shutout victories as the Saints scored early and often in a 52-0 victory over Norwich University Saturday afternoon on Weeks Field at Leckonby Stadium in Canton.
St. Lawrence (2-0) scored on its first three possessions and four of the first five to jump out to an early lead and held a 31-0 lead after a field goal as time expired in the first half.
The Saints added touchdown receptions in each of the final two quarters and wrapped up the scoring with a Chris Ryan fumble recovery in the end zone for the final score of the game.
The consecutive shutouts are the first since the 1983 season when St. Lawrence beat Hobart 17-0 and followed it up with a 13-0 win over Buffalo State. The 52-0 victory is the largest margin of victory in a shutout since 1977 when the Saints defeated Plattsburgh 53-0.
The win was also the first for a home team in the series with Norwich since 2006 when the Saints also won at Leckonby Stadium. The teams have traded wins in the last nine meetings with each winning on the road.
On Saturday, Vincenzo Ferraro started the day with a 29-yard touchdown reception on a pass from Sean Richardson 3:01 into the game. After Norwich (0-2) opened the game with a three-down drive, a short punt gave the Saints the ball at the 36 yard line. Richardson completed a short pass to Mitch Gallagher and then found Ferraro for the 29-yard score.
After another three-and-out Norwich drive, Richardson engineered another scoring drive. The big play of the drive was a 13-yard completion to Ferraro on a 3rd-and-12 play and Gallagher capped the drive three plays later with a 14-yard reception giving the Saints a 14-0 lead.
The St. Lawrence defense forced another three-play drive as Michael LaRusso tackled running back Patrick Brown behind the line of scrimmage on a 3rd-and-1 play to force another Norwich punt.
James Holley-Grisham returned the punt 27 yards to start the drive at the Norwich 24 yard line. Facing a fourth down inside the Cadet 20-yard line, the Saints went for the first down with the play coming up short but a defensive holding penalty gave St. Lawrence a first down and Richardson found Ferraro in the end zone on the next play for a 21-0 St. Lawrence lead.
On the second drive of the second quarter, the Saints put together their longest drive of the first half with a nine-play 70-yard scoring drive. Richardson connected with Gallagher for an 11-yard gain on a 4th-and-2 play and then Nick Frenger came in at quarterback and ran into the end zone from 10-yards out for a 28-0 Saints lead.
The St. Lawrence defense stopped a drive late in the second quarter as Jayson Leigh made a tackle in the backfield on a fourth-down play with less than four seconds remaining in the half. The time expired but the officials reset the game clock to 1.8 seconds allowing St. Lawrence to attempt a 39-yard field goal and Daly Hebert split the uprights as time expired to give St. Lawrence a 31-0 halftime lead.
In the first half, the Saints dominated with 15 first downs to one for the Cadets and outgained Norwich 266-26.
In the third quarter, Richardson connected with Gallagher for another touchdown on the second St. Lawrence drive of the half. The big play of the drive was a 22-yard reception by Ferraro.
The teams traded punts for the remainder of the third and into the fourth quarter.
ON the second possession of the final quarter for the Saints, Richardson found Ferraro again – this time for a 59-yard pass play that started behind the line of scrimmage as Ferraro stepped back from where he was lined up to start the play, caught the pass and raced down the sideline for the longest scoring play of the season for the Saints and a 45-0 lead.
In the middle of the quarter, Frenger drove the Saints deep into Norwich territory before the drive stalled inside the Norwich 10-yard line after a failed fourth down conversion attempt.
After a delay of game penalty to start the drive, Ryan pulled the ball out of the hands of the Norwich running back and ran it into the end zone for the touchdown capping the scoring as St. Lawrence sealed the victory with the 52-0 advantage.
The St. Lawrence defense dominated the afternoon as Skyler Williamson led the way with eight tackles including two for loss. Holley-Grisham finished with three tackles and had an interception in the second quarter. The picked off pass continued a streak of 12 consecutive games with at least one interception and the Saints have now intercepted passes in 21 of the last 22 games.
Ferraro finished with eight catches, 161 yards and three touchdowns and Richardson was 24-for-38 for 312 yards and five touchdowns. Rodrick Payne led the rushing attack with 69 yards on 11 carries.
The Saints hit the road for a pair of games starting with a trip to Massachusetts next weekend to face Endicott before opening Liberty League play the next weekend against Rensselaer in Troy.