Philadelphia, Pa. (October 28)- The Sunday afternoon matchup came down to the final drive of the game, but the FDU-Florham football team (4-4, 3-4 MAC) held strong and came away with the win, 24-19 at Franklin Field on the campus of Pennsylvania University.

Offensively, Ryon Thomas (Mattapoisett, Mass.) had himself a game, completing 16 of his 22 passes for 144 yards through the air and ran for 67 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Nayson Brown (Red Bank, N.J.) posted his best outing of the season with 121 yards on the ground on 15 carries while Aidan Clowry (Pawling, N.Y.) led the way in the receiving game with 56 yards and a touchdown on three receptions.

Defensively, the Devils were led by Christian Puntolillo (Wayne, NJ) who posted 10 tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss, two pass breakups and an interception. Matt Heineman (Staten Island, N.Y.) had five tackles with 2.0 tackles for loss while Otis Harold (Vineland, N.J.) notched six tackles, one tackle for loss and two pass breakups.  

The Eagles got the ball first but were forced to punt on their first drive. The Devils offense started with the ball on their own 33-yard line and got a pair of first downs that set the ball up at the Eastern 43. Thomas then uncorked a deep ball to Clowry, who made the 43-yard catch for the FDU touchdown and gave Fairleigh Dickinson a 7-0 lead.

Eastern answered right back on the next drive as they moved the ball to their own 47 in seven plays. Jerimiah Avrillen then ripped off a 53-yard touchdown to tie the contest with 6:08 left in the first quarter.

After both teams exchanged punts, FDU had the opportunity to regain the lead on a 10-play, 65-yard drive but were stood up on 4^th and 1 and turned the ball over on downs. The defense held strong though and forced Eastern to punt.

The next scoring drive came right at the end of the second quarter as Fairleigh Dickinson started on the Eastern 49 and put together a 10-play, 36-yard drive that was capped off with a field goal by Chris DiMedio (Cornwall, N.Y.) that gave the Devils a 10-7 lead going into the half.

The Devils started the third quarter off the same way they started the first with a touchdown drive. It was an eight-play, 81-yard drive. Adrian Reese (Indianapolis, IN) came up big with a 10-yard catch on 3^rd and 4, Brown ripped off a 38-yard run, and the drive was capped off by Justin Malak (Staten Island, NY) who scored on a 12-yard run for his second touchdown in two weeks and extended the lead for FDU, 17-7.

Eastern answered with a touchdown of their own with a 15-play, 73-yard drive that was finished off with three-yard touchdown pass from Elijah Knowles to Brett Nabb.

Fairleigh Dickinson answered the answer though when they went right back down the field and scored another touchdown. A 35-yard kickoff return by Lomorris House (Bridgeport, Conn.) set the ball up at the FDU 45. The Devils drove the ball all the way down to the Eastern 23 where Thomas capped off the drive with an amazing run that made multiple defenders miss and extended the lead to 24-13.

Into the fourth quarter, the Eagles narrowed the deficit to 24-19 on a 12-play, 73 drive that was capped off by a one-yard touchdown run by Avrillen. The PAT was missed and made the score 24-19.

FDU had to punt it back to Eastern where they had the chance to win it. Starting on their own 15 with 8:16 left to go in regulation, the Eagles drove the ball all the way down to the FDU 15. They had the chance to score but Puntolillo came up big with a game-sealing interception with 1:43 left to go in the game. The Devils ran out the rest of the clock and escaped Philadelphia with a win

FDU-Florham is on the road again as they travel to Lebanon Valley for a huge matchup with the Flying Dutchmen on Saturday, November 4 with kickoff slated for 1:00 pm.

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