Wayne, NJ (September 2)- Despite a few crucial turnovers that turned into touchdowns, the FDU-Florham football team was able to play through the mistakes and hold off William Paterson during their season opener, 33-29 on Saturday afternoon.

Kwanir Edwards (Trenton, NJ) was the hot hand on offense, totaling 147 rushing yards on 26 carries and finding the end zone three times on the day. Ryon Thomas (Mattapoisett, Mass.) went 15-for-24 through the air and a touchdown. His top target was Michael DeSantis (South River, NJ) who caught three passes for 47 yards.

Defensively, Matt Heineman (Staten Island, NY) led the team in tackles with seven total tackles (six solo) and added a fumble recovery to the stat sheet. Jakob Salinas (Bristol, Conn.) came up big for the Devils, getting a sack that turned into a safety and an interception off a tipped ball. Tim Miller (Baltimore, Md.) recorded five tackles and an interception on the day.

After a William Paterson punt on their opening drive, The FDU-Florham offense took its opening drive the distance with a 7 play, 75-yard drive that was capped off by a 15-yard touchdown run by Edwards. William Paterson answered quickly however, when on the second play of the drive, Mele' Stallings found an open Matt Clarke who outraced the defense for a 63-yard touchdown to tie the matchup 7-7.

FDU had a good drive going, but Thomas threw an interception to RJ Massey at the William Paterson two-yard line and went the distance to give the Pioneer the lead, 14-7. After a punt on the next drive by the Devils, a bad snap with pressure in his, Stallings forced a pass into the middle of the field on their own seven-yard line that was intercepted by Miller to set up the Devils offense with a drive starting at the William Paterson 10. The drive was capped off by Edwards' second touchdown of the game to tie the game heading into the second quarter.

On the Pioneers' opening drive of the second quarter, Stallings would again throw into traffic and a ball that was deflected by linebacker Tyrell Pereira (North Brunswick, NJ) was intercepted by Salinas at the FDU 27 yard-line. The Devils put together a good drive but were halted on third and six at the
WPU 37 and were forced to punt. A good punt by Thomas was downed at the William Paterson seven yard-line and after a few rush attempts, Stallings was sacked in the endzone by Salinas for a safety to give FDU the lead once again, 16-14 heading into the second half.

FDU put together another touchdown drive on their opening half possession that was 10 plays for 70 yards. This time the drive was capped off by a seven-yard touchdown throw from Thomas to Anthony Bilotta (Cedar Grove, NJ) to extend the Devils lead to 23-14. Three straight drives that ended in punts between both teams saw FDU regain possession at the WP 31 but the drive went in the wrong direction after three-downs. The Devils went for it on fourth down, but Thomas fell short on his scramble and William Paterson regained possession.

Starting off the fourth quarter, Stallings lost control of the ball and Heineman was able to fall on top of it to give the FDU offense good field possession at the William Paterson five. Though the WPU defense held strong to prevent a touchdown, FDU was able to get a field goal out of it from kicker Chris DiMedio (Cornwall, NY) to extend the lead to 26-14.

William Paterson quickly swung the momentum of the game as Tyreek Rollins took the kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown and then on the following FDU possession, Devyn Blount picked off Thomas and returned it 54 yards for a touchdown to give the Pioneers a 29-26 lead with 11:27 left to go in the game.

Both teams exchanged punts on the next drives and as FDU punted the ball on the ensuing drive, the ball hit a WPU player off the bounce and Christian Puntolillo (Wayne, NJ) was able to fall on it to give the Devils back possession. The offense made the most of that fumble recovery and turned it into a seven play, 44-yard drive that saw Edwards' third touchdown of the game for a 33-29 lead with 4:29 left to go. The FDU defense did its thing and stalled the WPU offense and allowed their offense to run out the rest of the clock for the win.

FDU-Florham enters Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) play next week as they travel to Chester, Pa. for a matchup with Widener on Saturday, September 9 with kickoff scheduled for noon.