Oct. 8, 2005

Final Stats

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y.-Sophomore Obozua Ehikioya ran for 253 yards and two touchdowns, while the Marist defense yielded just 167 yards of total offense in a 27-0 victory over La Salle on a soggy Leonidoff Field Saturday. Marist improved to 4-2 overall and 1-0 in the MAAC with the win, while La Salle dropped to 2-4 overall and 1-1 in the league. The shutout was the first for the program since the Red Foxes shutout Siena 20-0 on Nov. 16, 2002 in Loudonville, N.Y.

It was Ehikioya's second straight dominating performance against La Salle, who earned National Player of the Week honors last season when he rushed for 246 yards and four touchdowns in Marist's 41-35 win over the Explorers.

Ehikioya's touchdowns also gave him 16 in just 14 career games for the Red Foxes, moving him into sole possession of third on Marist's I-AA career touchdowns list.

After a scoreless first quarter, Marist broke through with a 10-yard scoring toss from senior quarterback James Luft to senior wideout Tim Traynor with 11:15 to go in the second quarter.

Ehikioya scored the second touchdown of the afternoon on a two-yard plunge with 4:22 remaining, while senior Guy Smith hauled in a 10-yard touchdown toss from Luft in the left corner of the end zone with just nine seconds remaining in the half.

With the game well in hand, Ehikioya rumbled for his second score of the game, a five-yard run with 8:40 to go in the third quarter for the game's final margin.

La Salle quarterback Michael Jump led the Explorers with 30 yards on nine carries, while his 79 yards passing led the way as well. He completed six of his 24 attempts on the afternoon.

The Red Foxes were led by Luft's 8 for 17 effort with a pair of touchdown passes and interceptions. He threw for 107 yards on the afternoon. His two touchdown passes gave him nine for the season and tied him for the school's I-AA single-season mark with Bill Tramaglini (1998) and Kevin Chartrand (1999). He also moved past Dan O'Donnell for first in Marist's all-time record book with 22 career touchdown passes, one better than O'Donnell's total from 1987 to 1990.

Luft's primary target was Traynor, who hauled in three passes for 27 yards. Greg Vacarro led La Salle with two catches for 41 yards. Smith's 10-yard touchdown catch moved him to within 17 yards of breaking Jon Reed's (1994-97) record of 1,685 career receiving yards as well.

The Red Foxes will be off next week before facing defending MAAC champion Duquesne on Saturday, Oct. 22 at Leonidoff Field at 1 p.m.