Sept. 19, 2008

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POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The Marist football team suffered a 21-14 loss to Wagner on Friday night at Tenney Stadium at Leonidoff Field. Marist senior running back Obozua Ehikioya (West Hempstead, N.Y.) scored both of the Red Foxes touchdowns, giving him 40 for his career and putting him one shy of the late J.J. Allen for the program record.

With six seconds to play, Wagner broke a 14-14 tie with a five-yard touchdown run by Rodney Davis. The run capped a 13-play, 79-yard drive that took 5:39. Wagner held a 37:32-22:28 lead in time of possession, and the Seahawks held the ball for 22:21 of the second half.

Three Red Foxes finished with at least 10 tackles apiece, led by sophomore linebacker John Van Aman (Landing, N.J.), who had 11. Junior linebacker Kevin Foley (Washingtonville, N.Y.) had 10, and sophomore safety Nick Andre (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) finished with eight tackles (two for losses), a sack, a forced fumble and an interception.

Marist got on the scoreboard first, as Ehikioya's one-yard run capped a 12-play, 80-yard drive which gave the Red Foxes a 7-0 lead with 5:38 left in the first quarter. Following a Wagner interception, the Seahawks tied the score with 12:59 left in the second on a pass from Adam Farnsworth to Lon Woods. Just 2:24 later, the Red Foxes re-claimed the lead on Ehikioya's second one-yard plunge of the night.

The Red Foxes would take a 14-7 lead into the third quarter, but Wagner tied the score on a 10-yard pass from Farnsworth to Tyrone Collins with 7:24 remaining in the period. After Marist punted on its ensuing possession, the Seahawks at their own 17 and drove the ball the length of the field, reaching the Marist one-yard line. However, on third-and-goal from the Marist eight, Andre intercepted a pass to end a 21-play Wagner drive which took up 10:50.

After Marist punted on its next drive, Wagner received the ball on its 21 with 5:45 remaining. Buoyed by nine carries for 45 yards on the drive by Shane Smith and two third-down conversions, the Seahawks moved the ball down the field while running time off the clock, setting up Davis' five-yard scoring run with just six seconds left.

For Marist, junior quarterback Chris Debowski (Fountain Valley, Calif.) rushed for a team-leading 83 yards on nine carries. He also completed 7-of-17 passes for 104 yards with one interception. Ehikioya ran for 48 yards on 15 carries in addition to his two scores. Junior wide receiver James LaMacchia (Bronx, N.Y.) led Marist with five catches for 67 yards.

Smith finished with 130 yards on 31 carries, while Farnsworth completed 25-of-32 passes for 207 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Kyle Trueblood led Wagner with nine catches for 79 yards.

Freshman wide receiver Michael Rios (Miami, Fla.) blocked a kick for the third consecutive week, as he swatted a Wagner field-goal attempt in the first quarter.

Marist will play the second of its five consecutive home games on Saturday, Sept. 27 against Sacred Heart. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. There will be a pre-game tailgate starting at 10:30 a.m. and running until 12:30 p.m. hosted by 92.1 Lite FM and Joe Daily. The game will also be part of Family Weekend at Marist. For ticket information, contact the Marist Ticket Office at (845) 575-3553.