Lafayette defeats Savannah, ends 15-game skid

Andy Meyer
Sports Reporter - St. Joseph News Press

SAVANNAH, Mo. - With his looking suddenly vulnerable, Lafayette's Jaquan Davis decided enough was enough.

Davis' 37-yard, tackle-breaking touchdown run gave the Fighting Irish permanent momentum on the way to a 38-28 victory against Savannah on Friday night and snapped Lafayette's 15-game losing streak.

"I just figured if I got in the end zone, it would bring us back, and it did," Davis said. "We wanted to make a big statement today."

The Irish (1-2, 1-2 Midland Empire Conference) did so from the get go. After exchanging punts to open the game, which was delayed 40 minutes because of lightning, Bryston Williams made the first of several big plays by easily gaining the corner and going in untouched for a 26-yard score.

After touchdowns by Davis and Dan Ritter, Williams closed the scoring in the first half by intercepting a Travis Partridge pass and raced 90 yards down the sideline to make it 24-0 heading into the locker room.

"I saw my blocks, and I knew I had to get there," Williams said.

Lafayette's defense yielded only a handful of first downs through the first two quarters, but then Scott Anderson got going.

Partridge repeatedly found Anderson on Savannah's first three drives, two of which resulted in touchdowns and brought the score to 24-14 with 3 minutes, 23 seconds left in the third quarter.

"If we can put four quarters together, we can play with anybody," Partridge said. "We're just not doing that right now."

Then Davis got to work. The diminutive senior, who finished with 180 yards on 20 carries and three rushing touchdowns, played much larger than his size by taking three carries for a total of 77 yards in just more than a minute to swing the momentum back to Lafayette's sideline and provide another three-score cushion.

"It feels real good," Davis said. "Know we know what it feels like to win."

Savannah (1-3, 0-1 MEC) didn't go quietly, however, as Anderson repeatedly made spectacular moves to keep the Savages moving down the field. Despite finishing with 232 yards receiving and three touchdowns - all in the second half - it was not enough to complete the comeback.

Following the win, first-year Lafayette coach Paul Woolard deferred all the accolades to the players, who moments earlier had doused him with ice water to commemorate his first victory as a head coach.

"Last week stung an awful lot and they wanted to get that taste out of their mouths," said Woolard of a one-score loss to Chillicothe. "It's a big moment for them. It's fantastic."