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Dorian Petersen equaled his career high with 16 tackles in Saturday's loss to Lafayette.

Bucknell Football Falls to No. 25 Lafayette, 31-0

Bison Suffer First Home Shutout Loss in 10 Years

Sept. 9, 2006

Final Stats

LEWISBURG, Pa. - Brad Maurer threw for 252 yards and had a 72-yard touchdown run to lead No. 25 Lafayette to a 31-0 win over Bucknell Saturday night in the Patriot League opener for both teams at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.

Bucknell and Lafayette were both coming off season-opening victories, and it was the Leopards who remained unbeaten after outgaining the Bison 475-218. Lafayette scored four rushing touchdowns, all in the first half, to sprint to a 28-0 halftime lead. Jonathan Hurt scored two of those TDs and finished with 99 rushing yards.

The Bison ran for 386 yards in last week's victory over Duquesne, but they were held to 149 on the ground by Lafayette. Josh DeStefano was the team's leading rusher with 55 yards on 11 carries. Quarterback Andrew Lair was held to 15 yards on nine carries, and he completed 5 of 15 passes for 69 yards.

Maurer had an efficient night passing, completing 12 of 19 attempts. Shaun Adair was his favorite target with four catches for 112 yards, including a 48-yarder with the Leopards backed up at their own 1-yard line in the second half.

Lafayette scored touchdowns on its first four possessions of the night, starting with Hurt's 4-yard run midway through the first period. A penalty negated a key third-down conversion on Bucknell's next drive, and Lafayette capitalized when Maurer sprinted through the right side of the line and went 72 yards for a touchdown.

In the opening minutes of the third quarter Bryan Kazimierowski picked up a fumble and initially returned it 80 yards for a touchdown. An illegal block on the return at the Bucknell 19 negated the score, but eight plays later Hurt dove in from the 1 to make it 21-0.

Joe Russo's 1-yard run with 6:03 left in the half made it 28-0.

Bucknell's deepest penetration of the night came on its next series. A 17-yard run by Paul Forcellini helped push the ball as far as the Lafayette 18, but the drive stalled and Will Carney pushed a 31-yard field-goal attempt wide right.

The Bison defense toughened in the second half, when it held Lafayette to only a Rick Ziska 22-yard field goal with 10:08 left in the fourth quarter. But the Bison punted on all five of their second-half possessions and eventually suffered their first shutout loss to Lafayette since 1985 and their first home shutout loss since a 47-0 blanking at the hands of William and Mary in 1996.

Ironically, that 1996 team went on to capture the Patriot League title, and more than 35 members of that team were on hand to be honored at halftime on the 10-year anniversary of the championship season.

Dorian Petersen had a game-high 16 tackles for the Bison, while fellow linebackers Ryan Slater and Matt Palermo added 12 and 11, respectively.

The Bison close out a three-game homestand to start the season next Saturday night against Cornell.