ANNVILLE, Pa. - Austin Hartman and Brendan Irving each tied a program record with four touchdowns apiece as Lebanon Valley routed FDU-Florham 65-21 at Arnold Field.
The Dutchmen (3-1, 2-1 MAC) simply could not be stopped, gaining 503 yards of offense with 283 on the ground. Both Hartman and Irving cleared 100 yards rushing - almost entirely in the first half - and Brian Murphy threw for 201 yards on 11-of-19 passing. Bryan Ek added a 75-yard pick-six in the fourth quarter.
The 999th game in program history turned out to be one that rewrote the record books. LVC's point total was its highest since 1924, and Sean Fakete set a single-game record with eight PAT kicks. Hartman and Irving became just the fifth and sixth Dutchmen to rush for four touchdowns in a single game, the first duo to do in the same game, and they were the first pair of 100-yard rushers since 2005.
"We felt like we needed to take another step as a football team, and we talked about how all three phases had to take another step if we're going to be legit. And we did," said Head Coach Jim Monos. "Our kids stayed on track, and I'm really please with what we've done."
The win, combined with Widener's 16-14 loss at home to Lycoming, means that LVC is back in the thick of the Middle Atlantic Conference race with Lycoming coming to town in two weeks for Oktoberfest Weekend.
The Dutchmen offense scored blew out to 44 first-half points, including a 16-point swing over a two-minute span to start the second quarter. After Hartman polished off two first-quarter drives with touchdowns, he opened the second quarter with a one-yard second-effort score. LVC's defense forced a three-and-out, and Kevin Antol blocked Dan DiProfio's punt into the end zone, forcing the DiProfio to cover up for the safety. Matt Richmond brought the free kick back 51 yards, and that set up a pair of Irving rushes to score just a minute later and turn a 14-0 lead into a 30-0 margin.
Hartman broke loose on a 35-yarder to finish his day before Irving added another late score in the quarter, sandwiched around FDU touchdowns by Anthony Fruncillo and Trey Smith.
Irving had two more touchdowns in the third quarter, and Bryan Ek jumped a Michael Santos pass for a 75-yard pick-six to start the fourth quarter.
LVC's first-half defense was superb, not allowing a first down in the opening quarter and really only giving up a single big play when Fruncillo hauled in his 55-yard cross-field touchdown from Santos. The Devils (1-2, 0-2 MAC) had 326 yards of offense overall but only 15 in the first quarter. Antol led LVC with six tackles, and Reid Pavlik had six stops in the second half. Frank Gaffney had a sack, his sixth of the season, and Trevor St. Clair recovered a Devils fumble. Josh Borreli and Bryan Kasper both had interceptions as LVC was +3 for the game.
Lebanon Valley visits Wilkes next week.
Game Notes
The last time LVC scored 65 or more points was 1924 against Schuylkill, a 77-0 win (Schuylkill later merged with Albright) ... LVC had a 63-14 win over Bridgewater in 1989 under Jim Monos that was the last time they hit 60 ... LVC tied the modern program record with nine touchdowns in a game, set during that Bridgewater contest ... Hartman and Irving join Ben Guiles, Charlie Parker, Rick Coleman, and Vern Magnuson as the only four-touchdown rushers in program history ... Fakete broke his own game PAT record of seven ... Dan Kelly and Ryan Brennan were the last Dutchmen duo to rush for 100 yards in a game, back in 2005 ... Santos threw for three touchdowns and 195 yards with three interceptions for FDU ... Darryl Sweeper led LVC receivers with 66 yards on four catches ... Lebanon Valley averaged 5.7 yards per play ... It was LVC's 10th straight win over the Devils.