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Hamilton, NY — Junior tailback Jamaal Branch carried 26 times for 143 yards and four touchdowns to lead undefeated and nationally ranked ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ (7-0) to a 52-40 win over previously undefeated Yale (4-1) Saturday at Andy Kerr Stadium.
¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ, off to its best start since the 1977 season, extended the longest winning streak in Division I-AA to 13 straight games.
Branch, who is the leading rusher in Division I-AA, became the 10th player in school history to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season. He has 1,121 yards ‘ the seventh best single season mark.
¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ’s 52 points is most ever scored by the Raiders against Yale, and the best offensive output since they defeated Cornell 55-16 in 1999.
¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ had 338 yards of total offense ‘ 161 rushing and 227 passing, while Yale managed 555 yards ‘ 134 rushing and 421 passing. Yale’s 421 yards passing was the most against ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ since they gave up 467 against Lehigh in 1989.
¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ scored its opening points on a five-yard run by Branch, after the Raiders’ Jared Nepa blocked a Yale punt on the first possession of the game. ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ recovered on a Yale 26-yard line. Four plays later, Branch found the end zone for a 7-0 lead.
After Yale scored on a 25-yard field goal by John Troost, ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ scored 14 straight points for a 21-3 advantage with 4:16 left in the first quarter. The Raiders’ Luke Graham caught a 36-yard pass from Chris Brown for the first touchdown, and linebacker Ryan Disch ran a 23-yard interception return back for the second TD.
The Bulldogs scored their first TD with 2:26 remaining in the opening quarter on a 24-yard pass play from Alvin Cowan to Ralph Plumb to cut the deficit to 21-10. Cowan connected on 35-of-55 passes for 421 yards and three touchdowns in the game.
The same combination struck again early in the second quarter on a 16-yard pass play as Yale came back to within four points, 21-17.
The two teams exchanged field goals later in the quarter with ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ’s Lane Schwarzberg kicking a 20-yarder, while Troost was good from 21 yards out. ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ closed out the first half scoring on a seven-yard touchdown pass to tight end John Frieser giving the Raiders a 31-20 halftime lead.
Branch scored the only points of the third quarter on a 68-yard run as ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ went ahead 38-20.
In the fourth quarter, Yale scored on a 20-yard run by David Knox before Branch tallied twice more on runs of three and two yards giving ¸Ô±¾ÊÓƵ a 52-27 lead. Yale closed out the scoring a 30-yard pass play from Cowan to Plumb, and after Yale recovered an on-side kick, the Bulldogs scored on a three-yard run by Cowan.