READING, Pa. – The Albright and FDU-Florham football teams each came into Saturday afternoon's game at Shirk Stadium riding winning streaks. Albright had won three straight, and FDU-Florham had won two. After 60 convincing minutes, Albright was the team that pushed its winning streak along as it handily defeated FDU-Florham, 59-7.
The party started early for the Lions (4-2, 4-1). Just three minutes into play,
Alec Vignola hit
Vinny Williams for a 9-yard touchdown to make it 7-0. Williams finished with four catches for 40 yards along with the score.
On the ensuing possession, the Albright defense doubled the lead.
Donte Thomas intercepted a deflected pass and raced 59 yards untouched down the sideline to make it 14-0. The Lions held the Devils to 259 yards of offense, 82 yards less than FDU-Florham's average output.
The Lions put up 459 yards of offense, and it kept rolling in the second quarter.
Brian Wickkiser caught a 3-yard touchdown from Vignola to make it 21-0.
Malik Jackson caught two touchdowns in the second quarter. Vignola hit him from three yards out to make it 28-0, and
Mike Knight found Jackson from 10 yards out to make it 35-0 Lions with 56 seconds left in the first half. Jackson finished with five grabs for 83 yards and the two scores. Vignola completed 11 passes for 113 yards and three touchdowns. Knight went 7-for-9 for 137 yards and one touchdown.
In the second half,
Danny Tighe ran it in from two yards out to make it 42-0. On the next possession, Devils quarterback Jagger Green attempted a screen pass, but he was picked off by defensive tackle
Jacobi Ortiz-Nangle at the FDU-Florham 11. On the next play,
Josh Davis raced in from 11 yards out to make it 49-0. Davis led the Lions' rushing attack with 67 yards on 11 carries.
Albright picked off Green five times on the day.
Will Harrison,
JaVaughn Patterson and
Ben Ortiz had the other picks for the Lions. Harrison led the defensive effort with nine tackles. Patterson had eight, and
Nico Williams had five.
Albright rounded out its scoring with a 22-yard field goal from
Joe Mahal and a 15-yard touchdown pass from
David Gavrilov to
Matt Elkins. FDU-Florham broke the shutout with a passing touchdown in the final five minutes of action.
Marcus Davis had four catches for 72 yards, and
Kyle Dickerson made three catches for 50 yards. He tied Jackson for the longest grab of the day, each pulling in a 43-yarder.
The Lions look for five straight wins next week when it travels to Wilkes. Kickoff on Saturday is scheduled for 1 p.m.