READING, Pa. – The Albright Lions football team was unable to overcome a 27 –point second half from FDU-Florham as they fell Score 49-34 to the devils on a beautiful homecoming Saturday afternoon at Shirk Stadium in MAC play.
 
With the loss, the Lions fall to 0-5 overall and 0-3 in MAC play. Meanwhile, the Devils improve to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in MAC play as they snap an 11-game losing streak against the Lions.
 
Junior quarterback Jimmy Lahay went 28-of-50 for a career-high 387 yards and four touchdown passes. 279 of the yards and all four touchdown passes came in the first half. Senior Kyle Dickerson did it all for the Lions during the contest as he recorded a career-high 199 yards on 14 catches and totaled 215 offensive yards. Dickerson caught three touchdowns and rushed for one. Freshman Tony Thorpe led the Lions in rushing with 53 yards, while classmate Kevin Zehner finished with a season-high 139 yards on 10 catches and one touchdown.  
 
The Lions started the game off with a bang as Lahay hit Zehner in stride for a 56-yard touchdown pass on the first offensive play of the game after a good kick return from freshman Jaylan Lawson. The Lions missed the extra point, and the Devils struck back on 3^rd and 20 with a 91-yard touchdown pass to take a 7-6 lead at the 13:04-mark of the first quarter. The big plays did not stop there as Lahay found Dickerson for an 84-yard touchdown pass on 3^rd and 16 on the ensuing drive to give the Lions the lead back at 13-7 at the 11:25-mark. The pass play was the third-longest in Lions program history. The Devils came back yet again with a 39-yard touchdown pass on 4^th and 10 to take a 14-13 lead at the 9:13-mark. The teams traded punts on their next drives before the Lions used a 15-play 86-yard drive to take the lead back at 20-14 with 28 seconds left in the first quarter. Dickerson took an end-around to the right corner of the end zone from five yards out for the touchdown.
 
The Devils opened up the second quarter by going 75 yards in nine plays to re-take the lead back at 21-20 on a four-yard touchdown pass at the 11:41-mark. Each team then drove into the others territory on their following drives and both ended by turnover on downs. Lahay led a charge after the Devils drive ended and found Dickerson for the second time in the half to give the Lions a 27-21 with just over three minutes left in the second quarter. Junior defensive back Kamaal Stewart would intercept an errant throw on the Devils second play of the next drive to give the Lions a chance to extend its lead before halftime. Albright would do just that as Lahay hit Dickerson again with an 18-yard touchdown pass to give the Lions a 34-21 lead at halftime.
 
FDU opened the second half with the ball and would drive 75 yards in 11 plays to cut the Lions lead down to 34-27 at the 11:03-mark. The Lions next drive would end with another turnover on downs after freshman Danny Vital was stopped on a fake punt attempt at midfield. Both teams then traded punts again before the Devils tied the game at 34 with 1:15 left in the third quarter. Devil quarterback Jagger Green found Damarquis Price on 4^th and 11 on a jump ball in the right back corner of the end zone for the score.
 
The game completely flipped on the Lions next drive as Lahay was intercepted by Isaiah Turner after being drilled on the throw, and Turner would race 45 yards for the touchdown and give the Devils their first lead since the second quarter at 41-34. After a three-and-out on their next drive, the Lions drove to the Devils 17-yard line on the next drive before being forced into a turnover on downs. Albright seemed to regain some life after senior defensive lineman David Sanchez forced a Devils fumble on the next drive to give the Lions the ball at midfield. However, four incompletions later gave the ball right back to the Devils. FDU would drive 55 yards in eight plays to put the game away on a nine-yard touchdown pass which brought the score to 48-34 with 1:40 left.
 
Sanchez and freshman Ryan Rogers each posted six tackles with Sanchez picking up 3.5 TFL, one sack, and one forced fumble. Senior defensive lineman Zack Marini posted two tackles, 1.5 TFL, two hurries, and a fumble recovery in the loss as well. The Devils out-gained the Lions 196-95 in the second half and held them to nine first downs after giving up 18 in the first half. Green finished with six touchdown passes and senior Mike Panzarino hauled in three touchdown catches and 136 yards on nine catches.
 
The Lions will return to action on Saturday, October 6^th when they will travel to face Wilkes at 1 p.m. on MAC play.