The Yellowjacket men’s football team recognized on Saturday that playing a team currently on a four-game slump and with a winless Liberty League record doesn’t change how they should play the game.
‘It’s dangerous to let a team who is winless in the League hang around, because the feeling of pulling an upset [can] drive any team to win,” junior inside linebacker Eddie Dauphin said.
And although UR took an early lead in the first five minutes, with a touchdown by junior running back Clarence Onyiriuka, and defeated WPI 24-17, the game remained a toss-up for three-quarters.
A 10-10 stalemate didn’t lift until the third quarter, when Dauphin intercepted a ball in the red zone to thwart WPI’s drive. He returned the ball 32 yards, shifting the momentum of the game.
‘I made a good read on the quarterback’s eyes and he just threw it my way,” Dauphin said. ‘It was a play I was expected to make so I knew I had to. The offense hadn’t put up too many points yet, but they know a turnover on defense is huge and they capitalized off of it and executed for the rest of the game.”
His teammates wouldn’t let him down Onyiriuka scored a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to give UR a 17-10 lead. The ‘Jackets drove again 86 yards in eight plays and secured a two-touchdown lead when sophomore quarterback Braezen Subick connected with senior wide receiver Adam Barrett in the end zone. The team only allowed WPI a touchdown with 3:15 left on the clock.
Dauphin may have gained UR possession of the ball, which set them up for two-straight scores, but one man alone didn’t alter the game.
‘[The interception] came from constant pressure on the quarterback from our D-line all day and great coverage by the rest of the defense,” Dauphin said.
The ‘Jackets, 3-4 overall and 3-2 in the Liberty League, travel to Alfred University, who is 6-0, on Saturday.
‘[Alfred] is going to be another tough game,” Dauphin said. ‘But we are also a good football team, and we don’t back down from anyone… We are looking to make a statement and we will play Alfred tough and physical.”
Leber is a member of the class of 2011.
