SLU Football Beats Union 27-24

By Mathew Taylor Last updated Oct 10, 2024

Clayton Fogler ’26 had the game winning overtime field goal for the Saints. PHOTO CREDIT: JOEL LAWTHER, SAINTS ATHLETICS

The Saints Came Back From 14 Down in the Fourth Quarter To Win in Walk-off Fashion in OT

In an electric weekend of college football, the St. Lawrence Saints achieved an impressive victory over the Union Charger Gardners on Saturday at Leckonby Stadium. The Saints won 27-24 in overtime on a game-winning 38-yard field goal from Clayton Fogler ’26.

Going into this matchup, the Saints knew they would be facing a formidable opponent, as Union is coming off a 10-2 season in 2023 where they qualified for the NCAA Tournament and made the second round. The Saints, however, were well prepared for this challenge.

“Union is a really good program,” said Danny Lawther ’25, the St. Lawrence quarterback. “I think we had a game plan where we found something offensively where we could attack their defense, and we did a great job executing that.”

Lawther passed for 271 yards and three touchdowns, completing 28 of his 40 passing attempts. Tight-end Oskar Baldwin ’25 was Lawther’s top target, catching seven passes for 97 yards and two touchdowns. For his stellar play, Baldwin was named Liberty League Football Offense Performer of the Week.

The Saints defense and special teams also were big contributors in the win. Defensively, Ryan Surhoff ’26 led the Saints in tackles, recording 13 total, while Daniel George ’25 had nine. In overtime Union got the ball first, but on the fourth play of their drive Savino Morelli ’27 intercepted the Union quarterback to put the Saints in position to win the game on their overtime drive. On special teams, Folger was the star, going five for five on kick attempts with three extra points and two field goals, including the 38-yard winner in overtime. Folger was named Football Co-Special Teams Performer of the Week by the Liberty League this week.

While the Saints were on the board first with a Folger field goal, they fell behind later in the game, and were down 24-10 in the fourth quarter before mounting a furious rally to tie the game at 24 on two touchdowns passes from Lawther.

“I was impressed to see the resilience we gave on all three phases of the team and the push we gave in the fourth quarter to overcome a 14-point deficit,” said Lawther. “The win gave us a lot of energy to attack the coming weeks with the confidence to know that any game on the rest of the schedule is winnable. I’m just proud of the guys to be able to experience a win like that.”

While Union was ranked second in the Liberty League preseason poll and St. Lawrence was ranked sixth, this game showed that rankings don’t mean that much, as the Saints certainly proved them wrong last Saturday.

The Saints will travel to Troy, New York this upcoming weekend to take on RPI at 12 p.m. in another Liberty League matchup. “RPI is also a really good program,” Lawther said. “I think they’ve won the league twice in the past five years. We always play them close, and it should be a good one this Saturday.”

After RPI, the next game for the Saints will be on October 19 against Hobart at home. So if you are free, be sure to watch the game live online this Saturday and in person the next weekend!