In his first start at quarterback, freshman Drew Reed had a breakout performance in a crucial game for the Leopards.

Converting 21 of 22 pass attempts for 283 yards and five touchdowns, Reed led Lafayette (2-5 overall, 2-0 Patriot League) to a 41-23 win over Patriot League rival Holy Cross (3-6, 1-2 PL).

Despite being 0-5 in non-conference play, an undefeated Patriot League record means the Leopards take a share of the conference lead alongside Colgate University.

Senior wide receiver Mark Ross caught eight balls for 151 yards and three touchdowns in the victory.  During the game, he became Lafayette’s all-time leading receiver with 169 catches for 2,409 yards. He passed John Weyrauch ’04 (162-2,406) and has four regular-season games left to pad his record.

Also leading the Leopards was star running back Ross Scheurman ’15, who rushed 14 times for 49 yards and caught four balls for 67 yards and two TDs.

The story of the day, however, was Reed, who seems to be Lafayette’s answer at the signal-calling position. In what amounts to roughly three halves of play, Reed has posted an impressive statline: 38-44 (86 percent completion rate), 518 yards, 7 touchdowns and one interception. The lone pick came on the first pass of his college career.

His five touchdowns today were the highest single-game total for Lafayette since Rob Curley ’09 threw a school-record seven scores in 2009 against Holy Cross.

Reed took over as the signal-caller after Head Coach Frank Tavani benched incumbent starter Andrew Dzurick ‘16 in the third quarter of last week’s 35-16 loss to Harvard. In five games, Dzurick went 62-115 for three TDs and nine INTs.

Dzurick himself replaced original starter Zach Zweizig ’16, who suffered a concussion earlier in the year. Zweizig was 57-86 for two TDs and four INTs over three games.

In other Patriot League news, Bucknell shocked No. 15 Lehigh 48-10 to beat the Mountain Hawks for the first time since 1997. Lafayette beat Bucknell 31-7 earlier this year.

Keeping pace with Lafayette at the top of the Patriot League standings was Colgate (3-5, 2-0 PL), who defeated Georgetown (1-7, 0-2 PL) in D.C. by a score of 34-14.

Reed, a member of the first class of football recruits to receive scholarships, will try and keep Lafayette undefeated in Patriot League play next Saturday at Georgetown.