Senior defensive back/wide receiver scored two touchdowns in a span of 13 seconds late in the first half to give the St. Lawrence University Football team a lead it would not relinquish as the Saints added a late interception return for a TD to post a 42-23 victory over Union College Saturday afternoon on Frank Bailey Field in Schenectady.
Union (0-4 Overall, 0-1 Liberty League) scored on its first possession of the game and Simmon answered with a 24-yard reception for a TD five minutes late. The Dutchmen took a 10-7 lead midway through the second quarter with a 30-yard field goal before Simmon broke the game open.
Four minutes after Union took the 10-7 lead the Saints took over deep in Dutchmen territory after a 10-yard Union punt. Three plays later, Simmon capped the short drive with a three-yard TD catch giving St. Lawrence a 14-10 advantage.
On the first play of the ensuing drive, Simmon intercepted a pass by Nick Cascione and returned it 39 yards for the TD as the Saints went ahead 21-10.
Union scored later in the second quarter to trim the lead to 21-17 as the teams entered the locker rooms for the halftime intermission,
At the start of the second half, Maurice Irby capped an eight-play 60-yard drive with a 15-yard scoring run for the only points by either team in the third quarter.
Union scored first in the fourth quarter with an 11-yard TD pass but the two-point conversion attempt failed leaving the Saints with a 28-23 lead.
With less than five minutes to play, the Saints had a drive that left the coaching staff with a decision on a fourth-and-1 situation from the Union 27 yard line. The decision was made to go for the first down utilizing the wildcat formation with senior tight end Mitch Gallagher taking the direct snap. Instead of running the ball, Gallagher found fellow tight end Matt Gardiner for a completion and a 27-yard TD pass as the Saints pushed ahead 35-23.
Late in the fourth quarter, Union forced a St. Lawrence punt and moved the ball inside Saints territory after four consecutive complete passes. Facing a 2nd-and-6 after an offsides penalty, Union quarterback Dante Cioffe looked for a receiver near the sideline but first year corner back Israel Squires picked off the pass and raced 60-yards down the sideline for the second defensive TD of the game sealing the victory for the Saints.
James Holley-Grisham picked off the sixth pass of the day for the and returned the ball 45 yards before running out of bounds with no time remaining in the game as the Saints celebrated their third straight victory.
Holley-Grisham, Simmon and Squires each picked off a pair of passes in the game and Holley-Grisham added 14 tackles and a sack. Skyler Williamson led the St. Lawrence defense with 15 stops while Alec Dietsch and Jayson Leigh each had eight tackles and a sack.
Mike Lefflbine was 18-30 for 170 yards and two TDs as Patrick Bryant and Matt Gardiner shared the team lead with six catches each. Simon finished with just two receptions but both went for scores. Irby finished with 90 yards on 17 carries and one TD and Brodie Corless averaged 40.0 yards per punt on seven kicks with two kicks landing inside the 20 yard line.
The Saints play the next two games at home with a 1 pm game next weekend against Rochester for Family Weekend and a 1 pm October 10 matchup with Rensselaer for Homecoming/Hall of Fame Weekend.