Ayden Pereira leads fourth-quarter rally and Merrimack edges Fordham 27-26

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. -- — Ayden Pereira threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to lead Merrimack's 27-26 come-from-behind victory over Fordham on Saturday. The Warriors fell behind 26-13 through three quarters, but Pereira caught fire in the fourth period. His 66-yard pass to Austin Palmer made it 26-20 with 9:21 remaining. On Fordham's ensuing possession, Will Claude intercepted a pass by Gunnar Smith, setting up Merrimack 29 yards away from the go-ahead score, a 5-yard toss from Pereira to Cade Callahan. Carlton Thai added the PAT. The Rams lost a fumble on their only possession after Merrimack took the lead. Pereira completed only 11 of 30 passes for 167 yards and led the Warriors (4-8) with 77 yards rushing. Smith was 17-for-31 passing for 252 yards with one touchdown. He was intercepted twice and also lost a fumble. He had two rushing touchdowns. Troy Worrell caught six passes for 160 yards, including a 73-yard touchdown that gave the Rams their 26-13 lead. Fordham (1-11) forced a three-and-out to open the game and cashed in with a safety when Krystian Pothel blocked a punt and the ball went through the end zone. The Rams capitalized on field position after the free kick, driving 50 yards to a 26-yard field goal by Bennett Henderson. The early 5-0 lead, backed up by two touchdown runs by Smith built a 19-13 halftime lead for the Rams. Merrimack's only touchdown of the first half came on Garry Rosemond Jr.'s 11-yard return of a blocked punt. ------ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football