Lehigh grinds out 21-10 win over Bucknell in Patriot League opener

Saturday, October 10

Lewisburg, Pa.

1:00 PM

Lehigh University

3-3 , 1-0

Bucknell

3-2 , 0-1

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Lehigh	7	7	7	0	21
Bucknell	7	0	3	0	10

Lehigh grinds out 21-10 win over Bucknell in Patriot League opener

10/10/2015 5:11:00 PM | Football

Box Score

LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Lehigh football team used a balanced offensive attack and a strong defensive effort to snap a two-game losing streak as the Mountain Hawks opened Patriot League play with a 21-10 win over Bucknell Saturday at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. The Mountain Hawks churned out 229 rushing yards on the ground and limited the Bison to 233 total yards to even their record at 3-3.

Junior Nick Shafnisky generated 271 yards of total offense, completing 23-of-33 passes for 203 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also rushed 15 times for 68 yards and two scores.

Shafnisky was one of a three-pronged rushing attack that carried the ball 44 times for 229 yards. Freshman Dominick Bragalone gained 107 yards on 18 carries playing not far from his hometown of South Williamsport. Sophomore Nana Amankwah-Ayeh also had a strong effort in just his second career game, carrying 11 times for 54 yards.

(10/10/2015) Football at Bucknell - 10/10/2015

Defensively, the Mountain Hawks played without their top two tacklers in junior linebacker Colton Caslow and junior safety Brian Githens, but a number of players stepped up in Lehigh's best defensive performance of the season thus far. Junior Pierce Ripanti led the defensive effort with eight tackles and half a sack, while senior Noah Robb added seven tackles and a sack. The Mountain Hawks registered four sacks on the day, with junior T.J. Stubbs leading the way with 1.5.

"We put together a really good offensive game plan to run the ball," Lehigh head coach Andy Coen said. "Defensively, Coach Bottiglieri and his staff did a great job. We put pressure on their quarterback. We had a nice run of three-and-outs and stopping them down by the goal line and holding them to a field goal there. I can't speak enough about how well those kids developed today. I thought the defensive guys were getting better, even in the midst of the Yale loss. Hopefully these are things we can continue to build on."

Bucknell (3-2, 0-1 Patriot League) used a pair of big pass plays on its second offensive possession to take a 7-0 lead. Quarterback R.J. Nitti hit Alan Butler for a 28 yard pass to get the ball to midfield, then went deep to Butler again for a 44 yard touchdown to put the Bison in front with 4:59 left in the first quarter.

Lehigh answered with an eight-play, 73-yard drive, capped by a 39-yard touchdown run by Shafnisky. The run was the longest of Shafnisky's career and tied the game with two minutes to play in the second half.

A strong pass rush allowed the Mountain Hawks to the ball back early in the second quarter. Stubbs and senior Olivier Rigaud combined on a sack and then Robb notched his second sack of the season to force a Bison punt.

The Mountain Hawks posted another eight play drive, this time moving the ball efficiently both on the ground and through the air. Shafnisky capped the drive with a three-yard run off left tackle to give Lehigh its first lead of the game.

Lehigh was looking for more after another defensive stop but a drive into the red zone was halted when Shafnisky was picked off by Colin Jonov, who returned the ball to the Mountain Hawks' 35. The Lehigh defense held the Bison to a 30-yard John Burdick field goal attempt, which was missed wide right.

"Whether it was stops on third down or forcing the field goal at the end of the half, which they missed, we did some good things," Coen said. "We hung in there. It wasn't pretty, but after the last couple of weeks any win is pretty."
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The Mountain Hawks had one final chance late in the half, but a last second 53-yard field goal attempt by freshman Ed Mish was blocked as Lehigh took a 14-7 lead into halftime.

Lehigh out-gained Bucknell 241-146 in the first 30 minutes with the Mountain Hawks gaining 102 on the ground and 139 through the air.

Shafnisky completed 15-of-21 passes for 139 yards and rushed five times for 40 yards. Freshman Dom Bragalone carried seven times for 42 yards, while sophomore Troy Pelletier had four first half receptions for 29 yards.

Lehigh began the second half with a pair of three-and-outs while Bucknell opened with a ten play drive that cut Lehigh's lead to 14-10 after a 20-yard Burdick field goal.

On its second possession following the Burdick field goal, Lehigh put together an impressive 14-play drive that saw the Mountain Hawks convert three critical third downs. A 13-yard pass from Shafnisky to Amankwah-Ayeh on a circle route put the ball at the Bison five yard line. A holding penalty backed the Mountain Hawks up, but Shafnisky hit sophomore tight end Drew Paulsen down the seam for a 16-yard touchdown that extended Lehigh's lead to 21-10 late in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Lehigh's defense continued its strong play while the Mountain Hawk running game got going in earnest allowing Lehigh to take more than eight and a half minutes off the clock. Shafnisky, Bragalone and Amankwah-Ayeh shared the load, carrying the ball on 16 of 17 plays, but the drive ended with a fourth down sack.

"We weren't really sure what his role was going to be," Coen said of Amankwah-Ayeh. "I was talking with (offensive line) coach (Andy) Marino and we knew Dom would be a big player for us, but that Nana could bang some heads. They were both big parts of the ground assault today."

Bucknell had one more chance to get back in the game but Stubbs sacked Nitti on 2nd-and-10 and on fourth and long the Bison tried a lateral play with senior Cody Kondas recovering to give the Mountain Hawks the ball back with 2:42 to play.

Nitti finished 15-of-26 for 178 yards and a touchdown for Bucknell. Lehigh limited the Bison to just 55 rushing yards with Matt DelMauro leading the way with 68 on 17 carries.

The Mountain Hawks will have their bye next week and will return to action on Saturday October 24 when they visit defending Patriot League champion Fordham, with kickoff set for 1 p.m. from Jack Coffey Field in the Bronx, N.Y. The game will be broadcast on the Patriot League Network while audio coverage will be available on ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 and ESPNLV.com.

EXTRA POINTS… With the win, Lehigh matches its win total from the 2014 season… the Mountain Hawks are now 1-0 in Patriot League play for the seventh time in the last eight seasons… Lehigh won the game prior to its bye week for just the third time in ten seasons under Andy Coen… Lehigh's 229 rushing yards marked its second 200-plus yard rushing day this season… The Mountain Hawks have now rushed for 100 or more yards in 22 of 28 games, but prior to Saturday two of those games were they failed to reach the century mark were against Bucknell… Pelletier, sophomore Gatlin Casey and senior Trevor Socarras all caught five passes to lead the receiving corps… senior Derek Knott led the receiving corps with 43 yards on two catches… Shafnisky completed passes to nine different receivers… Lehigh's four sacks were a season-high… Kondas matched Stubbs with 1.5 tackles for loss to go along with six tackles.