Saturday, October 15
Washington, D.C.
2:00 PM
Lehigh University
5-2 , 2-0
35
at
3
Georgetown
3-3 , 0-1
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Lehigh
7
7
14
7
35
Georgetown
0
3
0
0
3
Strong defensive effort carries Lehigh to 35-3 win at Georgetown
10/15/2016 6:03:00 PM | Football
WASHINGTON – Powered by a superb defensive effort, the Lehigh football team won its fifth straight game and improved to 2-0 in the Patriot League with a 35-3 win over Georgetown Saturday at Cooper Field. The Mountain Hawk defense limited Georgetown to 177 total yards and allowed their fewest points since a 27-0 shutout win over the Hoyas in 2009.
Offensively, the Mountain Hawks (5-2) lost senior quarterback Nick Shafnisky to injury midway through the second quarter but sophomore Brad Mayes stepped in to complete 19-of-26 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns. Shafnisky was 7-for-12 for 101 yards and a touchdown before departing the game. Both Lehigh quarterbacks threw an interception.
Junior Gatlin Casey once again led Lehigh's skill players with six receptions for 164 yards and two touchdowns, his fourth straight 100-yard receiving game. Classmate Troy Pelletier was kept under 100 yards for the first time since the season-opener but finished with seven receptions for 68 yards and a score.
Lehigh gained 475 yards of offense, with 127 on the ground and 348 through the air. Sophomore Dominick Bragalone paced the ground game with 59 yard and two touchdowns.
"They did a great job," Lehigh head coach Andy Coen said of his defensive effort. "I'm becoming more and more impressed with how our defense is putting the plan together every week and were maybe a couple (return) yards away from having a shutout."
The Mountain Hawks opened the scoring on their second possession of the first quarter, marching 80 yards in just five plays. Shafnisky and Casey connected on a short pass with Casey once again breaking tackles and taking off for a 42-yard score to give Lehigh the early lead.
Shafnisky departed the game just over a minute into the second quarter but Mayes stepped in to finish an 11-play, 65-yard drive, hitting Pelletier on a slant for an 11-yard touchdown to extend Lehigh's lead to 14-0.
Georgetown (3-3, 0-1 Patriot League) scored its only points of the game late in the second quarter after a 27-yard Michael Dareus punt return set the Hoyas up at the Lehigh 25. Lehigh's defense stiffened inside its 10 yard line but Henry Darmstadter's 24-yard field goal make it 14-3 Mountain Hawks.
It took less than a minute for Lehigh to move down to the Georgetown 14 yard line but with just under 40 seconds remaining, Mayes' pass was deflected and picked off by Hunter Kiselick as the Mountain Hawks had to settle for a 14-3 advantage at halftime.
Georgetown took the ball to start the second half and drove into Lehigh territory, but Darmstadter missed left on a 43-yard field goal. Lehigh took over and scored to go up 21-3, just over seven minutes into the second half. After an apparent 36-yard pass from Mayes to Casey was ruled incomplete on third down, Lehigh ran the same exact play on 4th-and-8 with Casey making a diving reception at the Hoyas one yard line. On the next play, Bragalone plunged in for his first touchdown of the day.
"The long pass on fourth down was a gutsy thing to do but our defense was playing so well and our offense needed it," Coen said. "They were very confident in each other so we gave them that opportunity and they took care of it."
After a Georgetown punt, Lehigh needed just three plays to find the end zone again as Mayes hit Casey on a crossing route and Casey motored 57 yards to pay dirt to put Lehigh up 28-3.
Bragalone scored from the one yard line on 4th-and-goal early in the fourth quarter to cap the scoring.
Defensively, Lehigh used a balanced effort with seniors Colton Caslow, Evan Harvey and Pierce Ripanti recording six tackles apiece. Caslow added two tackles for loss. As a team, the Mountain Hawks had two sacks and six tackles for loss.
Clay Norris was just 15-for-25 for 79 yards for Georgetown. Brandon Williams caught four passes for 26 yards, while Christian Bermudez had 38 late rushing yards.
"The defense really did a nice job," Coen said. "They were chasing the Georgetown kids sideline to sideline. Georgetown has some real good athletes. Some might have called it a classic trap game but we tried really hard not to fall into that. At halftime it sure looked that way, but we rallied them up at halftime and the guys really responded."
The Mountain Hawks will be back on the road next weekend when they visit Holy Cross. Kickoff is set for just after noon from Fitton Field in Worcester, Mass. The game will be televised on the American Sports Network, while audio coverage will be available on ESPN Radio of the Lehigh Valley (1230/1320/1160-AM) as well as ESPNLV.com.
EXTRA POINTS… Lehigh is now 16-0 versus Georgetown since the Hoyas joined the Patriot League in 2001… sophomore Mark Walker had a sack for minus-13 yards while sophomores Julian Lynn and Harrison Kauffman combined on Lehigh's other sack… sophomore Ed Mish had a strong game, converting all five of his extra points, while averaging 49.5 yards on two punts and 64.5 yards on six kickoffs with three touchbacks… senior Derek Knott added six catches for 63 yards… Lehigh was 8-of-14 on third down conversions, while holding Georgetown to 5-of-15… Lehigh is 2-0 in Patriot League play for the first time since 2012… the Mountain Hawks have won five straight games for the first time since starting the 2012 season 9-0… Lehigh wore white from head to toe on Saturday, the Mountain Hawks' seventh different uniform combination in seven games.
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
GU
Total Yards
475
177
Pass Yards
348
103
Rushing Yards
127
74
Penalty Yards
53
65
1st Downs
28
12
3rd Downs
8
5
4th Downs
2
0
TOP
30:35
29:25
1st Quarter
LEHIGH 7, GU 0
LEHIGH - Casey, Gatlin 42 yd pass from Shafnisky, Nick (Mish, Ed kick) 5 plays, 80 yards, TOP 2:09
2nd Quarter
LEHIGH 14, GU 0
LEHIGH - Pelletier, Troy 11 yd pass from Mayes, Brad (Mish, Ed kick) 11 plays, 65 yards, TOP 4:53
LEHIGH 14, GU 3
GU - Darmstadter, H. 24 yd field goal 5 plays, 19 yards, TOP 1:24
3rd Quarter
LEHIGH 21, GU 3
LEHIGH - Bragalone, Dom 1 yd run (Mish, Ed kick), 9 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:27
LEHIGH 28, GU 3
LEHIGH - Casey, Gatlin 57 yd pass from Mayes, Brad (Mish, Ed kick) 3 plays, 60 yards, TOP 0:43
4th Quarter
LEHIGH 35, GU 3
LEHIGH - Bragalone, Dom 1 yd run (Mish, Ed kick), 12 plays, 50 yards, TOP 4:41
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
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