Lehigh University
No. 21 Penn
No. 19 Lehigh upended by No. 21 Penn
10/9/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Bethlehem, PA – Sophomore Sagar Patel made a fantastic diving catch in the back of the end zone to put Penn up for the first time with just over 8:30 remaining, and Lehigh could not recover, as the No. 19 Mountain Hawks (3-1) were defeated by No. 21 Penn 31-24, in front of 10,503 at Goodman Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Lehigh was on their way to a fourth consecutive victory, up 24-10 early in the third, but Mother Nature struck in the form of lightning and forced a delay, which sent both teams to the locker room, and swung the momentum to the rested Quakers side.
There were some early fireworks in the first quarter as Schwenk, who threw for 161 yards in the first half, hit senior running back Dave Wilson, who slipped behind the Quaker secondary, for a 37-yard strike to put the Mountain Hawks up 10-0 with just over three minutes remaining in the first quarter. Penn then marched down the field and scored a touchdown of its own, as senior quarterback Mike Mitchell hit junior Dan Castles from four yards out and the Lehigh lead was down to three.
On the ensuing kickoff, Penn tried to get tricky, and attempted a surprise on-sides kick, but it backfired as senior Trevor Micklos picked up the ball and galloped 43 yards to put the Mountain Hawks up 17-7.
Lehigh’s offense sputtered in the second quarter, but it did not seem to matter as the defense took over, holding the Quakers to only a field goal. Late in the half, sophomore Royce Morgan had his first of two sacks of Mitchell, and after Pugh returned a punt to the 50-yard line, Lehigh marched down the field and scored on a 14-yard pass from Schwenk to senior wide receiver Dave Crockett, and Lehigh took a 24-10 lead into halftime. Pugh was held in check by the Penn defense with only 31 yards on the ground in the half, and 42 for the game, 89 below his average.
The second half got under way slowly, and due to lightning, the game was suspended for 65 minutes. Once the game resumed, Mitchell hooked up with Castles again, this time from eight yards away, and the Lehigh lead was down to seven, 24-17. Schwenk was then intercepted by Bryan Arguello, and after a long return deep into Lehigh territory, Penn was in position to tie the game, but the Mountain Hawk defense stood tough and forced the Quakers into a long field goal attempt, which was missed.
The fourth quarter got underway with Castles catching his third touchdown of the day, which tied the game at 24 and remained that way until Patel’s catch. Lehigh had one last chance but could not convert on a fourth and ten play, and Penn ran the clock out to secure the victory.
Lehigh returns to action next week when the Mountain Hawks travel to Connecticut to take on the Division I-A Huskies from Rentschler Field. Game time is set for 12:00.
Scoring
Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
No. 21 Penn | 7 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 31 |
No. 19 Lehigh | 17 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
Team Stats
Penn | Lehigh | |
First Downs | 19 | 15 |
Yards Rushing | 116 | 64 |
Yards Passing | 214 | 200 |
Total Yards | 330 | 264 |
Penalties | 3-25 | 10-72 |
Time of Possession | 29:26 | 30:34 |
Passing
Player | Att.-Comp.-Int. | Yards | TD |
Mike Mitchell, Penn | 38-20-1 | 214 | 4 |
Chad Schwenk, Lehigh | 35-18-1 | 200 | 2 |
Rushing
Player | Carries | Yards | TD |
Sam Matthews, Penn | 29 | 128 | 0 |
Jermaine Pugh, Lehigh | 21 | 42 | 0 |
Chad Schwenk, Lehigh | 4 | 22 | 0 |
Receiving
Player | Catches | Yards | TD |
Dan Castles, Penn | 12 | 153 | 3 |
Dave Crockett, Lehigh | 6 | 65 | 1 |
Adam Kovacs, Lehigh | 3 | 31 | 0 |
Sam Matthews, Penn | 3 | 20 | 0 |
