Bethlehem, PA – After being totally dominated in the first half, the Lehigh University football team woke up and showed everyone why they have won their last 26 regular season games, rallying to defeat Princeton (0-1) by a 31-24 score in front of 12,176 at Goodman Stadium. Down 24-7 at the half to Princeton, Coach Pete Lembo and his third ranked Mountain Hawks (3-0) rallied to tie the score at 24 early in the fourth quarter after senior captain Matt Salvaterra, who missed the entire second quarter due to injury, intercepted David Splithoff’s pass and returned it 26 yards for the score. Lehigh quarterback Chad Schwenk then hit Michael Sutton for the two-point conversion, sending the Goodman Stadium crowd into a frenzy and Lehigh had taken control.
Lehigh’s defense pitched a shutout in the second half, allowing for the comeback, which never seemed possible after the first half that the Brown and White had. The offense could not muster up anything and the defense was simply run over by the Tigers attack as it looked as if Lehigh’s 25-game run at home would come to a close. But, Lehigh never gave up and eventually scored the winning touchdown with :13 seconds left as Schwenk hit senior fullback Justin Barrasso with a 12-yard screen and Lehigh took its sixth straight game against the Tigers.
The game was one of momentum and Lehigh was the team that had it throughout the fourth quarter. Following a one-yard plunge by Dave Wilson that gave Lehigh its first score of the second half, the Mountain Hawks seemed like a totally different team. Lehigh was unable to get its ground game going, so the Mountain Hawks decided to let Schwenk and his arm do the damage. Using short, crisp passes, the Lehigh signal caller picked apart the Princeton secondary to perfection and amassed 211 yards and two touchdowns. The Brown and White were involved in a close game for the first time this season and stood up to the pressure. Michael Sutton had an outstanding game for the Mountain Hawks as he caught seven passes for 90 yards and one touchdown. David Snell had a very solid afternoon as he had six tackles and seemed to have a hand in almost every big play.
The Mountain Hawks return to action next Saturday as they travel to take on another Ivy League opponent in The University of Pennsylvania. Lehigh returns to Goodman Stadium on October 5th, to battle Harvard. Game time is slated for 1:00 and tickets can be purchased by calling (610) 7LU-GAME.
Scoring Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | Princeton | 14 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 24 | Lehigh | 0 | 7 | 0 | 24 | 31 |
Team Stats | | Princeton | Lehigh | First Downs | 21 | 18 | Yards Rushing | 142 | 39 | Yards Passing | 251 | 211 | Total Yards | 393 | 250 | Penalties | 9-60 | 2-20 | Time of Possession | 35:53 | 24:07 |
Passing Player | Att-Cmp-Int | Yds | TD | Chad Schwenk, Lehigh | 19-36-1 | 211 | 2 | David Splithoff, Princeton | 18-30-1 | 251 | 2 |
Rushing Player | Carries | Yards | TD | Jermaine Pugh, Lehigh | 13 | 42 | 0 | Dave Wilson, Lehigh | 4 | 15 | 1 | Cameron Atkinson, Princeton | 12 | 45 | 0 |
Receiving Player | Catches | Yards | TD | Michael Sutton, Lehigh | 7 | 90 | 1 | Justin Barrasso, Lehigh | 3 | 30 | 1 | George Evans, Lehigh | 2 | 47 | 0 | B.J. Szymanski, Princeton | 7 | 111 | 1 | Chisom Opara, Princeton | 4 | 88 | 1 |
Defensive Player | Solo Tackles | Assisted Tackles | TFL | Int. | Sacks | David Snell, Lehigh | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Mike Gregorek, Lehigh | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Thomas McGeoy, Lehigh | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Jay McCareins, Princeton | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
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