Lehigh University
Fordham
Lehigh claims league title share with win over Fordham
11/13/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
After Fordham went three and out on its first possession, Lehigh took over and marched right down the field for a touchdown capped off by Rath’s 30-yard run. The drive lasted 2:13 and covered 40 yards as the Mountain Hawks led 7-0 with just over ten minutes remaining in the first quarter and that is how the score would remain at the end of one quarter of play. Both teams were still feeling one another out, resulting in just 65 total yards for the Mountain Hawks and 57 for the Rams.
The second quarter was chock full of hard hits and stifling defense as neither team was able to find the endzone resulting in a 7-0 Mountain Hawk lead entering halftime. Junior quarterback Mark Borda completed 6 of 13 passes in the half for 85 yards with junior Gerran Walker being his favorite target as the two hooked up three times for 61 yards. Rath totaled 55 yards on the ground in the first 30 minutes of action, including his big touchdown run, while junior Greg Petrosky made quite an impact in returning four punts for 82 yards, with his longest going for 34.
Fordham quarterback Derric Daniels completed 7 of 11 passes for 50 yards and Jamaal hunte rushed ten times for 31 yards. Lehigh’s Kyle Keating and Fordham’s Anthony DiFino punted a combined eight times with Keating averaging 39 yards per kick and the Rams kicker going for just under 37 yards per boot.
The third quarter looked as though is would not feature any points, until Daniels hit sophomore Mike Melvin on a nice 64-yard pass that he took to pay dirt, tying the game at seven with 1:45 left in the quarter and momentarily seizing momentum. The Mountain Hawks would answer right back however, with a 46-yard pass from Borda to senior tight end Adam Bergen that ended a drive that took just over one minute of action and put the Brown and White back in front 14-7 with 30 seconds left in the quarter.
After the ball changed hands several times early in the fourth quarter, Fordham set itself up perfectly when Daniels hit freshman Darrell Taylor on a beautiful 44-yard pass leaving the Rams just three yards from the end zone. But on the very next play, senior defensive end Tristan Lawrence pressured Daniels into a near impossible throw and sophomore Brannan Thomas picked off the pass in the end zone, returning it out to Lehigh’s three-yard line and maintaining the Mountain Hawk lead of seven points with eight minutes left in the contest.
Rath added a one-yard plunge into the end zone with three minutes remaining to make the score 21-7, but the game was far from over. Fordham came right back, scoring a touchdown of its own with 1:32 left on the clock when Daniels hit Taylor on a 35-yard pass to pull the Rams to within 21-14.
Fordham then recovered the on-sides kick at its own 46-yard line to set up what would be a dramatic finish. A 15-yard penalty on the first play of the drive against Lehigh moved the Rams to the Mountain Hawks 35-yard line with just over one minute left in the game. On a crucial fourth and short play senior cornerback Duane Smith stopped Fordham running back James Prydatko just inches from the first down marker and Lehigh held on for the victory.
Lehigh returns to action next Saturday when the Mountain Hawks travel to
Photo copyright (c) 2004, Chris Christian.
