Nelson cherishes Patriot League payback
10/31/2005 10:45:00 AM | Football
In one spectacularly athletic instant, Andrew Nelson found his Patriot League payback.
And his
It was Nelson who gave the Mountain Hawks control of their destiny over the next three weeks with a leaping interception and ensuing 31-yard touchdown return late in Saturday's 50-34 victory over Colgate.
Which was only fitting, since Nelson spent most of this season blaming himself for Lehigh's desperate situation in the first place.
"God is good, that's all I can say about it," Nelson said.
Flash back to the monsoon that hit Goodman Stadium when Holy Cross came to town for Lehigh's Patriot League opener Oct. 8.
With Lehigh protecting a 10-6 lead with less than five minutes left, Holy Cross quarterback John O'Neil sent up a 34-yard prayer to the end zone. It landed on the chest of Nelson, a talented senior cornerback who seems to live for such critical moments.
Everyone in the stadium, including most Holy Cross players, figured the play to wind up as a sure interception.
But in the rain and the muck in the end zone, the Holy Cross receiver snatched the ball, a touchdown, and victory away from Nelson and the Mountain Hawks.
A handful of other fluke things happened that day, from sure-handed running back Eric Rath's fumble deep in Holy Cross territory with over two minutes left, to a Holy Cross punt return for a touchdown that set up the winning pass in the first place.
But it was Lehigh's Patriot League opener, which pretty much meant the Mountain Hawks had to win out to have a shot at first place.
And it was hard for Nelson to stop blaming himself.
"I know if we lost (the league title), I was going to put it on myself for that play," said Nelson, who ensured Lehigh can claim the Patriot League title by winning its remaining three league games after Fordham defeated Holy Cross on Saturday. "I've never had anything like that happen to me in my career. It was a lot of responsibility I put on myself.
"It really hurt."
"We win as a team and we lose as a team," Lehigh coach Pete Lembo interjected sharply.
"Andrew, like me, and like Eric Rath, and like Sedale (quarterback Threatt), sometimes we're too hard on ourselves. Nobody's lost confidence in him."
That was clear in the days after the Holy Cross loss.
"Andrew would make that (interception) nine out of 10 times, even in the rain," Lehigh senior quad-captain and all-league linebacker Anthony Graziani of Pen Argyl said back then.
But Nelson found his redemption Saturday by securing the ball, a rare victory at perennial league contender Colgate and a spot in Lehigh lore.
With 13:25 left in a game where momentum and lead changes went back and forth like a basketball game, Nelson made the play that turned the game Lehigh's way.
Just after the Mountain Hawks grabbed a 36-34 lead on Rath's third of four touchdowns, Nelson charged into the backfield on a corner blitz.
He jumped a screen pass, made a leaping attempt to break it up and came down with a golden play that just may spark a Lehigh championship run.
Nelson plucked the pass out of mid-air, then darted 31 yards into the end zone to give Lehigh a nine-point lead.
Colgate never challenged again.
So an October month that began with league destiny slipping away from Nelson ended with him and Lehigh back in control.
"I was actually thinking about it a lot this week ... and the past several weeks," Nelson said of the Holy Cross play. "It's helped me a lot."
There were other big moments for Lehigh on Saturday. They included Rath's career-high four rushing touchdowns and Threatt's 100-yard rushing day against Colgate's 11th-ranked rushing defense, and Graziani making four tackles and playing his heart out despite a badly-bruised shoulder.
"Anthony Graziani played his tail off, and he was not 100 percent," Lembo said. "It was visible from the sideline he was playing with one arm for a good part of the second half. That was a real gutsy effort."
But the biggest moment belonged to Nelson, who searched through three torturous weeks before he finally found the one that got away.
"Not much changes for us, as far as our mentality and approach," Nelson warned. "We knew we couldn't lose after we lost to Holy Cross."
But at least now, every win puts Lehigh a step closer to the title.
This story originally appeared in the Monday, October 31 edition of The Express-Times. Used with permission.
