Groome's career day results in PL weekly award
10/11/2010 5:59:00 PM | Football
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh junior linebacker Mike Groome has been named the Patriot League's Defensive Player of the Week, it was announced on Monday. Groome led the Mountain Hawks defensive effort in Lehigh's 21-17 win over Fordham Saturday at Goodman Stadium. The award is the first of Groome's career and the third for Lehigh this season.
Groome led Lehigh and tied a season and career-high with 11 tackles against Fordham as the Mountain Hawks moved to 3-2 on the season. Seven of Groome's stops were unassisted, and the inside linebacker added a pair of sacks and a forced fumble to spearhead Lehigh's defensive effort.
The New Jersey native was directly involved in many of the key defensive plays on Saturday afternoon. In the first quarter, Groome sacked Fordham quarterback Blake Wayne on third down to force a field goal attempt, then in the second quarter Groome led the charge on a Lehigh goal line stand. Groome upended Xavier Martin stopping the Ram short on third-and-one from the Mountain Hawks two yard line and then chased down Wayne on fourth down for his second sack, which gave Lehigh the ball back on downs.
Groome made another big play early in the third quarter. Fordham's Justin Yancey rushed for first-down yardage on a fake punt, but a big hit from Groome dislodged the ball, and Lehigh's John Veniero recovered. On the ensuing drive, Lehigh scored to go up 21-10.
For the season, Groome has put up impressive numbers in place of injured senior Troy Taylor. He leads the team with 29 solo tackles and ranks second with 43 total tackles. Groome also has 3.5 tackles for loss, three sacks and two forced fumbles on the season.
A Lehigh player has now won Defensive Player of the Week honors from the Patriot League following all three of its victories. Senior linebacker Al Pierce earned the honor after the season-opening win at Drake, while senior cornerback Jarard Cribbs was recognized after the Mountain Hawks' win over Princeton last month.
The Mountain Hawks will play their final non-league game of the season on Saturday when they travel to Harvard. Kickoff is set for 12 p.m. The game can be heard on ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 as well as online at Lehighsports.com.
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