Saturday, October 5
Bronx, N.Y.
12:00 PM
Lehigh University
4-1
34
at
52
Fordham
6-0
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Lehigh
7
7
14
6
34
Fordham
10
14
14
14
52
No. 12/13 Fordham pulls away for 52-34 win over No. 13/10 Lehigh
10/5/2013 5:03:00 PM | Football
BRONX, N.Y. – Leading 31-28 late in the third quarter No. 12/13 Fordham turned two Lehigh turnovers into 14 points as the Rams went on to hand the No. 13/10 Mountain Hawks their first loss of the season, 52-34 Saturday at Jack Coffey Field. The Rams racked up over 600 yards of total offense to improve to 6-0 on the season.
Lehigh, which surrendered more than 50 points for the first time since 2007, falls to 4-1 on the season. The Mountain Hawks' 16 game regular season road winning streak also comes to an end.
Fordham quarterback Michael Nebrich completed 26-of-36 passes for 384 yards and four touchdowns and also ran 13 times for 56 yards. Three of those touchdowns went to Sam Ajala who finished with seven receptions for 166 yards. The Rams finished with 630 yards of offense, 384 through the air and 246 on the ground. Carlton Koonce ran 21 times for a 127 yards and a score.
"We got beat handily today by a very good Fordham team," said Lehigh head coach Andy Coen. "My hat's off to the Fordham players and coaching staff. They did a great job. They beat us in all three phases of the game, which is disappointing because I felt like we had been making strides as a football team."
Lehigh finished with 429 yards of offense. Senior quarterback Brandon Bialkowski eclipsed the 300 yard passing mark for the fifth straight week, completing 28-of-46 for 324 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. He also rushed for a score.
Wide receiver Lee Kurfis had his fifth 100-plus yard receiving day this season and his sixth straight dating back to last year with 102 yards on nine receptions. Senior Keith Sherman paced the ground game with 67 yards on 13 carries.
Fordham's lead fluctuated between three and ten points for much of the day. A four-yard touchdown run from senior Sean Farrell brought the Mountain Hawks within 31-28 with 2:58 remaining in the third quarter.
From there, Lehigh's defense delivered a much-needed stop, but junior Josh Parris couldn't handle the ensuing punt and Fordham recovered at the Mountain Hawks' 15 yard line. A delay of game penalty backed the ball up five yards, but on the Rams' next play, Koonce ran for a 20 yard touchdown to re-establish a ten point lead at 38-28. Lehigh's next drive started near midfield but ended when Bialkowski was picked off by Levon Williams at the Fordham 30. The Rams proceeded to march 70 yards and eight plays and built a 17 point cushion following a one yard run by Nebrich.
"The game flipped on the back-to-back possessions with the turnovers," Coen said. "That's one thing we haven't been able to do a great job of. We haven't forced many turnovers and we seem to commit one or two per game. That's what happened here. We fumbled a punt where if we got the ball back we would have had an opportunity to take the lead.
The Rams received the opening kickoff and moved the ball 78 yards in 11 plays. Nebrich found Ajala for a 25 yard touchdown to give Fordham an early 7-0 lead.
Lehigh went 3-and-out on its first possession and Fordham came back with another impressive drive. The Rams moved the ball to the Mountain Hawks' ten yard line before the Lehigh defense stepped up to force a field goal attempt. A 26 yard boot by Michael Marando gave the Rams a 10-0 lead with 4:47 left in the first.
The Mountain Hawks answered with a ten play, 82 yard drive and got on the scoreboard on a nine yard pass from Bialkowski to senior Sergio Fernandez-Soto, making the score 10-7 Fordham late in the first.
Fordham answered Lehigh's score with its third consecutive scoring drive to open the game. Nebrich converted a key 4th-and-1 with a run and then Jared Crayton capped the 13 play, 80 yard drive with a three yard run to extend the Rams' lead to 17-7 five minutes into the second quarter.
Bialkowski helped Lehigh answer once again, leading the Mountain Hawks on a 10 play, 62 yard drive and capping the drive with a one yard run, his first rushing touchdown of the season which cut Lehigh's deficit to 17-14 with 6:05 left before halftime.
Lehigh's defense finally came up with a stop but the Mountain Hawks were unable to convert the stop into points and had to punt the ball away with 2:37 left in the half. Fordham took advantage, converting several third downs before Nebrich hit Ajala for the second time, this one a 40 yard strike down the left sideline to give the Rams a 24-14 lead at halftime.
Fordham out-gained Lehigh 323-180 through the first 30 minutes. Nebrich completed 19-of-26 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns. Brian Wetzel caught 11 passes for 133 yards.
For Lehigh, Bialkowski was 11-of-16 for 135 yards and a touchdown. Kurfis was the top target with three catches for 35 yards.
The Mountain Hawks opened the second half with ten play, 79 yard drive, highlighted by a 19 yard middle screen pass to Farrell. Two plays later Bialkowski hit fullback Zach Hayden for a two yard touchdown and the extra point brought the Mountain Hawks back within three at 24-21.
The Lehigh defense got the stop it needed but the offense once again failed to capitalize. On Fordham's next drive Nebrich hit Ajala for the third time, this one covering 62 yards to put the Rams back up by 10 with 5:33 left in the third quarter.
After the Rams turned the two Lehigh turnovers into scores, Fordham made it 21 unanswered points on a 12 yard pass from Nebrich to Tebucky Jones to make it 52-24. The Mountain Hawks pulled a late score back as Bialkowski hit Parris on a receiver screen for an 18 yard score.
"We weren't as tough or as focused or tough or as together as a team as we have been over the last four weeks," Coen said. "That showed on the field. We got beat pretty bad. How we respond to that is going to be critical."
The Mountain Hawks return to New York next Saturday to face the Columbia Lions in a game that will be televised nationally on NBC Sports Network. Kickoff is set for just after noon from Robert K. Kraft Field.
EXTRA POINTS… The loss was Lehigh's first regular season road loss since a 31-10 setback at New Hampshire on Sept. 25, 2010… the 630 yards of offense was the most allowed by Lehigh since the Mountain Hawks allowed 641 to Towson on Oct. 30, 1999… Fordham defeated Lehigh for just the third time in 26 all-time meetings and the first time since 1997… Junior Tim Newton led the defense with seven tackles, including two tackles for loss… Newton and senior Rickey Layton combined on Lehigh's only sack of the game… seniors Tyler Ward and Rickie Hill and junior Olivier Rigaud each made six tackles… the Rams were penalized 12 times for 115 yards while Lehigh was flagged just five times for 40 yards.
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
FOR
Total Yards
429
630
Pass Yards
324
384
Rushing Yards
105
246
Penalty Yards
40
115
1st Downs
29
29
3rd Downs
10
11
4th Downs
0
1
TOP
27:08
32:52
1st Quarter
LEHIGH 0, FOR 7
FOR - Ajala, Sam 25 yd pass from Nebrich, Michae (Marando, Michae kick) 11 plays, 78 yards, TOP 4:05
LEHIGH 0, FOR 10
FOR - Marando, Michae 26 yd field goal 12 plays, 44 yards, TOP 4:10
LEHIGH 7, FOR 10
LEHIGH - Fernandez-Soto 9 yd pass from Bialkowski, Bra (Pandy, Ryan kick) 10 plays, 82 yards, TOP 3:55
2nd Quarter
LEHIGH 7, FOR 17
FOR - Crayton, Jared 3 yd run (Marando, Michae kick), 13 plays, 80 yards, TOP 5:35
LEHIGH 14, FOR 17
LEHIGH - Bialkowski, Bra 1 yd run (Pandy, Ryan kick), 10 plays, 62 yards, TOP 4:12
LEHIGH 14, FOR 24
FOR - Ajala, Sam 40 yd pass from Nebrich, Michae (Marando, Michae kick) 10 plays, 78 yards, TOP 2:24
3rd Quarter
LEHIGH 21, FOR 24
LEHIGH - Hayden, Zach 2 yd pass from Bialkowski, Bra (Pandy, Ryan kick) 10 plays, 79 yards, TOP 3:56
LEHIGH 21, FOR 31
FOR - Ajala, Sam 62 yd pass from Nebrich, Michae (Marando, Michae kick) 2 plays, 77 yards, TOP 0:23
LEHIGH 28, FOR 31
LEHIGH - Farrell, Sean 4 yd run (Pandy, Ryan kick), 10 plays, 73 yards, TOP 2:35
LEHIGH 28, FOR 38
FOR - Koonce, Carlton 20 yd run (Marando, Michae kick), 1 plays, 15 yards, TOP 0:07
4th Quarter
LEHIGH 28, FOR 45
FOR - Nebrich, Michae 1 yd run (Marando, Michae kick), 8 plays, 70 yards, TOP 3:11
LEHIGH 28, FOR 52
FOR - Jones, Tebucky 12 yd pass from Nebrich, Michae (Marando, Michae kick) 7 plays, 55 yards, TOP 3:46
LEHIGH 34, FOR 52
LEHIGH - Parris, Josh 18 yd pass from Bialkowski, Bra (Bialkowski, Bra passfailed) 11 plays, 74 yards, TOP 3:30
Game Leaders
CMP
28
TD
3
YDS
324
INT
1
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