11/13/2014 6:15:00 PM | 150th Lehigh-Lafayette Game
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By Michael LoRé  On November 22, Lehigh and Lafayette will meet at Yankee Stadium in the 150th meeting of college football's most played rivalry. Michael LoRé, former Lehigh beat writer for the Express-Times, will be catching up with several of the men who produced memorable moments in Rivalry games.  Read more from Michael on his web site: http://michaelslore.wix.com/michaellore  Follow Michael on twitter @michaellore
Mike Rieker and the rest of his teammates prepared for the first day of spring ball in April 1977 the same way they always had.            The members of the Lehigh University football team went to the locker room, strapped on their pads and helmets and headed toward the field.            The senior quarterback and others began throwing. Linemen were doing drills.            Coach John Whitehead then blew his whistle, signaling to the players it was time for stretching and calisthenics.            Whitehead's whistle blared out again a few minutes later.            "We lined up and he stood in front of us and said, 'Goal line,'' recalled Rieker, 59. "Everybody was like, 'What, goal line?' The whole team ran down to the goal line; everyone was standing around the end zone. He (Whitehead) said, 'Put the ball on the 9-yard line.'  "The offense was huddled and he comes in and calls '29 special.'"            Rieker and his teammates ran the play. The quarterback looked toward his tight end — the play's first read — and saw he was covered. Instead of forcing the ball, Rieker made his next read to an open Steve Kreider, who caught the pass for a touchdown.            "Coach Whitehead says, 'That's the way we should have ended last year,'" Rieker said. "That took all of the pressure off from the year before. That catapulted us through spring ball. There was a different attitude and a way guys went about practice. It was a unique thing."        Rieker delivers a pass in the Pioneer Bowl    Less than a year earlier, the Engineers faced a similar situation.            Trailing rival Lafayette College with two minutes remaining and needing a touchdown to win, Rieker, who was nursing a shoulder injury suffered the week prior, marched the team to the Leopards' 9-yard line. The quarterback slung a pass over the middle intended for tight end Larry Henshaw, but the ball ended up in the hands of Lafayette defensive back Tom Crouse.            The Engineers lost 21-17 and finished the season — Whitehead's first — at 6-5.            "Things didn't fall our way that year," said Rieker, who resides in Whitehall Township. "We ended up 6-5, but we could have easily been 9-2 or 10-1 and it would have been a playoff year that year. It left a bad taste in our mouths after that year.            "In spring ball when we ran that play again I checked, looked at my tight end first. He was my first read then I went to Kreider, who was my second read. He caught it. It just so happens he was open when we ran that play at Lafayette. Basically Coach Whitehead put it on me that I didn't make the right read. It was all about doing the right things that year."            Whitehead's emphasis on perfection and precision trickled down through his assistant coaches and eventually to his players. If a play didn't transpire the way it was supposed to, it was crafted and practiced to perfection.            Rieker and his teammates learned their lesson from the 1976 season and they wasted little time showing that to Whitehead.            The Engineers beat Connecticut 49-0 to open the '77 season.            "We were geared up," Rieker said. "We knew we had the talent. We went out and spanked Connecticut in our opener and started to see we could do things to people."            Lehigh came into the 113th meeting against Lafayette with an impressive 8-2 record, only suffering setbacks to Baldwin-Wallace and Rutgers. The Engineers knew a victory at a raucous Taylor Stadium would surely guarantee a playoff invitation and the Lambert Cup — awarded to the top college football team in the East.            "We knew in the locker room it was a must-win," Rieker said. "We knew we wouldn't get in the playoffs at 8-3."            The Engineers led 14-10 at halftime, but Lafayette quarterback Scott Sauter rushed for a 5-yard TD in the third quarter giving the visitors a 17-14 advantage. Lafayette was threatening to extend its advantage later in the quarter as kicker Dave Heverling lined up for a 50-yard field goal attempt.  Pete Fenton, however, had other ideas.            The Lehigh defensive back blocked the kick as momentum swung toward the Engineers.            "That was one of the loudest roars I've ever heard," Rieker recalled. "The adrenaline; you could just feel the shift change. It was like, 'No way we're going to let this happen. They're in our house and we're going to take it to them.' You could feel it. Everybody felt it. It was a big turning point."            During halftime, Whitehead instructed his senior quarterback to throw the ball more, Rieker said, and after Fenton's block, Lehigh did just that. Rieker tossed three second-half touchdown passes as the Engineers scored 21 unanswered points en route to a 35-17 victory.            "You don't ever want to get embarrassed at home," said Rieker, who was named the game's MVP. "I didn't want to let anybody down. I knew my folks would be in the stands. God bless them; they were behind me 1,000 percent. I owe them a lot because I ran them through the wringer. It was very satisfying to win. I know a giant load was lifted off my back.            "I know there was a lot expected of me at Lehigh. They gave me the opportunity and I knew I couldn't let people down. It just so happens I made everybody know they made the right choice when they brought me in there."            Lehigh later welcomed the phone call it was anxiously awaiting — an invite to the Division II playoffs.            The Engineers earned a wild-card berth and eighth seed. Their first task was a trip to Massachusetts. Lehigh, a considerable underdog, won 30-23. The Engineers received another phone call and were told to head west for their next opponent — UC-Davis. Lehigh came away with a 39-30 victory and berth in the national championship game.            Playing in front of a crowd of 14,114 at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas, the Engineers cruised to a 33-0 victory over Jacksonville State in the Pioneer Bowl for the Division II national championship.            During Lehigh's three-game playoff run, Rieker was 47 of 86 (55 percent) for 721 yards with eight scores.            "When I think about it, it was such a blur when a year flashes and a season goes so fast," said Rieker, an All-American who threw for 4,696 yards and 40 TDs in his career (not including playoffs). "It was a whirlwind. We didn't have a chance to sit back and absorb what we did until years after. Then we started to see how hard it was to do what we did. It was a unique experience and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to go through it."            If it wasn't for a key decision prior to attending Lehigh, the history books would have been written differently.            During his recruitment, Rieker and his parents met with Dunlap, then the head coach, and Whitehead, an assistant coach. Upon graduating from Catasauqua High School in 1973, the coaches suggested Rieker attend prep school — Staunton Military Academy in Virginia — for a year before enrolling at Lehigh.            "Fred Dunlap thought I needed a little more maturing," Rieker said with a laugh. "It's like when a kid redshirts now. It meant a world of maturity and I was able to get bigger and stronger."            This wasn't the first time Dunlap recommended another year of schooling to an incoming player. A young quarterback named Kim McQuilken also spent a year at Staunton prior to enrolling at Lehigh.            "I kind of followed in Kim's footsteps," Rieker said of the All-American who spent eight seasons in the NFL. "At Lehigh he became a Delta Tau Delta frat member and so did I. … He did it with Kim and did it with me. After all, it worked out. Kim was an NFL player and I won a national championship. In hindsight, Coach Dunlap made two pretty good moves."            Rieker, a 1997 Roger S. Penske/Lehigh Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, continued to follow in McQuilken's footsteps after Lehigh. Rieker was selected in the sixth round of the NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints in '78. Unfortunately, he couldn't find the right situation with the right team then got hurt and had to get a "real job."            Thankfully, he had his Lehigh degree to fall back on. For the last 29 years, Rieker has worked as a territory manager for Cardinal Health dealing with the operations of surgery centers.            "I owe everything to Lehigh and for them to have faith in me to come in and be a player for the university," Rieker said. "They gave me everything I have. It was nice I was able to give it back on the football field. It was a great ride, believe me. Without Lehigh having faith in me and bringing me in there and Coach Dunlap, Coach Whitehead and all the guys I played with, I wouldn't have anything I have today. I owe a lot of people a lot of gratitude.            "Some good things happened to Mike Rieker because of winning a national championship at Lehigh."
