Saturday, November 15
12:30 PM
Lehigh University
3-7 , 2-3
30
vs
27
Colgate
4-7 , 2-3
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Colgate
0
7
6
14
27
Lehigh
7
13
10
0
30
Mountain Hawks down Colgate 30-27 to send seniors off with win in home finale
11/15/2014 5:00:00 PM | Football
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh football team opened up a 17-point lead after three quarters and thwarted a fourth quarter Colgate comeback attempt as the Mountain Hawks picked up their first home win of the season 30-27 Saturday in their home finale at Goodman Stadium.
Sophomore quarterback Nick Shafnisky's 13-yard touchdown pass to freshman Troy Pelletier put Lehigh up 30-13 in the final seconds of the third quarter, but John Wilkins scored twice in the fourth quarter for Colgate. The Raiders had a chance to tie late but Jonah Bowman missed a 30-yard field goal wide right and after getting the ball back with 24 seconds remaining, junior LaQuan Lambert intercepted Colgate's Bret Mooney to seal the win for Lehigh, which improves to 3-7 overall and 2-3 in the Patriot League.
"I'm obviously thrilled to get the win here today, especially being the seniors' last opportunity to play a football game in Goodman Stadium," Lehigh head coach Andy Coen said. "I'm really happy for the kids. We did a lot of things well today. Defensively, we were lights-out in the first half. Offensively we moved the ball every time we had it. We had to settle for a couple field goals but Ryan Pandy stepped up and did a really nice job.
"Coming out in the second half, we had a nice long drive to start it and we had to settle for three," Coen continued. "We were running the clock and moving the ball and then things got really crazy. Later in the game we gave up some big plays, but when it came down to the nitty-gritty we were able to get a first down. It was a great throw and a great catch and then we came up just short on the third down, but again it allowed us to eat some clock. Austin (Devine) put a good punt back there. We played soft coverage and pressured the quarterback at the end and we got the interception to really ice the game."
Shafnisky completed his first nine passes and finished 19-of-22 for 204 yards and a touchdown, while also leading Lehigh on the ground with 74 yards on 19 carries. Two of Shafnisky's three incompletions were smart throwaways, while the other was a pass deflected at the line of scrimmage.
Pelletier was once again Shafnisky's top target with seven receptions for 89 yards and also gained 31 yards on six rushes. Senior Josh Parris added six receptions for 84 yards, while classmate Rich Sodeke rushed for 54 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns, one rushing and the other on an 85-yard kickoff return.
Junior Matt Laub led a solid defensive effort with nine tackles, two sacks and his first career interception.
Colgate marched the opening drive into Lehigh territory, reaching the Mountain Hawks' 19-yard line. However, the Lehigh defense came up with two straight big plays as Laub stopped Keyon Washington five yards behind the line of scrimmage on second down and then sophomore Pierce Ripanti followed with a sack back to the 34-yard line, forcing a punt.
Lehigh took the momentum and went 88 yards in 7:54 on its first possession of the game as a six-yard run from Sodeke gave the Mountain Hawks a 7-0 lead. Sodeke's run was the 15th play of the drive, which included a fourth-and-one run from Sodeke and a third-and-ten pass to senior Josh Parris down to the Colgate 13-yard line.
The Mountain Hawks forced a Colgate three-and-out on the ensuing drive, which also ended with a sack, this time from Laub.
Lehigh took its second drive downfield, going 44 yards in nine plays. On consecutive plays, Shafnisky found Parris for nine, and then 27 yards down to the Colgate 18-yard line. A sack backed the Mountain Hawks up and the Colgate defense forced a 42-yard field goal attempt by sophomore Ryan Pandy, which he hit to give Lehigh a 10-0 lead with 11:11 left in the second quarter. The 42-yard field goal marked a new career high.
Colgate followed by driving into Lehigh territory, but was forced to punt. The Mountain Hawks followed by gaining one first down on a second effort from Sodeke on third down, but Lehigh was forced to punt and that punt only went two yards after being blocked, setting up the Raiders at the Lehigh 40-yard line. Six players later, Colgate's Demetrius Russell ran it in from three yards away to pull the Raiders within 10-7 with 1:03 left in the first half.
That momentum was short-lived as Sodeke returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown to put Lehigh in front 17-7. On Colgate's next drive, Laub picked off Raiders' quarterback Bret Mooney and set up the Mountain Hawks at the Colgate 30 yard line. That led to a 34-yard field goal from Pandy as the first-half clock expired, making the score 20-7 after 30 minutes of play.
Sodeke ended the first half with 27 yards rushing and the touchdown to go with his 85-yard kickoff return. Shafnisky was 9-of-11 for 98 yards while Parris had four catches for 65 yards. Laub led the defense with five first-half tackles, two tackles-for-loss, a sack and interception.
Lehigh took the first possession of the second half and took up more than half the third quarter. In the end, a 15-play, 68-yard drive took 7:36 and ended with a 22-yard field goal from Pandy. Fourth-and-three from the Colgate 38-yard line, Shafnisky rushed for 27 yards. On the next play, Troy Pelletier scored on an end around, but a holding call negated the touchdown as the Mountain Hawks settled for three points and a 23-7 lead.
The Raiders returned the ensuing kickoff to midfield and a person foul gave them the ball at the Lehigh 35-yard line. It took them eight plays to get into the end zone as an eight-yard run from Wilkins made it 23-13 with 3:20 left in the third quarter.
On the very first play of the ensuing drive, Shafnisky found Pelletier for a 38-yard gain. The drive concluded with those two connecting again, on a 13-yard catch on which Pelletier made two Raiders miss inside the five yard line, to make it 30-13 with just four seconds left in the third quarter.
Colgate had a quick answer, going 80 yards in just 2:27 due in large part to a 39-yard connection from Mooney to Kevin O'Connell down to the Lehigh 10-yard line. Three plays later, Wilkins' one-yard touchdown run to pull Colgate within 30-20 with 12:33 left in the fourth quarter.
After a Lehigh three-and-out, the Raiders scored their third touchdown in as many possessions. Two separate catches of 32 yards helped set up a three-yard touchdown run from Wilkins, his third of the day, pulling Colgate within 30-27 with 8:52 on the clock.
On a third-down play, Shafnisky fumbled and Colgate took over in prime position to tie or take a lead. The Raiders gained two first-downs down to the Lehigh 12-yard line, but the defense forced a 30-yard field goal attempt, which sailed wide right as the Mountain Hawks held onto their three-point advantage.
Looking to run out the clock, Lehigh found Pelletier on a third-and-six for a big first down. The Mountain Hawks were forced to punt and Lambert sealed the win with his second interception of the season on a ball that was tipped by Colgate's John Maddaluna.
Total yards favored Lehigh by a 361-319 margin and the Mountain Hawks led in first downs 21-16 while holding a dominant 34:19-25:41 edge in time of possession.
Mooney finished 9-of-16 for 176 yards and two interceptions for Colgate, which falls to 4-7 overall and 2-3 in the league. Wilkins gained 76 yards on 13 carries while tight end John Quazza caught five passes for 90 yards.
"I'm so happy for our seniors," Coen said. "It's been a tough year for them. They've experienced nothing but success here in their tenure. It's been a tough year, we told them they'd have a great feeling winning the last game at Goodman Stadium and the added bonus to that now is we get to take part in something that's really special next week."
The Mountain Hawks can now shift focus to the 150th meeting of college football's most-played rivalry as Lehigh meets Lafayette next Saturday at a sold-out Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, N.Y. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m. with national television coverage on CBS Sports Network and radio coverage in the Lehigh Valley on ESPN Radio 1320 and 1320 as well as nationwide audio coverage on ESPNLV.com.
EXTRA POINTS … Pandy's career-high 42-yard field goal broke his previous high of 41 set last Oct. 19 vs. Georgetown … Pandy's three field goals made in a game also marked a career high, as were his 12 points… Sodeke's kickoff return touchdown was Lehigh's first since John Kennedy ran one back 92 yards against Central Connecticut State on Sept. 5, 2009 … Lehigh avoided its first winless season at home since 1966…. Lehigh had a season-high three sacks… the Mountain Hawks have now won 11 of their last 12 games the week before the Lafayette game… Saturday's attendance was 4,736 on Military Day at Goodman Stadium.
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Team Stats
COLGATE
LEHIGH
Total Yards
319
361
Pass Yards
176
204
Rushing Yards
143
157
Penalty Yards
41
75
1st Downs
16
21
3rd Downs
6
6
4th Downs
0
2
TOP
25:41
34:19
1st Quarter
COLGATE 0, LEHIGH 7
LEHIGH - Sodeke, Rich 6 yd run (Pandy, Ryan kick), 15 plays, 88 yards, TOP 7:54
2nd Quarter
COLGATE 0, LEHIGH 10
LEHIGH - Pandy, Ryan 42 yd field goal 9 plays, 44 yards, TOP 4:15
COLGATE 7, LEHIGH 10
COLGATE - Russell, D. 3 yd run (Bowman, Jonah kick), 6 plays, 40 yards, TOP 2:54
COLGATE 7, LEHIGH 17
LEHIGH - Sodeke, Rich 85 yd kickoff return (Pandy, Ryan kick)
COLGATE 7, LEHIGH 20
LEHIGH - Pandy, Ryan 34 yd field goal 3 plays, 13 yards, TOP 0:17
3rd Quarter
COLGATE 7, LEHIGH 23
LEHIGH - Pandy, Ryan 22 yd field goal 15 plays, 68 yards, TOP 7:36
COLGATE 13, LEHIGH 23
COLGATE - Wilkins, John 8 yd run (Mooney, Bret rushfailed), 8 plays, 35 yards, TOP 3:49
COLGATE 13, LEHIGH 30
LEHIGH - Pelletier, Troy 13 yd pass from Shafnisky, Nick (Pandy, Ryan kick) 7 plays, 78 yards, TOP 3:09
4th Quarter
COLGATE 20, LEHIGH 30
COLGATE - Wilkins, John 1 yd run (Bowman, Jonah kick), 6 plays, 80 yards, TOP 2:27
COLGATE 27, LEHIGH 30
COLGATE - Wilkins, John 3 yd run (Bowman, Jonah kick), 5 plays, 74 yards, TOP 2:00
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
19
TD
1
YDS
204
INT
0
Players Mentioned
DB
/ Football
K
/ Football
WR
/ Football
WR
/ Football
LB
/ FootballQB
/ Football
RB
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