Saturday, November 8
Worcester, Mass.
12:30 PM
Lehigh University
2-7 , 1-3
20
at
27
Holy Cross
4-6 , 2-2
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Lehigh
3
0
10
7
20
Holy Cross
0
17
10
0
27
Mountain Hawks fall short at Holy Cross, 27-20
11/8/2014 4:32:00 PM | Football
WORCESTER, Mass. – The Lehigh football team scrapped back from a 14-point halftime deficit but a late interception thwarted a comeback attempt as the Mountain Hawks fell at Holy Cross 27-20 Saturday afternoon at Fitton Field. A 12-yard touchdown run from sophomore Brandon Yosha brought Lehigh within a touchdown with 3:44 to play. The Mountain Hawks' defense came up with a stop to give the offense the ball back with 1:43 remaining. Sophomore Nick Shafnisky hit senior Josh Parris for 37 yards on the first play of Lehigh's final drive but his next pass was deflected off freshman Sasha Kelsey and intercepted by Steven Martinez to clinch the game for the Crusaders.
The loss drops the Mountain Hawks to 2-7 overall and 1-3 in the Patriot League, while the Crusaders improve to 4-6 overall and 2-2 in league games.
The Mountain Hawks struggled to run the ball all day long, gaining just 80 yards on 33 attempts. With Lehigh forced to throw, Shafnisky completed 24-of-38 passes for a career-high 390 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He also finished as Lehigh's leading rusher with 38 yards on 14 carries. Freshman Troy Pelletier had a monster game with ten receptions for 214 yards before departing with an injury early in the fourth quarter.
"We made way too many mistakes," Lehigh head coach Andy Coen said afterwards. "Everybody will think about that last play on the interception, but games aren't really won or lost with things like that. We have the ball first and goal on the three yard line and can't get it in in four tries. That's why you lose games."
Holy Cross received the opening kickoff and picked up a first down but a holding penalty backed the Crusaders up and eventually led to a punt. A short Crusader punt gave Lehigh good field position in Holy Cross territory, but the Mountain Hawk drive stalled inside the five and Ryan Pandy booted a 20-yard field goal to give Lehigh the early lead.
The Lehigh defense came back with a three-and-out and the offense put together a solid drive moving the ball inside the Holy Cross red zone following a 48 yard pass from Shafnisky to Pelletier. The Mountain Hawks moved down to the two yard line but Holy Cross' defense stepped up, stopping Lehigh on four plays to get the ball back on downs at its one yard line.
While Lehigh struggled to run the ball offensively, Holy Cross woke up, scoring 17 points in the final 4:24 of the half to take a 17-3 lead into intermission. A Connor Fitzgerald 28-yard field goal pulled the Crusaders even. After a Lehigh punt, Pujals drove the Crusaders 58 plays in just five yards and put his team in front with an 11-yard run. Shafnisky was intercepted late in the half, and Holy Cross turned the turnover into points as Pujals hit Jake Wieczorek from 27 yards out.
"We turned the ball over at the end of the half and didn't manage things well," Coen said. "That hurt. You're winning 3-0 then next thing you know, you're down 17-3."
Total yards in the first half favored Holy Cross by a 194-149 margin. Lehigh struggled on the ground rushing 19 times for just 25 yards.
Shafnisky was 7-of-11 passing for 124 yards and an interception. Pelletier led Lehigh offensively with four catches for 98 yards.
Lehigh came out strong out of the half, with a five-play 86-yard drive capped by a 58 yard touchdown pass from Shafnisky to Pelletier that brought the Mountain Hawks back within a touchdown.
Holy Cross answered on its first possession of the half. A big return by Brendan Flaherty gave the Crusaders good field position and Gabe Guild capped a seven-pay, 39-yard drive with a three-yard run to re-establish a 14 point cushion with 11:17 left in the third quarter.
On its next possession, the Mountain Hawks moved 57 yards in 13 plays but were stopped short of the end zone. Ryan Pandy's 38-yard field goal brought Lehigh within 24-13 with 4:59 left in the third. Fitzgerald then completed the exchange of field goals with a 34-yarder for Holy Cross late in the third quarter to make the score 27-13 Holy Cross after three.
Lehigh finally got back within a touchdown as Yosha scored to cap a 12-play, 72-yard drive. The Mountain Hawks attempted an onside kick, which Holy Cross recovered. The defense pitched a three-and-out and got the offense the ball back for the drive that ultimately ended in Martinez's interception.
"It's a great bunch of kids, they work their tails off; they compete." Coen said." I'm proud of them for that, especially the way we came back in the second half. Nick grew up a little bit. We've never really asked him to play the game that way. I thought he did a really nice job."
Total yards for the day favored the Mountain Hawks by a 470-306 margin. Lehigh had 20 first downs to Holy Cross' 14 and the Mountain Hawks controlled the ball for 32:04.
Pujals finished 14-for-23 for 175 yards and a touchdown and also ran for 70 yards on 12 carries.
After Pelletier, Parris gained 82 yards off five receptions, while Kelsey also caught five balls for 72 yards.
"Initially, I thought it was really going to hurt us," Coen said of Pelletier's injury. "The other guys stepped up. Sasha was in there and did good things, Jarrod Howard was in there. Guys stepped up. Guys came to play; I'm proud of that."
Sophomore Brandon Leaks and junior D.J. Bourgeois led the defensive effort with six tackles.
The Mountain Hawks return to Goodman Stadium next Saturday to host the Colgate Raiders on Military Appreciation Day. Kickoff is set for just after 12:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-7LU-GAME during normal business hours.
EXTRA POINTS… Pelletier's 214 receiving yards are the most ever for a Lehigh freshman in one game… he posted the 12th 200-yard receiving game in Lehigh history and tied Ryan Spadola at Princeton in 2011 for the seventh-highest single game receiving yardage total in school history… the last Lehigh receiver with 200-plus receiving yards in a game was Lee Kurfis '14, who had 211 yards at Monmouth last season… Holy Cross snapped a four-game losing streak against Lehigh and defeated the Mountain Hawks in Worcester for just the second time in 11 games…Lehigh failed to record a sack or a turnover… the Crusaders entered the game last in the Patriot League with a -7 turnover differential.
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
HC
Total Yards
470
306
Pass Yards
390
175
Rushing Yards
80
131
Penalty Yards
44
25
1st Downs
20
14
3rd Downs
4
6
4th Downs
3
1
TOP
32:04
27:56
1st Quarter
LEHIGH 3, HC 0
LEHIGH - Pandy, Ryan 20 yd field goal 8 plays, 34 yards, TOP 4:06
2nd Quarter
LEHIGH 3, HC 3
HC - Co. Fitzgerald 28 yd field goal 8 plays, 52 yards, TOP 4:10
LEHIGH 3, HC 10
HC - Peter Pujals 11 yd run (Co. Fitzgerald kick), 5 plays, 58 yards, TOP 1:54
LEHIGH 3, HC 17
HC - Jake Wieczorek 27 yd pass from Peter Pujals (Co. Fitzgerald kick) 4 plays, 40 yards, TOP 0:25
3rd Quarter
LEHIGH 10, HC 17
LEHIGH - Pelletier, Troy 58 yd pass from Shafnisky, Nick (Pandy, Ryan kick) 5 plays, 86 yards, TOP 1:06
LEHIGH 10, HC 24
HC - Gabe Guild 3 yd run (Co. Fitzgerald kick), 7 plays, 39 yards, TOP 2:16
LEHIGH 13, HC 24
LEHIGH - Pandy, Ryan 38 yd field goal 13 plays, 57 yards, TOP 6:10
LEHIGH 13, HC 27
HC - Co. Fitzgerald 34 yd field goal 8 plays, 57 yards, TOP 3:56
4th Quarter
LEHIGH 20, HC 27
LEHIGH - Yosha, Brandon 11 yd run (Pandy, Ryan kick), 12 plays, 72 yards, TOP 4:16
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
24
TD
1
YDS
390
INT
2
Players Mentioned
DL
/ Football
WR
/ Football
WR
/ Football
WR
/ Football
DB
/ Football
K
/ Football
WR
/ Football
WR
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/ Football
RB
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