Late score leads Monmouth past Lehigh 28-21

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BETHLEHEM, Pa. - In a back-and-forth game that went down to the wire, Monmouth broke a 21-21 tie with just 12 seconds remaining to hand the Lehigh football team a heartbreaking 28-21 loss on Saturday afternoon in Goodman Stadium. Lehigh held leads of 14-7 and 21-14, but Monmouth scored the final 14 points to walk away winners.

Lehigh sophomore quarterback Nick Shafnisky finished 14-of-22 for 193 yards and a touchdown while adding 64 yards on the ground and a rushing touchdown. Freshman Troy Pelletier finished with team highs in catches (seven) and yards (80) while senior Rich Sodeke eclipsed 100 yards for the first time in his career, finishing with 119 on 22 carries with a touchdown.

Monmouth (3-1) quarterback Brandon Hill finished with 390 yards on 33-of-44 passing with three touchdowns to help his squad outgain the Mountain Hawks 390-210 through the air. With the loss Lehigh falls to 0-4 for the first time since 2009.
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"I thought our kids played hard and gave a really good effort," said Lehigh head coach Andy Coen. "The most important thing is that the kids approach in the right way and prepare the right way and they go out and play the right way, from an effort standpoint and a passion standpoint. The guys really did that today.

"Obviously, we didn't execute on a lot of things," Coen continued. "That's something we're going to need to continue to work on, but it's got to start with guys showing up and working at it that are passionate about it and passionate about the guys they're playing with. I don't have any doubt that that's happening."

The visiting Hawks won the coin toss and elected to receive. After a third and long conversion, Hill eluded a sack and found a wide open Neal Sterling for a 59-yard score.

Lehigh responded with a 10-play, 78-yard drive that concluded with a 33-yard pass from Shafnisky to junior Stefan Sansone for his first-career touchdown reception to tie the score at seven with 9:25 left in the first quarter. Earlier in the possession, Lehigh faced an early third-and-five, but Shafnisky scrambled out of the pocket and completed a 10-yard pass to senior Derek Gaul to extend the drive.

Monmouth's ensuing drive resulted in a three-and-out with the help of back-to-back sacks by seniors Tim Newton and Arturo Gyles.

The Mountain Hawks started their next drive with great field position after a Monmouth personal foul on a punt. Lehigh drove down the field to Monmouth's 20-yard line but gave up back-to-back sacks that removed the Hawks from field goal range and forced them to punt. Mountain Hawks' sophomore punter Austin Devine beautifully placed a punt on the Monmouth five-yard line as the first quarter expired.

Monmouth scrapped its way into Lehigh territory and managed to get into field goal range, but the Hawks' field goal attempt was blocked and recovered by Gyles with 5:55 left in the half.

After the Mountain Hawks failed to convert a fourth-and-one attempt, Monmouth took over with 2:47 left in the first half. Sophomore running back Lavon Chaney accounted for 45 yards of Monmouth's six-play, 65-yard drive and capped it off with a seven-yard touchdown run to tie the score at 14 apiece with 1:41 left in the second quarter. Lehigh then ran out the clock to take a 14-14 tie into the locker room.

Shafnisky was 10-of-14 for 145 yards and a touchdown in the first half while he also gained 44 yards on the ground and a touchdown. Pelletier led the team with six catches and 74 yards while Sodeke had nine carries for 56 yards. Monmouth held a 297-246 edge in total yards.

After each team went three-and-out to begin the second half, Lehigh used a 24-yard catch by Sansome and consecutive carries of 10 and four yards by Sodeke to get into Monmouth territory, but a Monmouth sack forced a Mountain Hawks' punt.

A holding penalty helped force a third-and-long. A desperation pass by Hill was intercepted by Olivier Rigaud, who brought the ball back to the Monmouth 29-yard line. It took just three plays for the Mountain Hawks to punch the ball into the end zone as a six-yard touchdown run by Sodeke made it 21-14 with 6:15 left in the third quarter.

Monmouth responded with an eight-play, 79-yard drive to tie the game at 21 with 2:53 on the third-quarter clock. The 3:18 drive concluded with Lavon Chaney's four-yard touchdown reception.

(9/27/2014) Football vs. Monmouth, 9/27/14

Monmouth drove deep into Lehigh territory early in the fourth quarter but a 17 yard sack by Newton forced the Hawks to attempt a 48-yard field goal. Following a Lehigh timeout, Monmouth set up its field goal unit and once again, Lehigh denied the field goal attempt. Freshman Tyler Cavenas got credit for the block and Lehigh took over with 10:12 left in the fourth quarter.

"The defense changed some things around," Coen said. "I thought the coaches put together a good plan. I didn't think we tackled well at times. There will be some execution errors when we watch the tape. We talked about getting pressure on the quarterback. We did that well."

While driving into Monmouth territory on Lehigh's ensuing drive, Shafnisky left the game with an injury. Senior backup quarterback Matt McHale stepped in and helped the Mountain Hawks drive to the Monmouth 21. Lehigh looked to take the lead with a 32-yard field goal attempt, but a low snap allowed Monmouth defensive lineman DJ Martin to block the attempt.

Monmouth took over with 3:46 left in the game and methodically drove down the field and ate up as much clock as possible. With 12 seconds left in the game, Hill fired a pass down the middle of the field to Eric Sumlin who made a diving catch in the end zone for the game-winning touchdown.

Lehigh's hail mary pass from freshman quarterback Matt Timochenko was batted down by the Monmouth secondary and the Hawks were victorious by a score of 28-21.

Total yards were 512-394 in favor of Monmouth, including 390-210 through the air. Lehigh held a 184-122 edge on the ground. Time of possession was 31:43 to 28:17 in favor of the Mountain Hawks.

Following a bye week, the Mountain Hawks return to Goodman Stadium in two weeks when they host Bucknell on Oct. 11 at 12:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-7LU-GAME during normal business hours.

Like Lehigh Football on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive updates throughout the season.

EXTRA POINTS… Lehigh won the turnover battle (+1) for the third time in four games… the win was Monmouth's first over Lehigh in football… the Mountain Hawks now lead the series 5-1… Lehigh is now 2-6 in games leading into its bye week under head coach Andy Coen… the Mountain Hawk defense recorded three sacks after entering the game with just one sack on the season… Newton now has 10.5 sacks for his career… sophomore Brandon Leaks led Lehigh with eight tackles.

Like Lehigh Football on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive updates throughout the season.

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Team Stats

Nick Shafnisky

Matt McHale

Matt Timochenko

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