Saturday, October 24
Bronx, N.Y.
1:00 PM
Lehigh University
3-4 , 1-1
42
at
59
Fordham
7-1 , 3-0
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Lehigh
7
14
0
21
42
FORDHAM
14
3
21
21
59
Mountain Hawks drop high-scoring 59-42 contest at No. 10/11 Fordham
10/24/2015 6:09:00 PM | Football
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BRONX, N.Y. – Five Lehigh turnovers led to 24 Fordham points and the No. 10/11 Rams used a third quarter offensive explosion to rally past Lehigh 59-42 Saturday at Jack Coffey Field. The Mountain Hawks led at halftime and after falling behind by 24 points put together a furious fourth quarter rally that got as close as ten, but Fordham running back Chase Edmonds capped a monster day with a 75 yard touchdown run to put the game away.
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"The first thing I told the guys was that I was pleased with their effort and how they competed," Lehigh head coach Andy Coen said. "That part of the game was awesome. Unfortunately, we're still our own worst enemy. Whether its penalties or turnovers, you can't beat a good team with those. They're trying to learn that lesson. If you're going to keep turning the ball over more than everybody else, it's hard to win games."
Edmonds rushed for a school and Patriot League record 347 yards, including 242 in the second half. He also scored four second half touchdowns, for the Rams, who improve to 7-1 overall and 3-0 in the Patriot League.
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Lehigh played the second half without junior quarterback Nick Shafnisky, who departed with a hip injury in the second quarter. Freshman Brad Mayes overcame a slow start to complete 16-of-38 passes for 205 yards. He threw two touchdowns and three interceptions.
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Sophomore Gatlin Casey was Lehigh's leading receiver with 88 yards and a touchdown on six receptions. Classmate Troy Pelletier added five for 84 yards and sophomore Sasha Kelsey caught five for 65 and two touchdowns.
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Freshman Dominick Bragalone posted his second consecutive 100-plus yard rushing game, and the third of his career with 109 on 19 carries.
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The Mountain Hawks fall to 3-4 overall and 1-1 in the league with the loss.
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Fordham used a 209-67 third quarter advantage in total yardage to finish the game with a slight 545-491 edge. The Rams rushed for 379 yards and passed for just 166, while the Mountain Hawks gained 148 on the ground and 343 through the air. Both teams were penalized 90 yards, with Lehigh committing nine and Fordham eight.
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Lehigh took the opening kickoff and marched 87 yard in ten plays. Shafnisky capped the drive with a three yard touchdown run to give the Mountain Hawks the early lead. Bragalone contributed 59 yards on that opening drive, rushing for 28 and catching a pass for 31.
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The Lehigh defense responded with a three and out, but the next two Mountain Hawk drives resulted in turnovers that led to Fordham scores. Shafnisky was picked off by Caleb Ham while looking for Casey deep. The Rams capped an eight play drive with a three yard pass from Kevin Anderson to Austin Longi to tie the game at 7-7.
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On its next drive, Lehigh moved the ball well on the ground with Bragalone but on his third carry of the drive, the officials ruled he fumbled with Fordham recovering. The Rams went 66 yards in five plays and took their first lead at 14-7 after a 15 yard touchdown pass from Anderson to tight end Phazahn Odom.
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Lehigh answered on its next drive with a seven-play, 69-yard drive capped by a 26 yard pass from Shafnisky to Casey, who made a diving grab in the back corner of the end zone. The extra point was blocked leaving Lehigh down 14-13 early in the second quarter.
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The Mountain Hawks' defense produced another stop allowing the offense to return to work. Lehigh moved the ball 59 yards in just four plays with Bragalone giving Lehigh a 19-14 lead with a ten yard run off the left side. Shafnisky ran the ball in for the two point conversion to extend Lehigh's lead to seven, but took a helmet to the hip, left the game and did not return.
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Mayes took over on Lehigh's next drive and after completing his first pass, was intercepted by Ham. The Rams drove deep into Lehigh territory before the Mountain Hawk defense stiffened and forced a Makay Redd 37 yard field goal which brought Fordham within 21-17 at the half.
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Lehigh out-gained Fordham 282-156 over the first 30 minutes. Shafnisky was 7-of-11 for 138 yards and a touchdown and also ran five times for 11 yards. Bragalone rushed for 84 yards on 12 carries. Sophomore Troy Pelletier led the receiving corps with three catches for 67 yards.
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"Our game plan was outstanding both offensively and defensively," Coen said. "In the first half we contained the back (Edmonds). We put pressure on the quarterback. Offensively we were moving the ball. Almost moving it at will and mixing in the pass game stuff."
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 Fordham regained the lead on the opening drive of the second half as Anderson and Odom hooked up for a 30-yard touchdown just over three minutes into the period.
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With Lehigh struggling offensively, the Rams extended their lead behind a pair of Edmonds touchdown runs, covering nine and then 60 yards, to go up 38-21.
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 "When Nick went down you could feel the energy drop on the sidelines, but the kids rallied and got past that and got us back in the game," Coen said. "Defensively, we got bitten by big plays."
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A botched exchange led to Fordham's lone turnover as sophomore Tyler Cavenas recovered the fumble in Fordham territory late in the third quarter. Sophomore Nana Amankwah-Ayeh brought the Mountain Hawks within ten early in the fourth with a two yard touchdown run.
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Fordham, however, continued to put points on the board. Edmonds took a pass from Anderson and raced 50 yards to paydirt to put the Rams up 45-28. On Lehigh's next possession, a Mayes pass went off a receiver's hands into the arms of Jihaad Pretlow, who returned it 23 yards for the score to put Fordham up by 24.
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The Mountain Hawks again tried to claw back as Mayes and Kelsey hooked up on back-to-back possessions, first for eight and then for 22 yards. The two point conversion on the second touchdown was no good, leaving Lehigh behind 52-42 with 7:03 to play.
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Lehigh's defense got the ball back again and the Mountain Hawks moved down the field, but after several mistakes in the red zone, freshman Ed Mish's 34 yard field goal attempt banged off the left upright. Two plays later, Edmonds iced the game with his third touchdown run and fourth total touchdown.
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"The kids were in the right frame of mind," Coen said. "They have been all year. It's a great group of guys but they need to learn for themselves what they need to do to really be a good football team. We'll have more opportunities, but today we just couldn't get it done. We go back home now for the next two weeks. If we can take care of our business there then we can make November a pretty interesting month for us."
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The Mountain Hawks will return to Goodman Stadium next Saturday to host the Georgetown Hoyas on Family Weekend. Kickoff is set for just after 12:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased by calling 610-7LU-GAME or by visiting LehighTickets.com.
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EXTRA POINTS… Fordham has now won three straight meetings in the series, which Lehigh now leads 23-5… the Mountain Hawks are now 4-6 in games following their bye week under Andy Coen… senior Randall Lawson led the defensive effort with ten tackles… senior Greg Palma and junior Pierce Ripanti accounted for Lehigh's two sacks… Lehigh is now a league-low minus-10 in turnover margin, while Fordham is a league-leading plus-11… freshman Micco Brisker returned to action with three rushes for 13 yards… Brisker missed the last three games with an injury.
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
FORDHAM
Total Yards
491
545
Pass Yards
343
166
Rushing Yards
148
379
Penalty Yards
90
90
1st Downs
25
22
3rd Downs
7
7
4th Downs
2
1
TOP
30:09
29:51
1st Quarter
LEHIGH 7, FORDHAM 0
LEHIGH - Shafnisky, Nick 3 yd run (Mish, Ed kick), 10 plays, 87 yards, TOP 4:41
LEHIGH 7, FORDHAM 7
FORDHAM - Longi, Austin 3 yd pass from Anderson, Kevin (Redd, Makay kick) 8 plays, 32 yards, TOP 3:09
LEHIGH 7, FORDHAM 14
FORDHAM - Odom, Phazahn 15 yd pass from Anderson, Kevin (Redd, Makay kick) 5 plays, 66 yards, TOP 1:44
2nd Quarter
LEHIGH 13, FORDHAM 14
LEHIGH - Casey, Gatlin 26 yd pass from Shafnisky, Nick (Mish, Ed kickblocked) 7 plays, 69 yards, TOP 3:51
LEHIGH 21, FORDHAM 14
LEHIGH - Bragalone, Dom 10 yd run (Shafnisky, Nick rush), 4 plays, 59 yards, TOP 0:50
LEHIGH 21, FORDHAM 17
FORDHAM - Redd, Makay 37 yd field goal 8 plays, 39 yards, TOP 4:56
3rd Quarter
LEHIGH 21, FORDHAM 24
FORDHAM - Odom, Phazahn 30 yd pass from Anderson, Kevin (Redd, Makay kick) 8 plays, 76 yards, TOP 3:05
LEHIGH 21, FORDHAM 31
FORDHAM - Edmonds, Chase 9 yd run (Redd, Makay kick), 5 plays, 68 yards, TOP 1:43
LEHIGH 21, FORDHAM 38
FORDHAM - Edmonds, Chase 60 yd run (Redd, Makay kick), 4 plays, 83 yards, TOP 1:10
4th Quarter
LEHIGH 28, FORDHAM 38
LEHIGH - Amankwah-Ayeh 2 yd run (Mish, Ed kick), 6 plays, 46 yards, TOP 1:29
LEHIGH 28, FORDHAM 45
FORDHAM - Edmonds, Chase 50 yd pass from Anderson, Kevin (Redd, Makay kick) 4 plays, 67 yards, TOP 1:35
LEHIGH 28, FORDHAM 52
FORDHAM - Pretlow, Jihaad 23 yd interception (Redd, Makay kick)
LEHIGH 36, FORDHAM 52
LEHIGH - Kelsey, Sasha 8 yd pass from Mayes, Brad (Pelletier, Troy pass) 9 plays, 42 yards, TOP 2:33
LEHIGH 42, FORDHAM 52
LEHIGH - Kelsey, Sasha 22 yd pass from Mayes, Brad (Mayes, Brad rushfailed) 5 plays, 48 yards, TOP 1:11
LEHIGH 42, FORDHAM 59
FORDHAM - Edmonds, Chase 75 yd run (Redd, Makay kick), 2 plays, 80 yards, TOP 0:18
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
16
TD
2
YDS
205
INT
3
CMP
7
TD
1
YDS
138
INT
1
Players Mentioned
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DL
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DB
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