Saturday, October 22
Worcester, Mass.
12:00 PM
Lehigh University
6-2 , 3-0
46
at
14
Holy Cross
3-5 , 1-2
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Lehigh
7
11
21
7
46
Holy Cross
7
0
0
7
14
Lehigh surges past Holy Cross 46-14 for sixth straight win
10/22/2016 4:51:00 PM | Football
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WORCESTER, Mass. – Holy Cross scored an early touchdown, but the Lehigh football team responded with 46 straight points, on its way to a 46-14 win on a wet, windy Saturday afternoon at Fitton Field. Sophomore Dominick Bragalone had a career game rushing, finishing with 182 yards on 17 carries, including a career-long 66-yard touchdown rush in the third quarter. Sophomore Brad Mayes also threw for three touchdowns, with 287 yards in his second start of the season, while the Lehigh defense forced five turnovers including three in the third quarter.
Mayes finished the afternoon 20-of-30. Bragalone had a pair of rushing touchdowns while sophomore Micco Brisker added 10 rushes for 41 yards and the go-ahead touchdown, all in the first half.
Senior Derek Knott led the receivers with 123 yards on five catches. Junior Troy Pelletier had a game-high nine catches for 70 yards and two scores while classmate Gatlin Casey recorded six receptions for 94 yards and a touchdown.
Seniors Brandon Leaks and LaQuan Lambert, and sophomores Sam McCloskey and Mike Gies all had interceptions while senior Evan Harvey recorded a fumble recovery. After Holy Cross gained 75 yards on its first drive, the Mountain Hawks' defense allowed just 143 yards until the Crusaders drove 86 yards for a late fourth quarter touchdown.
Lehigh has now won six straight games, improving to 6-2 overall and 3-0 in the Patriot League. Holy Cross falls to 3-5 overall and 1-2 in league play.
"The defense did a great job," Lehigh head coach Andy Coen said. "The first drive of the game, they came out with two tight ends that is something we really hadn't seen. It caught us off of guard a little bit and they were able to get to the edge. Other than that the guys did a great job. We got to the quarterback. I loved as the game went on, how our young kids got after the quarterback. Just great to see those young players step up and really play well."
It took Holy Cross just six plays to take a 7-0 lead as the Crusaders. A 38-yard downfield pass got Holy Cross to the 11-yard line and two players later, Brendan Flaherty ran it in from five yards out.
After the teams traded punts, Lehigh quickly evened the score. Following a seven-yard rush from Bragalone, Mayes found Casey for 28 yards. From there, Bragalone took it the next 21 yards over three carries, eventually punching it in from two yards out to even the score at seven with 7:48 remaining in the first quarter.
The Mountain Hawks added to their lead early in the second quarter, staging a methodical 11-play drive. A 28-yard run from Bragalone brought Lehigh into Holy Cross territory. Three consecutive completions got Lehigh down to the Crusaders' three-yard line where Brisker took it the rest of the way. His one-yard touchdown run gave Lehigh a 13-7 advantage with 10:36 on the clock. On the ensuing extra point opportunity, senior holder Nick Shafnisky couldn't handle the snap on a wet afternoon, but he found junior Tyler Cavenas in the back of the end zone for a two-point conversion.
Lehigh's defense continued to play well and the offense tacked on three more points to take an 18-7 lead heading into halftime. Sophomore Ed Mish's 34-yard field goal was good, give the Mountain Hawks an 11-point lead with 5:26 on the first-half clock.
Lehigh quickly extended its lead in the second half, scoring two touchdowns in the first 3:40. Mayes found Casey three times on the opening drive of the half for 43 yards, including a two-yard touchdown reception to give the Mountain Hawks a 25-7 lead with 12:38 on the clock. After the Lehigh defense forced another quick three-and-out, it took the offense just two plays to extend its lead as Bragalone scampered 66 yards for the touchdown, the longest run of his career, to give his squad a 32-7 advantage with 11:20 left in the third quarter.
"We threw a wrinkle or two in how we handed the ball off," Coen said. "We went to a pistol style for a couple plays and I knew Dom would be really excited about that. He'd be getting the ball from seven yards deep as opposed to five yards deep. It gave him a little bit more room to see. We made a couple tweaks to how we were blocking some things. They were blitzing a tremendous amount. The one big play, we hit them in a blitz and Dom took it."
Later in the stanza, the Mountain Hawks' defense came up with two turnovers, an interception from Lambert with 5:23 on the clock, then a fumble recovery by Harvey on a lateral attempt with 3:46 remaining. Starting at the 21-yard line, it took four plays to add Lehigh's fifth touchdown of the afternoon as a five-yard connection from Mayes to Pelletier gave the Mountain Hawks a 39-32 advantage with 2:10 remaining in the third.
Lehigh added to its lead early in the fourth quarter as Mayes found Knott on consecutive plays, for 23 then 40 yards inside the Holy Cross five-yard line. Three plays later, Mayes connected with Pelletier for a second time to give the Mountain Hawks a 46-7 lead with 11:49 on the fourth-quarter clock.
Holy Cross added a touchdown with 2:40 on the clock, Gies' late interception allowed Lehigh to run out the clock.
Total yards finished 517-304 in Lehigh's favor with the Mountain Hawks rushing for 222 yards. Four Mountain Hawks shared the team lead with five tackles: senior Pierce Ripanti, Gies, sophomore Donavon Harris and freshman Riley O'Neil. Lehigh had a season-high six sacks and 11 tackles for loss.
Blaise Bell started at quarterback for Holy Cross and completed 14-of-27 for 157 yards and was intercepted three times.
The Mountain Hawks return to Goodman Stadium next Saturday to host the Fordham Rams.
"It's been a long time since we've gotten a 'W' over Fordham," Coen said. "I'm glad we have Fordham at home (this year). Our players are going to be very excited."
Kickoff next Saturday is set for just after 12:30 p.m. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling 610-7LU-GAME or by visiting LehighTickets.com. The Lehigh-Fordham game is presented by Yianni's Taverna.
EXTRA POINTS… Bragalone received the Dr. Edward N. Anderson award postgame, as the most valuable player of Holy Cross' Family Weekend game… Lehigh improved to 3-0 in Patriot League play for the first time since 2012… the Mountain Hawks have now won six of the last seven meetings with Holy Cross… in four career starts Mayes is now 4-0 with 14 touchdown passes and 0 interceptions... Lehigh eclipsed 40 points for the fifth time in the last six games… senior Colton Caslow had two of Lehigh's six sacks to go along with four tackles… the Mountain Hawks were just 2-of-11 on third downs but held Holy Cross to just 4-of-14… Lehigh wore white helmets with white jerseys and brown pants, its eighth different combination in eight games.
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
HC
Total Yards
517
304
Pass Yards
295
172
Rushing Yards
222
132
Penalty Yards
46
40
1st Downs
21
18
3rd Downs
2
4
4th Downs
1
0
TOP
30:01
29:59
1st Quarter
LEHIGH 0, HC 7
HC - Brend. Flaherty 5 yd run (Zane Wasp kick), 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:35
LEHIGH 7, HC 7
LEHIGH - Dom Bragalone 2 yd run (Ed Mish kick), 5 plays, 56 yards, TOP 1:24
2nd Quarter
LEHIGH 15, HC 7
LEHIGH - Micco Brisker 1 yd run (Tyler Cavenas pass), 11 plays, 81 yards, TOP 4:09
LEHIGH 18, HC 7
LEHIGH - Ed Mish 34 yd field goal 8 plays, 39 yards, TOP 2:54
3rd Quarter
LEHIGH 25, HC 7
LEHIGH - Gatlin Casey 2 yd pass from Brad Mayes (Ed Mish kick) 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:22
LEHIGH 32, HC 7
LEHIGH - Dom Bragalone 66 yd run (Ed Mish kick), 2 plays, 69 yards, TOP 0:39
LEHIGH 39, HC 7
LEHIGH - Troy Pelletier 5 yd pass from Brad Mayes (Ed Mish kick) 4 plays, 38 yards, TOP 1:36
4th Quarter
LEHIGH 46, HC 7
LEHIGH - Troy Pelletier 2 yd pass from Brad Mayes (Ed Mish kick) 7 plays, 93 yards, TOP 3:11
LEHIGH 46, HC 14
HC - Domenic Cozier 9 yd run (Zane Wasp kick), 7 plays, 86 yards, TOP 1:46
Game Leaders
CMP
20
TD
3
YDS
287
INT
0
CMP
2
TD
0
YDS
8
INT
0
Players Mentioned
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