No. 24 Lehigh delivers dominant 58-37 win over Fordham for seventh straight victory

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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Behind the best rushing day of the Andy Coen era, the Lehigh football team won its seventh straight game, posting a dominant 58-37 victory over Fordham Saturday at Goodman Stadium. The Mountain Hawks rolled up 632 yards of offense, including 349 on the ground and built a commanding 51-9 lead midway through the third quarter.

The victory improves Lehigh's record to 7-2 overall and the Mountain Hawks are now the lone unbeaten team in Patriot League football at 4-0. Lehigh can clinch its 11th Patriot League Championship and the automatic berth into the FCS Playoffs with a victory over Bucknell next Saturday.

(10/29/2016) Football vs. Fordham - 10/29/2016

Along with its 349 yards, Lehigh rushed for six touchdowns, with sophomore Dominick Bragalone and senior Nick Shafnisky each scoring three. Bragalone had a career-best yardage day for the second straight week, gaining 192 yards on just 15 carries. He added 34 yards on two receptions. Shafnisky returned to the starting lineup with his third career 100-yard rushing game, gaining 108 yards on 13 carries. He also completed 10-of-18 passes for 238 yards and a touchdown.

Senior Derek Knott led the receiving corps with 130 yards on just three catches including an 84-yard touchdown, Lehigh's longest play from scrimmage since 2008.

A solid defensive effort limited Fordham standout Chase Edmonds to 182 yards on 24 carries and kept the national Offensive Player of the Year candidate out of the end zone. Lehigh allowed 487 total yards, most of which came after the Mountain Hawks had built a sizeable lead.

Junior defensive lineman Tyler Cavenas anchored the Lehigh defense with a career-high nine tackles and three sacks, while senior Evan Harvey added nine tackles and forced a key fumble which resulted in the game's lone turnover.

"The offense came out and did a really nice job," Lehigh head coach Andy Coen said. "The defense was the one area people might have been concerned about, but they picked up right where they've been the last few weeks. They keep getting better and better. (Tyler Cavenas) with eight or nine tackles for a defensive lineman, that's almost unheard of."

Fordham's first two offensive possessions were marred by four penalties, resulting in a pair of Ram punts. On Lehigh's first drive, Bragalone capped a five-play, 69-yard drive with a 20 yard touchdown run around right end. After Lehigh's second defensive stop led to a Fordham punt, Shafnisky went up top, connecting with Knott on the 84-yard touchdown run. A failed two-point conversion attempt left Lehigh up 13-0 with 8:15 left in the opening quarter.

Lehigh led 16-9 five minutes into the second quarter when Shafnisky kept the ball on an option play and ran 14 yards for his first score of the day. The Mountain Hawks closed the first half on a 21-0 run thanks to a three-yard Bragalone touchdown run that followed Harvey's forced fumble which Lehigh recovered at the Fordham 34 and then after a missed Makay Redd field goal, a 70-yard sprint down the right sideline with 55 seconds left in the half. Bragalone's third touchdown run was also the longest run of his career.

The Mountain Hawks scored on their first two possessions of the second half. After Shafnisky left the game after falling victim to a facemask penalty, Lehigh moved the ball on the ground into Fordham territory. Sophomore Brad Mayes then hit junior Gatlin Casey for a 29-yard touchdown on his only pass of the game. Shafnisky returned on the next series and added a 15-yard touchdown run to put the Mountain Hawks up 51-9.

Fordham (5-3, 2-1 PL) crept within 51-23 early in the fourth but Shafnisky added the exclamation point with an eight yard touchdown run with 7:23 to play.

"Nick picked right back up where he was after his little hiatus and did a great job," Coen said. "He not only performed well, but provided great leadership out there for the guys and our offensive line does the same thing. Those guys are so dialed in on what we do every week. I've got a great coaching staff. You don't get to be talking about things like this unless you've got a bunch of great players and great coaches. We're fortunate to have that here."

The Mountain Hawks will host Bucknell next Saturday in their final home game of the regular season and can claim the Patriot League title with a victory over the Bison. Kickoff is set for just after 12:30 p.m. on Military Appreciation Day at Goodman Stadium. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by visiting LehighTickets.com at any time, or by calling 610-7LU-GAME during normal business hours.

"I'm really thrilled with the kids' effort today," Coen said. "Every week we talk about certain things before we get into the game and every week, these guys are doing what we ask them to do. It's a tremendous group of guys. They trust in each other. I've had a lot of really good teams that I've coached, but these guys are getting right up there."

EXTRA POINTS… Lehigh snapped a three-game Fordham win streak in the series, posting its first win over the Rams since a 34-31 triumph in 2012… head coach Andy Coen picked up his 75th career win, tying him with John Whitehead for second on Lehigh's all-time list… the 84-yard touchdown pass to Knott was the longest for Lehigh since J.B. Clark connected with Sekou Yansane on an 85-yarder in the 2008 season-opener against Drake… Lehigh's 349 rushing yards were the most since gaining 307 in a win over Georgetown in 2007, and are the most for Lehigh under Andy Coen… the Mountain Hawks did not punt on Saturday, marking the first time since Nov. 13, 1999 against Bucknell that Lehigh did not utilize its punter… the top two receivers in the FCS in terms of yardage, juniors Troy Pelletier and Gatlin Casey were limited to a combined five catches for 84 yards and a touchdown… junior Nana Amankwah-Ayeh had a strong game with 54 yards on 13 carries… senior Jimmy Mitchell had Lehigh's other sack… the Rams were penalized eight times for 70 yards while Lehigh was flagged just four times for 28 yards… Lehigh wore white helmets with brown jerseys and brown pants, the team's ninth different uniform combination in nine games… Saturday's game, which was presented by Yianni's Taverna, had an attendance of 6,009.

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No. 24 Lehigh delivers dominant 58-37 win over Fordham for seventh straight victory

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Team Stats

Nick Shafnisky

Brad Mayes

Matt Timochenko

Players Mentioned

Nana Amankwah-Ayeh

Dominick Bragalone

Gatlin Casey

Tyler Cavenas

Evan Harvey

Derek Knott

Brad Mayes

Jimmy Mitchell

Troy Pelletier

Nick Shafnisky

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No. 24 Lehigh delivers dominant 58-37 win over Fordham for seventh straight victory

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Next Event

Team Stats

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Matt Timochenko

Players Mentioned

Nana Amankwah-Ayeh

Dominick Bragalone

Gatlin Casey

Tyler Cavenas

Evan Harvey

Derek Knott

Brad Mayes

Jimmy Mitchell

Troy Pelletier

Nick Shafnisky

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