Saturday, October 8
12:30 PM
Lehigh University
4-2 , 1-0
45
vs
31
Colgate
1-4 , 0-1
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Colgate
14
3
7
7
31
Lehigh
7
7
24
7
45
Lehigh strong in all three phases of 45-31 league-opening win over Colgate
10/8/2016 5:18:00 PM | Football
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - After falling behind 17-7 in the first half, the Lehigh football team used a 24-0 run spanning the second and third quarters to rally past defending champion Colgate 45-31 in the Patriot League opener for both teams in front of a season-high 9,255 Saturday at Goodman Stadium.
The Mountain Hawks continued their high-powered offensive attack as they eclipsed the 40 point mark for the fourth consecutive week, but Lehigh also had strong performances from its defense and special teams. Senior Nick Shafnisky returned after missing Lehigh's last game with an injury by throwing for more than 300 yards in his third straight game, while also throwing a career-high five touchdown passes. Junior Gatlin Casey had a career day totaling career-highs in receptions (11) and receiving yards (196) while catching three touchdown passes and adding a fourth touchdown on a 93-yard kickoff return. Casey and classmate Troy Pelletier both went over 100 yards receiving for the third straight week. Pelletier caught six passes for 102 yards and a touchdown.
With the win, Lehigh starts the Patriot League season 1-0 and moves to 4-2 overall after winning its third straight. Colgate, the preseason favorite in the league, falls to 1-4, 0-1.
"What was really great to me was everybody got involved - offense, defense, special teams - and if we didn't have all of those, it would have been a different game," Lehigh head coach Andy Coen said. "I want to start with our defense first. After the first play of the game, the defense was lights out. Last year, when we played this game, we had about five opportunities to get Colgate off the field and we weren't able to get them off at all. This year, it was a totally different story. We hit them and we had them schemed very well."
Lehigh jumped out the gates quickly, starting the game with a four-play, 64-yard drive capped off by a 33-yard pass from Shafnisky to Casey. The Mountain Hawks led 7-0 with 13:42 left in the first quarter.
Colgate responded 14 seconds later, scoring on its first play from scrimmage on a Jake Melville 75 yard run.
Both defenses started to clamp down and settle in as both teams traded interceptions. Freshman Riley O'Neil picked off Melville in Lehigh territory, his first career interception but on the ensuing possession, Shafnisky threw an interception as Lehigh was driving inside Colgate territory.
The Raiders capitalized on the turnover, taking the lead on a 59-yard pass from Melville to Thomas Ives. A 22-yard Jonah Bowman field goal gave the Raiders a 17-7 lead with 3:03 to go in the half.
Lehigh's rally began late in the half as Shafnisky led the Mountain Hawks down the field for 61 yards in 10 plays. Shafnisky's second touchdown pass to Casey, a 19-yard strike, cut Lehigh's deficit to 17-14 heading into halftime.
On the second play from scrimmage out of the break, the Lehigh defense forced a momentum-changing turnover as sophomore Sam McCloskey hit Keyon Washington and jarred the ball loose, with O'Neil recovering at the Raider 40.
The Mountain Hawks could only turn the turnover into a field goal, as sophomore Ed Mish's 25-yarder tied the game at 17-17 early in the third quarter.
Lehigh's defense re-established momentum from there with a pair of three-and-outs. On a first down from the Lehigh 42 Shafnisky hit a short completion to Casey, who turned down the left sideline and sprinted for his third score. The play covered 58 yards and gave the Mountain Hawks a 24-17 lead.
"The offense started a little slow, but give the opponent credit," Coen said. "They're one of the top defenses in the league and they had a good scheme to stop us. We came back towards the half and were able to get back in the game and then early in the second half, we were able to score."
The Mountain Hawks got the ball back after another defensive three-and-out and marched 70 yards in eight plays. A 31-yard pass from Shafnisky to Pelletier put Lehigh up 31-17 with 2:17 left in the third.
"We've been improving," Coen said of Lehigh's defense. "At some point in time, it was either our second or third scrimmage during training camp and (defensive coordinator) Joe Bottiglieri said to me that we were really starting to play good defense. He said 'Andy, and if we keep working and playing the way we're doing it, we're going to wind up having a really good defense.' He was right today."
The Raiders used a four-play drive to get back within a touchdown on a 14 yard run by Washington, but Casey took the ensuing kickoff, broke a tackle near mid field and then tiptoed down the Lehigh sideline for a 93-yard score, which re-established a two touchdown lead for the Mountain Hawks.
Shafnisky's fifth touchdown of the game, a 25-yard swing pass to sophomore Dominick Bragalone, gave the Mountain Hawks a 21-point advantage with 8:46 to play before Colgate pulled a touchdown back in the final minute.
Total yards finished 500-493 in favor of Colgate. Shafnisky completed 27-of-40 passes for 394 and five touchdown, while his interception was Lehigh's first giveaway in three games. He also rushed 12 times for 25 yards. Bragalone led Lehigh on the ground with 74 yards on 19 carries as the Mountain Hawks were out-gained 252-99 on the ground.
"A great win," Coen repeated. "The guy sitting next to me (Shafnisky) is just tremendous to be around. Giving great leadership, good execution. Keeps the motor running. We're going to need all these phases that I just talked about to get where we ultimately want to be."
Melville led Colgate with 151 yards on 18 carries. He also threw for 248 yards but was limited to 9-of-23 passing.
The Mountain Hawks will now play their next two games on the road, beginning next Saturday when they travel to Georgetown. Kickoff is set for just after 2 p.m. from Cooper Field with video coverage on the Patriot League Network and audio coverage on ESPN Radio of the Lehigh Valley (1230/1320/1160-AM) as well as ESPNLV.com.
EXTRA POINTS… Lehigh has now started Patriot League play 1-0 in eight of the last nine seasons… the Mountain Hawks have won four straight games for the first time since the first four games of the 2013 season… Lehigh has beaten Colgate seven of the last nine years… senior Colton Caslow led the defense with nine tackles… O'Neil had his best game as a Mountain Hawk with six tackles, a tackle-for-loss, an interception and a fumble recovery… senior Evan Harvey and junior Tyler Cavenas also registered six tackles apiece… senior Derek Knott added seven receptions for 50 yards… Mish's third quarter field goal put him over 100 points for his career… Casey's kickoff return touchdown was the first for Lehigh since Rich Sodeke returned a kickoff 85 yards for a score against Colgate in 2014… Lehigh wore its white helmets for the first time this season, making the white/brown/white helmet/jersey/pants combination the sixth different uniform combination in as many games... Lehigh honored its 1961 and 2011 Lambert Cup championship teams in the third quarter.
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Story by Zion Olojede '18
Team Stats
COLGATE
LEHIGH
Total Yards
500
493
Pass Yards
248
394
Rushing Yards
252
99
Penalty Yards
25
15
1st Downs
19
23
3rd Downs
4
6
4th Downs
2
1
TOP
30:13
29:47
1st Quarter
COLGATE 0, LEHIGH 7
LEHIGH - Casey, Gatlin 33 yd pass from Shafnisky, Nick (Mish, Ed kick) 4 plays, 64 yards, TOP 1:44
COLGATE 7, LEHIGH 7
COLGATE - Melville, Jake 75 yd run (Bowman, Jonah kick), 1 plays, 75 yards, TOP 0:14
COLGATE 14, LEHIGH 7
COLGATE - Ives, Thomas 59 yd pass from Melville, Jake (Bowman, Jonah kick) 5 plays, 83 yards, TOP 2:23
2nd Quarter
COLGATE 17, LEHIGH 7
COLGATE - Bowman, Jonah 22 yd field goal 12 plays, 37 yards, TOP 6:54
COLGATE 17, LEHIGH 14
LEHIGH - Casey, Gatlin 19 yd pass from Shafnisky, Nick (Mish, Ed kick) 10 plays, 61 yards, TOP 2:06
3rd Quarter
COLGATE 17, LEHIGH 17
LEHIGH - Mish, Ed 25 yd field goal 7 plays, 32 yards, TOP 2:15
COLGATE 17, LEHIGH 24
LEHIGH - Casey, Gatlin 58 yd pass from Shafnisky, Nick (Mish, Ed kick) 1 plays, 58 yards, TOP 0:10
COLGATE 17, LEHIGH 31
LEHIGH - Pelletier, Troy 31 yd pass from Shafnisky, Nick (Mish, Ed kick) 8 plays, 70 yards, TOP 3:15
COLGATE 24, LEHIGH 31
COLGATE - Washington, K. 14 yd run (Bowman, Jonah kick), 4 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:40
COLGATE 24, LEHIGH 38
LEHIGH - Casey, Gatlin 93 yd kickoff return (Mish, Ed kick)
4th Quarter
COLGATE 24, LEHIGH 45
LEHIGH - Bragalone, Dom 25 yd pass from Shafnisky, Nick (Mish, Ed kick) 2 plays, 46 yards, TOP 0:35
COLGATE 31, LEHIGH 45
COLGATE - Rockett, Owen 20 yd pass from Melville, Jake (Bowman, Jonah kick) 4 plays, 88 yards, TOP 0:27
Game Leaders
CMP
27
TD
5
YDS
394
INT
1
Players Mentioned
RB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
LB
/ Football
DL
/ Football
LB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
DB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
WR
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