Saturday, November 19
Easton, Pa.
12:30 PM
Lehigh University
9-2 , 6-0
45
at
21
Lafayette
2-9 , 1-5
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Lehigh
7
24
14
0
45
Lafayette
0
7
6
8
21
No. 19/17 Lehigh rolls past 'Pards 45-21 to claim #Rivalry152
11/19/2016 6:17:00 PM | Football
EASTON, Pa. - A 24-point second-quarter surge helped the No. 19/17 Lehigh football team open a 45-7 third-quarter lead, on its way to a convincing 45-21 victory in the 152nd all-time meeting between Lehigh and Lafayette Saturday at Fisher Stadium. Senior Nick Shafnisky was named the game's MVP for a second straight season, throwing for 268 yards and three touchdowns on 19-of-29 passing while also running for 27 yards and a score. The win marks the ninth straight for the Patriot League Champions entering the FCS Playoffs next weekend.
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Lehigh improves to 9-2 on the season and finishes the league slate at a perfect 6-0, while Lafayette's season ends at 2-9 overall and 1-5 in league play.
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Sophomore Dominick Bragalone rushed for 110 yards on 19 carries, with a touchdown. In the process, he eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing for a second straight season. Junior Nana Amankwah-Ayeh also carried nine times for 82 yards and a score.
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Junior Troy Pelletier finished with eight catches for 93 yards and two touchdowns while classmate Gatlin Casey had five receptions for 79 yards and a score. Senior Derek Knott also had four catches for 80 yards. After Shafnisky played until late in the third quarter, sophomore Brad Mayes came in at quarterback and finished 6-of-7 for 28 yards.
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Senior LaQuan Lambert led the defense with eight tackles and 1.5 sacks, including a sack on the final play of the first half with Lafayette just two yards away from a touchdown. Senior Pierce Ripanti had six tackles, including two tackles-for-loss and a sack. Freshman Riley O'Neil recorded his second-career interception.
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"I was really pleased with how our football team came out to play today," Lehigh head coach Andy Coen said. "We knew it would be a challenging game. These games always are. I thought our defense really played very well, especially creating some turnovers. On the first drive of the game, Lafayette was running right down the field and we got the fumble. I think that took a little steam out of their sails. The defense stepped up a bunch on third-down situations. That should be a really good story for our football program."
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Lafayette went 52 yards on eight plays on the game's opening drive, but a fumble gave Lehigh the ball on its own 21-yard line. The Mountain Hawks went on to gain 57 yards before a fourth-and-12 reception from Pelletier was stopped five yards short of the first down.
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The Leopards' ensuing drive ended with an interception from O'Neil. The Mountain Hawks turned the game's second turnover into the first score as a 45-yard drive was capped off by a 16-yard reception from Pelletier, giving Lehigh a 7-0 lead with 2:49 remaining in the first quarter.
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Lafayette's next possession ended in a Ripanti sack, and Lehigh turned a short field into a 14-0 advantage. A 44-yard drive ended with a 15-yard reception from Casey on the first play of the second quarter, giving the Mountain Hawks a 14-0 advantage.
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Less than five minutes later, Lehigh added a 30-yard field goal from sophomore Ed Mish to take a 17-0 lead, but the Leopards responded with a 56-yard touchdown reception with 9:30 left in the second quarter. Casey quickly flipped momentum back to the Mountain Hawks, taking the ensuing kickoff 54 yards to the Lafayette 42-yard line. That led to a four-yard touchdown run from Shafnisky. Lehigh added a three-yard run from Bragalone, ending a methodical 11-play, 51-yard drive, giving the Mountain Hawks a 31-7 advantage with 1:09 on the second-quarter clock.
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Lafayette reached the Lehigh two-yard line in the final seconds of the first half, but Lambert sacked Lafayette quarterback Drew Reed as the half expired to preserve the 31-7 halftime lead.
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The Mountain Hawks added another touchdown on their first possession of the third quarter as a 67-yard drive included consecutive runs of 15 then 21 yards from Bragalone and ended with a four-yard touchdown reception from Pelletier, giving Lehigh a 38-7 advantage with 11:50 left in the third quarter.
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Lehigh scored its fourth straight touchdown late in the third quarter, driving 86 yards, which included a big 38-yard reception from Casey on a third-and-nine play deep in Mountain Hawks' territory. The drive was capped off by a touchdown from Amankwah-Ayeh to give Lehigh a 45-7 advantage with 4:42 on the third-quarter clock.
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Lafayette broke through with a touchdown just over three minutes later than added a fourth-quarter score, but it wasn't nearly enough as the Mountain Hawks cruised to the 45-21 victory.
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Lehigh held a 510-472 edge in total yards, including a dominating 219-74 edge in rushing yards. The Mountain Hawks held a 31:14 to 28:46 edge in time of possession. More than half of Lafayette's total yards came after halftime when Lehigh had already established a comfortable lead.
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"Everybody talks about our offense and it's been very strong this year, but our defense really stepped up throughout the course of the season," Coen said. "If you're going to have a team that's capable of going to the playoffs, you have to be able to play offense, defense and special teams. I think our team's been able to do that throughout this period.
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"We have some very good players here, without a doubt, but what I'm more proud of is how these guys take care of one another," Coen continued. "They lead very well, they very much understand what it means to be on a team. We don't have one selfish player on our entire football team. I've been fortunate enough to coach a lot of good players and good teams and they all have that same characteristic. They love each other and love to be on the team."
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The Mountain Hawks will return to action next weekend when they open up the FCS Playoffs. The NCAA selection show is set for this Sunday at 11 a.m. on ESPNU.
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EXTRA POINTS… Lehigh earned its second straight win over Lafayette and sixth in the last eight seasons… the Mountain Hawks finish the regular season undefeated in Patriot League play for the seventh time overall and first time since 2011… Bragalone became just the second player in school history to record two 1,000 yard seasons, joining Rabih Abdullah '97. Bragalone now owns 1,106 yards this season, which is seventh in school history for a single season… This marks the seventh time in school history Lehigh has recorded a winning streak of nine games or more… Lehigh will be making its 10th appearance in the FCS playoffs and its 13th playoff appearance overall… Shafnisky was is the ninth two-time MVP in the history of The Rivalry… Casey now has a touchdown catch in nine straight games, and 14 touchdown catches during that time… Saturday's attendance was 12,587… Lehigh paired its road white jerseys with gold helmets and pants.
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
LAFAYETT
Total Yards
510
472
Pass Yards
291
398
Rushing Yards
219
74
Penalty Yards
33
44
1st Downs
26
28
3rd Downs
8
8
4th Downs
1
0
TOP
31:14
28:46
1st Quarter
LEHIGH 7, LAFAYETT 0
LEHIGH - Pelletier, Troy 16 yd pass from Shafnisky, Nick (Mish, Ed kick) 5 plays, 45 yards, TOP 2:23
2nd Quarter
LEHIGH 14, LAFAYETT 0
LEHIGH - Casey, Gatlin 15 yd pass from Shafnisky, Nick (Mish, Ed kick) 6 plays, 44 yards, TOP 1:24
LEHIGH 17, LAFAYETT 0
LEHIGH - Mish, Ed 30 yd field goal 6 plays, 47 yards, TOP 1:54
LEHIGH 17, LAFAYETT 7
LAFAYETT - Wadsworth, D. 56 yd pass from Reed, Drew (Forrester, Ryan kick) 3 plays, 68 yards, TOP 1:16
LEHIGH 24, LAFAYETT 7
LEHIGH - Shafnisky, Nick 4 yd run (Mish, Ed kick), 6 plays, 42 yards, TOP 2:54
LEHIGH 31, LAFAYETT 7
LEHIGH - Bragalone, Dom 3 yd run (Mish, Ed kick), 11 plays, 51 yards, TOP 3:11
3rd Quarter
LEHIGH 38, LAFAYETT 7
LEHIGH - Pelletier, Troy 4 yd pass from Shafnisky, Nick (Mish, Ed kick) 8 plays, 67 yards, TOP 3:10
LEHIGH 45, LAFAYETT 7
LEHIGH - Amankwah-Ayeh 2 yd run (Mish, Ed kick), 8 plays, 86 yards, TOP 3:10
LEHIGH 45, LAFAYETT 13
LAFAYETT - Amill, C.J. 17 yd pass from Reed, Drew (Forrester, Ryan kickblocked) 9 plays, 65 yards, TOP 3:14
4th Quarter
LEHIGH 45, LAFAYETT 21
LAFAYETT - Brown, DeSean 1 yd run (Reed, Drew pass), 5 plays, 47 yards, TOP 1:32
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
19
TD
3
YDS
268
INT
0
CMP
6
TD
0
YDS
23
INT
1
Players Mentioned
RB
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RB
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WR
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WR
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DB
/ FootballQB
/ Football
DB
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WR
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LB
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/ FootballLehigh Sports Central: Football
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