Strong defense and big second half from Bragalone lead Lehigh past Holy Cross 34-21

Saturday, November 11

Bethlehem, Pa.

12:30 PM

Lehigh University

4-6 , 4-1

Holy Cross

4-7 , 3-3

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Holy Cross	0	7	0	14	21
Lehigh	14	0	10	10	34

Strong defense and big second half from Bragalone lead Lehigh past Holy Cross 34-21

11/11/2017 6:01:00 PM | Football

Box Score

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – A second straight strong performance by Lehigh's defense coupled with a big second half from junior Dominick Bragalone propelled the Mountain Hawks to a 34-21 win over Holy Cross Saturday at Goodman Stadium. Saturday's game was presented by PSECU.

Defensively, Lehigh yielded fewer than 400 yards for the second straight week, allowing just 397 including a season-low 147 rushing yards, while matching a season-low for points allowed. The Mountain Hawks also recorded three sacks and won the turnover battle for the second straight week.

"Coming into this game we knew this would be a really big challenge," Lehigh head coach Andy Coen said. "Their quarterback is a dynamic player and you can see some of the things he did today. Not to take away from anything our offense has done but I thought the best thing from today was our defense. They put together a tremendous plan and took away a lot of what Holy Cross wanted to do offensively. We had some freshmen out there in the secondary which was scary but those kids really stepped up."

Bragalone was limited to nine carries for 44 yards in the first half, but exploded for 157 in the second to finish with his second 200-yard rushing game in the last three weeks. His final totals included a career-high 30 rushes for 201 yards and four touchdowns. Bragalone became the first Lehigh player to rush for four touchdowns in a game since Eric Rath accomplished the feat at Colgate in 2005.

With the victory, Lehigh improves to 4-6 overall and 4-1 in the Patriot League. The Mountain Hawks can clinch their second consecutive Patriot League championship and 12th overall, and punch their ticket to the FCS playoffs with a win over rival Lafayette next week. Holy Cross' season ends at 4-7 overall and 3-3 in the league.

Special teams helped set an early tone for Lehigh after the teams traded three-and-outs to begin the game. Holy Cross picked up one first down but was then forced to punt. After a bad snap sent Will McGrail scrambling, his punt was blocked by senior Tyler Cavenas, with junior Jimmy Schulz recovering inside the Crusader 10 yard line. On the very next play Bragalone ran in from six yards out to give Lehigh the early lead.

Lehigh's defense stuffed Holy Cross' ensuing drive, capped by a Cavenas sack on third down and the Mountain Hawks' offense responded with an eight-play, 81-yard drive, finished by Bragalone on a seven yard scoring run to give Lehigh a 14-0 advantage.

The Crusaders' fourth possession reached Lehigh's red zone but the Mountain Hawks came up with a turnover as senior Quentin Jones stripped Tenio Ayeni with sophomore Riley O'Neil recovering at the Lehigh nine. The Mountain Hawks were unable to capitalize on the turnover.

Holy Cross picked up its play defensively, keeping Lehigh off the board in the second quarter while sacking junior quarterback Brad Mayes twice. A 28-yard touchdown pass from Peter Pujals to Blaise Bell on a fourth down midway through the period made the halftime score 14-7 in favor of Lehigh.

Lehigh scored the first 13 points of the second half to establish some breathing room. The Mountain Hawks were forced to punt on their opening possession of the half but the defense came up with a three-and-out. Upon getting the ball back, Lehigh embarked on a 13-play drive, milking nearly five minutes off the clock as a 23-yard field goal by junior Ed Mish put the Mountain Hawks up 17-7.

Pujals tried to bring the Crusaders back but Holy Cross' ensuing drive ended on a fourth-down sack by junior Mark Walker in Lehigh territory. Five plays later, Bragalone broke free for a 33 yard run to put the Mountain Hawks in front 24-7.

The Lehigh defense made another big play late in the quarter as senior Harrison Johnson stripped Domenic Cozier with junior Julian Lynn recovering. The Mountain Hawks put together a 15-play drive that covered just 31 yards and milked 7:16 off the clock. Mish's season-long 41-yard field goal gave the Mountain Hawks a 20-point lead with just over eight minutes remaining.

Another Pujals to Bell touchdown stopped the Lehigh run but Bragalone added the exclamation point with a 45-yard scamper for his fourth score of the day.

"The offense started a little slowly, but we knew that was possible because we knew (Holy Cross) would have a very good plan," Coen said. "They blitzed when they needed to. We worked really hard putting our plan together because of all the different blitzes they use. At halftime we wanted to figure out our best couple of runs and the run game really took off in the second half. That was a really big part of our success offensively."

Holy Cross out-gained Lehigh by a slim 397-369 margin but the Mountain Hawks held a commanding 36:50-23:10 edge in time of possession. Mayes completed 25-of-35 passes for 231 yards. Five Holy Cross sacks dragged Lehigh's final rushing number down to just 138.

Senior Troy Pelletier led Lehigh's receiving corps with 11 catches for 100 yards, his sixth 100-yard receiving game of the season. Freshman Jorge Portorreal added seven catches for 67 yards.

(11/11/2017) Football vs Holy Cross (11/11/17)

Pujals was Holy Cross' top performer in his final college game, completing 18-of-36 for 276 yards with two touchdowns, and rushing for 66 yards and a late touchdown as well.

Sophomore Keith Woetzel led the Lehigh defense with seven tackles, while O'Neil added five. Senior Justin Gille had Lehigh's other sack, joining Cavenas and Walker.

"Every week it seemed like we had to put another peg into a hole," Coen said. "But our defensive staff just kept working at it and working at it. Over the last three or four weeks our defense has been as strong as probably anyone else in the Patriot League. I'm really proud of our staff and our student-athletes."

The Mountain Hawks will host Lafayette next Saturday in the 153rd meeting of college football's most-played rivalry. Game time is set for 12:30 p.m. from Goodman Stadium. Lehigh's ticket allotment is sold out but tickets are still available through Lafayette.

EXTRA POINTS… With a two-yard run on Lehigh's first play from scrimmage, Bragalone became the first player in Lehigh history to post three 1,000-yard rushing seasons… he also moved past Rod Gardner for second place on Lehigh's career rushing list with 3,379… the school record is 3,696 by Rabih Abdullah '97… Pelletier also eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards for the season and became the first Patriot League player to record 300-plus career receptions… Lehigh has now beaten Holy Cross in three straight seasons and seven of the last eight meetings… The Mountain Hawks have won the game prior to the Lafayette game for the 13th time in 15 seasons… with the opening drive three-and-out Lehigh is now 4-0 on the season when the defense does not allow a touchdown on the opponents' opening series…in the last two weeks Lehigh has improved from minus-12 in turnover margin to minus-7… Bragalone's 201-yard effort is just the 11th 200-yard rushing game in school history… Saturday's attendance was a season-high 7,247 on Military Appreciation Day and Family Weekend… the Lehigh football partnership hosted Lineman Day, with many former linemen recognized at halftime.