Saturday, September 1
Bethlehem, Pa.
12:30 PM
Lehigh University
1-0
21
vs
19
Saint Francis (Pa.)
0-1
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Saint Francis
7
3
3
6
19
Lehigh
0
14
7
0
21
Bragalone's record-setting day and strong defensive effort lead Lehigh past Saint Francis
9/1/2018 5:32:00 PM | Football
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Behind a record-setting performance from senior Dominick Bragalone and one of its best defensive efforts in recent memory, Lehigh opened its season with a 21-19 win over Saint Francis Saturday at Goodman Stadium. The Lehigh-Saint Francis game was presented by JFR Salvage Inc.
Bragalone gained 137 yards on 29 carries and scored three touchdowns to lead the Mountain Hawks. He gained 10 yards on his 28th carry of the game to become Lehigh's career leader in rushing yards, surpassing the mark of 3,696 set by Rabih Abdullah '97. Bragalone finished the day with 3,704 career yards and is also tied for the school's career rushing touchdown record of 42, which he shares with Rod Gardner '77.
Defensively, the Mountain Hawks limited Saint Francis to just 300 total yards and 58 yards rushing. The Red Flash mounted a late drive and moved into field goal range after a pair of pass interference penalties, but junior Jon Seighman blocked the low-trajectory, go-ahead field goal attempt by Eric Bofenkamp with 33 seconds left to preserve Lehigh's first opening day win since 2015.
"Coming into this game, we talked about how physical this football game would be and we certainly had that type of game today," Lehigh head coach Andy Coen said. "One thing when we started going from spring practice throughout our camp we were trying to develop a lot of toughness and competitiveness, and we see that developing and growing every day in practice. This was a type of game I don't know if we could have won in the last couple years, but with how gritty our kids were, it was great."
Coen said that the game-winning blocked field goal epitomized the Mountain Hawks' commitment to playing as one team.
"I don't think anyone in this stadium thought we were going to block that field goal," Coen said. "(Bofenkamp) was knocking them out of the park, but our guys did a great job. I asked the guys in the locker room who blocked the kick, and they all said 'everyone' blocked the kick. The one thing we talk about is one man is no man, it takes everyone to do what we do. Our guys all did it today. I was pleased with how we played and how we competed, it's a good thing to build upon."
Lehigh gained 321 yards of offense and was balanced, rushing for 140 and passing for 181.
Junior Tyler Monaco made his first career start at quarterback and went 4-for-6 for 58 yards in the first quarter before giving way to senior Brad Mayes, who was an efficient 13-for-17 for 123 yards.
Monaco led Lehigh on a strong opening drive, but Bragalone was stripped of the football inside the Saint Francis 20 yard line and the Red Flash recovered. Lehigh's defense forced a three-and-out on its first series of the season, but Saint Francis came back on its second possession as a 42-yard pass from Bear Fenimore to Kamron Lewis set up a one-yard Fenimore touchdown run to put the Red Flash in front.
Bragalone pulled Lehigh even early in the second quarter, showcasing breakaway speed on a 52-yard touchdown run down the left sideline, which tied the game with 10:14 to go in the half.
A 41-yard field goal by Bofenkamp put the Red Flash back in front, but Lehigh answered with a 12-play, 75-yard drive capped by Bragalone plunging in from two yards out on 4th-and-1, giving the Mountain Hawks a 14-10 lead at halftime.
Saint Francis opened the second half with a 17-play drive, aided by a roughing the kicker penalty, but the defense held as the Red Flash settled for Bofenkamp's second field goal to pull SFU within 14-13.
The Mountain Hawks once again responded quickly, with a 31-yard pass from Mayes to sophomore Jorge Portorreal highlighting a seven-play, 75-yard drive that was finished with an 11-yard Bragalone touchdown run, his third of the day.
(9/1/2018) Football vs. SFU, 9/1/18
Saint Francis pulled within two on the second play of the fourth quarter, when Sean Orsini sacked Mayes, forcing a fumble that Ben Bruni eventually recovered in the end zone. Junior Marquis Wilson intercepted the tying two-point conversion attempt, keeping the Mountain Hawks in front.
With just over three and a half minutes to play, Lehigh's defense came up with its first takeaway of the season as senior Donavon Harris picked off Fenimore on a third down. Bragalone broke the rushing record on Lehigh's first play of the ensuing drive, but the Mountain Hawks eventually turned the ball over on downs when Mayes was stopped short on a keeper bidding for a first down that would have allowed Lehigh to run out the clock.
'This type of win will help us as we move forward over the next couple weeks," Coen said. "Now the kids know they can do this, they forced us into some things that were hard for us. We found ways to fight through the adversity."
Senior Luke Christiano led the receiving corps with seven catches for 62 yards, while Portorreal added 88 yards on five catches.
Sophomore Divine Buckrham led Lehigh with 11 tackles, while junior Riley O'Neil added eight tackles and two tackles-for-loss. Lehigh finished with 10 tackles for loss, with sophomore Jack Kircher leading the way with three.
Fenimore was 17-of-26 for 242 yards and an interception. Cyrus Holder was his top target with five catches for 94 yards. Jymere Jordan-Toney ran 23 times for 75 yards.
The Mountain Hawks will host No. 19 Villanova next Saturday on Fan and Alumni Appreciation Day at Goodman Stadium with game time set for 12:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-7LU-GAME during business hours.
EXTRA POINTS… Lehigh improved to 84-45-6 all-time in season-openers and 7-6 in openers under Andy Coen… the Mountain Hawks snapped a seven-game losing streak against non-league opponents, dating back to their 2016 win at Yale… three Mountain Hawks made their first career starts: senior Tim Wagner (center), junior Davis Maxie (hawk) and freshman Justin Gurth (right tackle)… the 58 rushing yards allowed were Lehigh's fewest since allowing 55 in a win at Bucknell in October 2015… seven different players had at least half a tackle for loss… junior Keith Woetzel and senior Juwan Morrow combined on Lehigh's lone sack… Attendance was 4,216 on Dog Day at Goodman Stadium.
Bragalone gained 137 yards on 29 carries and scored three touchdowns to lead the Mountain Hawks. He gained 10 yards on his 28th carry of the game to become Lehigh's career leader in rushing yards, surpassing the mark of 3,696 set by Rabih Abdullah '97. Bragalone finished the day with 3,704 career yards and is also tied for the school's career rushing touchdown record of 42, which he shares with Rod Gardner '77.
Defensively, the Mountain Hawks limited Saint Francis to just 300 total yards and 58 yards rushing. The Red Flash mounted a late drive and moved into field goal range after a pair of pass interference penalties, but junior Jon Seighman blocked the low-trajectory, go-ahead field goal attempt by Eric Bofenkamp with 33 seconds left to preserve Lehigh's first opening day win since 2015.
"Coming into this game, we talked about how physical this football game would be and we certainly had that type of game today," Lehigh head coach Andy Coen said. "One thing when we started going from spring practice throughout our camp we were trying to develop a lot of toughness and competitiveness, and we see that developing and growing every day in practice. This was a type of game I don't know if we could have won in the last couple years, but with how gritty our kids were, it was great."
Coen said that the game-winning blocked field goal epitomized the Mountain Hawks' commitment to playing as one team.
"I don't think anyone in this stadium thought we were going to block that field goal," Coen said. "(Bofenkamp) was knocking them out of the park, but our guys did a great job. I asked the guys in the locker room who blocked the kick, and they all said 'everyone' blocked the kick. The one thing we talk about is one man is no man, it takes everyone to do what we do. Our guys all did it today. I was pleased with how we played and how we competed, it's a good thing to build upon."
Lehigh gained 321 yards of offense and was balanced, rushing for 140 and passing for 181.
Junior Tyler Monaco made his first career start at quarterback and went 4-for-6 for 58 yards in the first quarter before giving way to senior Brad Mayes, who was an efficient 13-for-17 for 123 yards.
Monaco led Lehigh on a strong opening drive, but Bragalone was stripped of the football inside the Saint Francis 20 yard line and the Red Flash recovered. Lehigh's defense forced a three-and-out on its first series of the season, but Saint Francis came back on its second possession as a 42-yard pass from Bear Fenimore to Kamron Lewis set up a one-yard Fenimore touchdown run to put the Red Flash in front.
Bragalone pulled Lehigh even early in the second quarter, showcasing breakaway speed on a 52-yard touchdown run down the left sideline, which tied the game with 10:14 to go in the half.
A 41-yard field goal by Bofenkamp put the Red Flash back in front, but Lehigh answered with a 12-play, 75-yard drive capped by Bragalone plunging in from two yards out on 4th-and-1, giving the Mountain Hawks a 14-10 lead at halftime.
Saint Francis opened the second half with a 17-play drive, aided by a roughing the kicker penalty, but the defense held as the Red Flash settled for Bofenkamp's second field goal to pull SFU within 14-13.
The Mountain Hawks once again responded quickly, with a 31-yard pass from Mayes to sophomore Jorge Portorreal highlighting a seven-play, 75-yard drive that was finished with an 11-yard Bragalone touchdown run, his third of the day.
Saint Francis pulled within two on the second play of the fourth quarter, when Sean Orsini sacked Mayes, forcing a fumble that Ben Bruni eventually recovered in the end zone. Junior Marquis Wilson intercepted the tying two-point conversion attempt, keeping the Mountain Hawks in front.
With just over three and a half minutes to play, Lehigh's defense came up with its first takeaway of the season as senior Donavon Harris picked off Fenimore on a third down. Bragalone broke the rushing record on Lehigh's first play of the ensuing drive, but the Mountain Hawks eventually turned the ball over on downs when Mayes was stopped short on a keeper bidding for a first down that would have allowed Lehigh to run out the clock.
'This type of win will help us as we move forward over the next couple weeks," Coen said. "Now the kids know they can do this, they forced us into some things that were hard for us. We found ways to fight through the adversity."
Senior Luke Christiano led the receiving corps with seven catches for 62 yards, while Portorreal added 88 yards on five catches.
Sophomore Divine Buckrham led Lehigh with 11 tackles, while junior Riley O'Neil added eight tackles and two tackles-for-loss. Lehigh finished with 10 tackles for loss, with sophomore Jack Kircher leading the way with three.
Fenimore was 17-of-26 for 242 yards and an interception. Cyrus Holder was his top target with five catches for 94 yards. Jymere Jordan-Toney ran 23 times for 75 yards.
The Mountain Hawks will host No. 19 Villanova next Saturday on Fan and Alumni Appreciation Day at Goodman Stadium with game time set for 12:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-7LU-GAME during business hours.
EXTRA POINTS… Lehigh improved to 84-45-6 all-time in season-openers and 7-6 in openers under Andy Coen… the Mountain Hawks snapped a seven-game losing streak against non-league opponents, dating back to their 2016 win at Yale… three Mountain Hawks made their first career starts: senior Tim Wagner (center), junior Davis Maxie (hawk) and freshman Justin Gurth (right tackle)… the 58 rushing yards allowed were Lehigh's fewest since allowing 55 in a win at Bucknell in October 2015… seven different players had at least half a tackle for loss… junior Keith Woetzel and senior Juwan Morrow combined on Lehigh's lone sack… Attendance was 4,216 on Dog Day at Goodman Stadium.
Team Stats
SFU
LEHIGH
Total Yards
300
321
Pass Yards
242
181
Rushing Yards
58
140
Penalty Yards
40
41
1st Downs
15
17
3rd Downs
5
5
4th Downs
0
1
TOP
31:50
28:10
1st Quarter
SFU 7, LEHIGH 0
SFU - FENIMORE, BEAR 1 yd run (BOFENKAMP,Eric kick), 4 plays, 48 yards, TOP 1:34
2nd Quarter
SFU 7, LEHIGH 7
LEHIGH - Bragalone, Dom 52 yd run (Mish, Ed kick), 3 plays, 65 yards, TOP 1:13
SFU 10, LEHIGH 7
SFU - BOFENKAMP,Eric 41 yd field goal 9 plays, 63 yards, TOP 4:30
SFU 10, LEHIGH 14
LEHIGH - Bragalone, Dom 2 yd run (Mish, Ed kick), 12 plays, 75 yards, TOP 4:31
3rd Quarter
SFU 13, LEHIGH 14
SFU - BOFENKAMP,Eric 27 yd field goal 17 plays, 66 yards, TOP 9:48
SFU 13, LEHIGH 21
LEHIGH - Bragalone, Dom 11 yd run (Mish, Ed kick), 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 3:03
4th Quarter
SFU 19, LEHIGH 21
SFU - BRUNI, BEN 0 yd fumble recovery (FENIMORE, BEAR passfailed)
Game Leaders
CMP
13
TD
0
YDS
123
INT
0
CMP
4
TD
0
YDS
58
INT
0
Players Mentioned
RB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
OL
/ Football
DB
/ Football
DL
/ Football
DL
/ FootballQB
/ FootballQB
/ Football
DL
/ Football
DB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
DB
/ Football
OL
/ Football
DB
/ Football
LB
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