Saturday, November 23
Bethlehem, Pa.
12:30 PM
Lehigh University
4-7 , 3-3
16
vs
17
Lafayette
4-8 , 4-2
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Lafayette
7
0
7
3
17
Lehigh
0
7
3
6
16
Late field goal lifts Lafayette past Lehigh 17-16 in #Rivalry155
11/23/2019 5:51:00 PM | Football
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – In a season where seemingly every game was not decided until the very end, the 155th edition of Lehigh-Lafayette was no different. Senior Austin Henning's third field goal of the game gave the Mountain Hawks a 16-14 lead with 3:03 to play, but the Leopards answered with a nine-play, 50-yard drive as Jeffrey Kordenbrock's 28-yard field goal with 47 seconds remaining lifted Lafayette past Lehigh 17-16 Saturday at Goodman Stadium. The Lehigh-Lafayette game is presented by JFR Salvage.
Henning's three field goals turned a 14-7 third quarter deficit into a one-point Lehigh lead. Lehigh's defense stood tall, limiting Lafayette to just 225 yards of total offense, but four Mountain Hawks turnovers led to 14 Leopard points.
"I haven't won many games where we turned the ball over four times," Lehigh head coach Tom Gilmore said. "We have to protect the ball, simple as that. Our defense did a great job today, hats off them to them for holding the ground after we put them in some tough situations."
Senior Keith Woetzel spearheaded the defensive effort for Lehigh with 11 tackles, five tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and an interception. His five tackles for loss were the most in a single game for a Mountain Hawk since 2001. Woetzel finishes his senior season with a program-record 15 sacks. As a unit, Lehigh recorded 17 tackles for lost, the most for the Mountain Hawks since 2001.
"It was just amazing watching him," Gilmore said of the senior linebacker. "Keith has the thing where he just makes plays. I'm really proud of what he did all season, he was the playmaker."
Offensively, sophomore Alec Beesmer was 14-of-24 passing for 246 yards. Freshman Zaythan Hill rushed for 58 yards on nine carries and a touchdown. Sophomore Rashawn Allen had 20 carries for 51 yards. Beesmer also scampered for 32 yards on the ground.
Senior Devon Bibbens had four catches for 90 yards to lead the offense. Austin Dambach made five receptions for 74 yards.
After each offense went three-and-out, the Leopards drove into Lehigh territory on its second drive before being forced to punt.
On the ensuing play, an interception from Yasir Thomas set Lafayette up at midfield. The Leopards' offense capitalized, going 50 yards on 12 plays. Lafayette converted a pair of fourth downs on the drive. Ultimately, an 18-yard touchdown scamper from Selwyn Simpson on third-and-14 gave the Leopards a 7-0 lead with less than a minute remaining in the first.
Lehigh immediately answered, taking the ensuing drive 68 yards on 10 plays to pull even. Hill ran the final 22 yards on three carries, including a five-yard touchdown run. After Hennig's extra point, the Mountain Hawks pulled even with Lafayette at seven with 10:40 left in the second quarter.
Both defenses continued to stand tall. Lafayette picked up its second interception late in the period, but with the Leopards in prime field position (beginning at the Mountain Hawks' 37-yard line), Woetzel came up big like he has all year. Woetzel intercepted Keegan Shoemaker to give Lehigh's offense the ball right back. Woetzel finished the first half with seven tackles (including three tackles for loss), a sack and interception as the teams went into halftime tied at 7-7.
Gallery: (11/23/2019) Football vs. Lafayette 11-23-2019
Lafayette took advantage of an early third-quarter fumble, turning a short field into the go-ahead touchdown. Simpson wrapped up a short 24-yard drive with a three-yard score, to give the Leopards a 14-7 lead with 11:20 on the third-quarter clock.
As the second half progressed, the Mountain Hawks slowly chipped away. Late in the third quarter, Lehigh drove 63 yards on 12 plays. The big play was a 21-yard reception by Devon Bibbens, helping set up Henning for 20-yard field goal to pull the Mountain Hawks within 14-10 with 4:19 left in the third.
Lehigh got the ball again after forcing another punt with 11:19 on the clock, turning it into three more points. Hill began the drive with rushes of 22 and five yards, then Beesmer found freshman Jack Sutton for 31 yards to the Lafayette 14-yard line. Henning capped off the drive with a 33-yard field goal to pull within 14-13 with 8:11 on the clock.
Woetzel made sure the Mountain Hawks would quickly get the ball back as his third-down sack forced a Lafayette punt.
Lehigh again marched downfield, going 45 yards on six plays, the biggest play being a 41-yard reception from Bibbens. Henning converted his third field goal of the half, from 22 yards away, to give the Mountain Hawks their first lead at 16-14 with 3:03 remaining.
"We moved the ball well, we put up some good statistics, however we failed to punch the ball into the end zone on multiple times in the red zone," Gilmore said.
Set up by a 28-yard Jaden Sutton kickoff return, Lafayette answered with its longest drive of the half, going 50 yards on nine plays, as Kordenbrock's28-yard field gave the Leopards the lead back with 47 seconds on the clock. The kick was good enough to earn Kordenbrock game MVP honors.
The Mountain Hawks got past midfield looking for the go-ahead score, but couldn't get any further as Lafayette wrapped up the 17-16 victory.
"If you've watched us play this year, you knew we were going to play until the end," Gilmore said. "The effort and the grit that our team showed every week was amazing. I'm really proud of the character is team showed all season."
Shoemaker finished 16-of-24 for 124 yards with an interception and added 49 rushing yards. Simpson rushed for 41 yards and both Lafayette touchdowns.
Lehigh's season finishes at 4-7, while Lafayette finishes 4-8.
"You look at the beginning of the season and now, the improvements are very noticeable," Gilmore said. "There were so many good things and this really helped build the foundation for the future. It's just a shame the seniors couldn't go out on a positive and a win over Lafayette. From the positive standpoint, you talk about building character and doing things the right way, there are examples of that on our team all throughout."
EXTRA POINTS… Junior Pete Haffner added six tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and half a sack… sophomore Michael Laurencelle added three tackles for loss and a sack… Lehigh finished with 376 yards of offense and had 18 first downs to Lafayette's 16… the Mountain Hawks were 4-for-4 in red zone scores but had to settle for field goals on three occasions… Lafayette snapped Lehigh's four game winning streak in the series… the Leopards now lead the series 79-71-5… Woetzel finishes his Lehigh career with 296 tackles, good for sixth in Lehigh history… eight of Lehigh's 11 games in 2019 were decided by seven points or less… Saturday's attendance was 13,292.
Like Lehigh Football on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
Henning's three field goals turned a 14-7 third quarter deficit into a one-point Lehigh lead. Lehigh's defense stood tall, limiting Lafayette to just 225 yards of total offense, but four Mountain Hawks turnovers led to 14 Leopard points.
"I haven't won many games where we turned the ball over four times," Lehigh head coach Tom Gilmore said. "We have to protect the ball, simple as that. Our defense did a great job today, hats off them to them for holding the ground after we put them in some tough situations."
Senior Keith Woetzel spearheaded the defensive effort for Lehigh with 11 tackles, five tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and an interception. His five tackles for loss were the most in a single game for a Mountain Hawk since 2001. Woetzel finishes his senior season with a program-record 15 sacks. As a unit, Lehigh recorded 17 tackles for lost, the most for the Mountain Hawks since 2001.
"It was just amazing watching him," Gilmore said of the senior linebacker. "Keith has the thing where he just makes plays. I'm really proud of what he did all season, he was the playmaker."
Offensively, sophomore Alec Beesmer was 14-of-24 passing for 246 yards. Freshman Zaythan Hill rushed for 58 yards on nine carries and a touchdown. Sophomore Rashawn Allen had 20 carries for 51 yards. Beesmer also scampered for 32 yards on the ground.
Senior Devon Bibbens had four catches for 90 yards to lead the offense. Austin Dambach made five receptions for 74 yards.
After each offense went three-and-out, the Leopards drove into Lehigh territory on its second drive before being forced to punt.
On the ensuing play, an interception from Yasir Thomas set Lafayette up at midfield. The Leopards' offense capitalized, going 50 yards on 12 plays. Lafayette converted a pair of fourth downs on the drive. Ultimately, an 18-yard touchdown scamper from Selwyn Simpson on third-and-14 gave the Leopards a 7-0 lead with less than a minute remaining in the first.
Lehigh immediately answered, taking the ensuing drive 68 yards on 10 plays to pull even. Hill ran the final 22 yards on three carries, including a five-yard touchdown run. After Hennig's extra point, the Mountain Hawks pulled even with Lafayette at seven with 10:40 left in the second quarter.
Both defenses continued to stand tall. Lafayette picked up its second interception late in the period, but with the Leopards in prime field position (beginning at the Mountain Hawks' 37-yard line), Woetzel came up big like he has all year. Woetzel intercepted Keegan Shoemaker to give Lehigh's offense the ball right back. Woetzel finished the first half with seven tackles (including three tackles for loss), a sack and interception as the teams went into halftime tied at 7-7.
Lafayette took advantage of an early third-quarter fumble, turning a short field into the go-ahead touchdown. Simpson wrapped up a short 24-yard drive with a three-yard score, to give the Leopards a 14-7 lead with 11:20 on the third-quarter clock.
As the second half progressed, the Mountain Hawks slowly chipped away. Late in the third quarter, Lehigh drove 63 yards on 12 plays. The big play was a 21-yard reception by Devon Bibbens, helping set up Henning for 20-yard field goal to pull the Mountain Hawks within 14-10 with 4:19 left in the third.
Lehigh got the ball again after forcing another punt with 11:19 on the clock, turning it into three more points. Hill began the drive with rushes of 22 and five yards, then Beesmer found freshman Jack Sutton for 31 yards to the Lafayette 14-yard line. Henning capped off the drive with a 33-yard field goal to pull within 14-13 with 8:11 on the clock.
Woetzel made sure the Mountain Hawks would quickly get the ball back as his third-down sack forced a Lafayette punt.
Lehigh again marched downfield, going 45 yards on six plays, the biggest play being a 41-yard reception from Bibbens. Henning converted his third field goal of the half, from 22 yards away, to give the Mountain Hawks their first lead at 16-14 with 3:03 remaining.
"We moved the ball well, we put up some good statistics, however we failed to punch the ball into the end zone on multiple times in the red zone," Gilmore said.
Set up by a 28-yard Jaden Sutton kickoff return, Lafayette answered with its longest drive of the half, going 50 yards on nine plays, as Kordenbrock's28-yard field gave the Leopards the lead back with 47 seconds on the clock. The kick was good enough to earn Kordenbrock game MVP honors.
The Mountain Hawks got past midfield looking for the go-ahead score, but couldn't get any further as Lafayette wrapped up the 17-16 victory.
"If you've watched us play this year, you knew we were going to play until the end," Gilmore said. "The effort and the grit that our team showed every week was amazing. I'm really proud of the character is team showed all season."
Shoemaker finished 16-of-24 for 124 yards with an interception and added 49 rushing yards. Simpson rushed for 41 yards and both Lafayette touchdowns.
Lehigh's season finishes at 4-7, while Lafayette finishes 4-8.
"You look at the beginning of the season and now, the improvements are very noticeable," Gilmore said. "There were so many good things and this really helped build the foundation for the future. It's just a shame the seniors couldn't go out on a positive and a win over Lafayette. From the positive standpoint, you talk about building character and doing things the right way, there are examples of that on our team all throughout."
EXTRA POINTS… Junior Pete Haffner added six tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and half a sack… sophomore Michael Laurencelle added three tackles for loss and a sack… Lehigh finished with 376 yards of offense and had 18 first downs to Lafayette's 16… the Mountain Hawks were 4-for-4 in red zone scores but had to settle for field goals on three occasions… Lafayette snapped Lehigh's four game winning streak in the series… the Leopards now lead the series 79-71-5… Woetzel finishes his Lehigh career with 296 tackles, good for sixth in Lehigh history… eight of Lehigh's 11 games in 2019 were decided by seven points or less… Saturday's attendance was 13,292.
Like Lehigh Football on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
Team Stats
LAFAYETT
LEHIGH
Total Yards
225
376
Pass Yards
124
246
Rushing Yards
101
130
Penalty Yards
35
35
1st Downs
16
18
3rd Downs
6
3
4th Downs
2
0
TOP
33:13
26:47
1st Quarter
LAFAYETT 7, LEHIGH 0
LAFAYETT - Simpson, Selwyn 18 yd run (Kordenbrock, J. kick), 12 plays, 50 yards, TOP 6:14
2nd Quarter
LAFAYETT 7, LEHIGH 7
LEHIGH - Hill, Zaythan 5 yd run (Henning, Austin kick), 10 plays, 68 yards, TOP 5:01
3rd Quarter
LAFAYETT 14, LEHIGH 7
LAFAYETT - Simpson, Selwyn 3 yd run (Kordenbrock, J. kick), 7 plays, 24 yards, TOP 3:34
LAFAYETT 14, LEHIGH 10
LEHIGH - Henning, Austin 20 yd field goal 12 plays, 63 yards, TOP 5:38
4th Quarter
LAFAYETT 14, LEHIGH 13
LEHIGH - Henning, Austin 33 yd field goal 7 plays, 56 yards, TOP 3:08
LAFAYETT 14, LEHIGH 16
LEHIGH - Henning, Austin 22 yd field goal 6 plays, 45 yards, TOP 2:54
LAFAYETT 17, LEHIGH 16
LAFAYETT - Kordenbrock, J. 28 yd field goal 9 plays, 50 yards, TOP 2:07
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
14
TD
0
YDS
246
INT
2
Players Mentioned
RB
/ FootballQB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
WR
/ Football
LB
/ Football
K/P
/ Football
RB
/ Football
DL
/ Football
WR
/ Football
LB
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