Saturday, October 30
Bethlehem, Pa.
12:00 PM
Lehigh University
0-8 , 0-3
12
vs
31
Holy Cross
6-2 , 3-0
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Holy Cross
0
14
0
17
31
Lehigh
3
0
9
0
12
Photo by: Hannahally Photography
Lehigh Third-Quarter Comeback Falls Short As Holy Cross Pulls Away Late, 31-12
10/30/2021 5:01:00 PM | Football
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh battled back from a 14-3 halftime deficit to claw within two points of Holy Cross after three quarters, but the two-time defending league champion Crusaders scored 17 fourth quarter points to pull away for a 31-12 win Saturday on Halloweekend at Goodman Stadium presented by Grandpa Joe's Candy Shop.
Holy Cross' Matthew Sluka cashed in on two short fields, with rushing touchdowns to build some cushion for the Crusaders. Lehigh used a pair of takeaways and a blocked punt to stay in the game but a mishandled snap on a punt and an interception in the fourth quarter allowed the visitors to extend their lead.
Junior TyGee Leach led Lehigh defensively with nine tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss while senior Nate Norris added seven stops and recovered a fumble. Sophomore Liam McIntyre finished with four tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble.
"I thought our team played really hard," Lehigh head coach Tom Gilmore said. "Very competitive game. It was 14-12 going into the fourth quarter and then we made some mistakes. We turned the ball over a couple times and gave them a couple short fields and then obviously, turned the game around big-time. I thought our guys battled throughout the game. We're playing really hard, we're making some improvements and we're adjusting to certain things."
Lehigh kicked off to open the game, with McIntyre stripping Justin Shorter and Norris recovering and returning the ball to the Holy Cross 14. The drive stalled but junior Dylan Van Dusen kicked a 24 yard field goal to give the Mountain Hawks the early lead.
The Mountain Hawks defense contained Sluka through the first quarter and a half, but Marco Siderman came off the bench to throw a 36 yard touchdown pass to Jalen Coker, giving the Crusaders a 7-3 lead.
Holy Cross added another score late in the half as the Crusaders put together an 11 play drive, aided by three first downs via penalty. Siderman scored on a one yard run, which gave Holy Cross a 14-3 lead at halftime.
Lehigh picked up two sacks on Holy Cross' first drive of the second half, which helped set the Mountain Hawks up with good field position. Senior RaShawn Allen carried the ball on five straight plays to move the ball inside the Crusader 10. Van Dusen's second field goal of the game brought Lehigh within 14-6 with 6:08 to go in the third.
The ensuing Holy Cross drive ended on an interception by sophomore LaTreil Wimberly, but the Mountain Hawks were unable to capitalize. McIntyre's second sack of the game forced a punt on Holy Cross' next possession and junior Tommy Lewis came through with the block as Lehigh took over on the Holy Cross nine yard line.
On the very next play, sophomore Dante Perri connected with junior Jalen Burbage on a nine yard touchdown pass. Lehigh missed the two point conversion and trailed 14-12 after three quarters.
"Our guys have been playing with a lot of emotion," Gilmore said. "They're preparing better each week and they play really hard. I do think that there is a lot of energy, there's a lot of emotion that our guys are putting out there without a doubt. I don't think you could watch that game and not say that our guys aren't giving great effort and playing with a lot of emotion."
Lehigh's opening drive of the fourth quarter stalled and a mishandled snap on a punt attempt allowed Holy Cross to take over at the Lehigh seven yard line. Sluka scored on the very next play to put Holy Cross up 21-12. The Crusaders added a 50 yard Derek Ng field goal and another touchdown run from Sluka as they improved to 6-2 overall and 3-0 in the league.
Perri completed 18-of-32 passes for 137 yards with one touchdown and one interception for the Mountain Hawks (0-8, 0-3 PL). Burbage was his top target with five catches for 46 yards and a touchdown. Junior Johnny Foley added five catches for 40 yards. Allen was the top rusher with nine carries for 20 yards.
Gallery: (10-30-2021) Football vs. Holy Cross, 10/30/21
Holy Cross held a 233-122 edge in total offense and a 17-12 advantage in first downs.
"We just needed to be more consistent at times and we were really close at other times," Gilmore said. "Overall, I think we're playing really hard in all three phases. We need to be more disciplined. We committed too many penalties today. We've just got to keep fighting this fight because there's definitely a sense in the program that we've turned a corner and we're really close to pulling out some wins here at the end of the season."
The Mountain Hawks will travel to Lewisburg, Pa., next Saturday to face Bucknell. Game time is set for 1 p.m. with broadcast coverage on ESPN+ and Fox Sports Radio 1230/1320 AM and 94.7 FM in Allentown.
EXTRA POINTS… Lehigh finished with seven tackles for loss and four sacks… in addition to McIntyre's two sacks, Leach, Wimberly, senior Pete Haffner and junior Michael Callahan all had half a sack… Haffner returned to action with five tackles after missing Lehigh's last five games due to injury… At plus-one, Lehigh won the turnover battle for the first time since the 2019 Saint Francis game, a span of 20 games… freshman offensive lineman Christian Curatolo and sophomore wide receiver Connor Kennedy made their first career starts.
Like Lehigh Football on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
Holy Cross' Matthew Sluka cashed in on two short fields, with rushing touchdowns to build some cushion for the Crusaders. Lehigh used a pair of takeaways and a blocked punt to stay in the game but a mishandled snap on a punt and an interception in the fourth quarter allowed the visitors to extend their lead.
Junior TyGee Leach led Lehigh defensively with nine tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss while senior Nate Norris added seven stops and recovered a fumble. Sophomore Liam McIntyre finished with four tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble.
"I thought our team played really hard," Lehigh head coach Tom Gilmore said. "Very competitive game. It was 14-12 going into the fourth quarter and then we made some mistakes. We turned the ball over a couple times and gave them a couple short fields and then obviously, turned the game around big-time. I thought our guys battled throughout the game. We're playing really hard, we're making some improvements and we're adjusting to certain things."
Lehigh kicked off to open the game, with McIntyre stripping Justin Shorter and Norris recovering and returning the ball to the Holy Cross 14. The drive stalled but junior Dylan Van Dusen kicked a 24 yard field goal to give the Mountain Hawks the early lead.
The Mountain Hawks defense contained Sluka through the first quarter and a half, but Marco Siderman came off the bench to throw a 36 yard touchdown pass to Jalen Coker, giving the Crusaders a 7-3 lead.
Holy Cross added another score late in the half as the Crusaders put together an 11 play drive, aided by three first downs via penalty. Siderman scored on a one yard run, which gave Holy Cross a 14-3 lead at halftime.
Lehigh picked up two sacks on Holy Cross' first drive of the second half, which helped set the Mountain Hawks up with good field position. Senior RaShawn Allen carried the ball on five straight plays to move the ball inside the Crusader 10. Van Dusen's second field goal of the game brought Lehigh within 14-6 with 6:08 to go in the third.
The ensuing Holy Cross drive ended on an interception by sophomore LaTreil Wimberly, but the Mountain Hawks were unable to capitalize. McIntyre's second sack of the game forced a punt on Holy Cross' next possession and junior Tommy Lewis came through with the block as Lehigh took over on the Holy Cross nine yard line.
On the very next play, sophomore Dante Perri connected with junior Jalen Burbage on a nine yard touchdown pass. Lehigh missed the two point conversion and trailed 14-12 after three quarters.
"Our guys have been playing with a lot of emotion," Gilmore said. "They're preparing better each week and they play really hard. I do think that there is a lot of energy, there's a lot of emotion that our guys are putting out there without a doubt. I don't think you could watch that game and not say that our guys aren't giving great effort and playing with a lot of emotion."
Lehigh's opening drive of the fourth quarter stalled and a mishandled snap on a punt attempt allowed Holy Cross to take over at the Lehigh seven yard line. Sluka scored on the very next play to put Holy Cross up 21-12. The Crusaders added a 50 yard Derek Ng field goal and another touchdown run from Sluka as they improved to 6-2 overall and 3-0 in the league.
Perri completed 18-of-32 passes for 137 yards with one touchdown and one interception for the Mountain Hawks (0-8, 0-3 PL). Burbage was his top target with five catches for 46 yards and a touchdown. Junior Johnny Foley added five catches for 40 yards. Allen was the top rusher with nine carries for 20 yards.
Holy Cross held a 233-122 edge in total offense and a 17-12 advantage in first downs.
"We just needed to be more consistent at times and we were really close at other times," Gilmore said. "Overall, I think we're playing really hard in all three phases. We need to be more disciplined. We committed too many penalties today. We've just got to keep fighting this fight because there's definitely a sense in the program that we've turned a corner and we're really close to pulling out some wins here at the end of the season."
The Mountain Hawks will travel to Lewisburg, Pa., next Saturday to face Bucknell. Game time is set for 1 p.m. with broadcast coverage on ESPN+ and Fox Sports Radio 1230/1320 AM and 94.7 FM in Allentown.
EXTRA POINTS… Lehigh finished with seven tackles for loss and four sacks… in addition to McIntyre's two sacks, Leach, Wimberly, senior Pete Haffner and junior Michael Callahan all had half a sack… Haffner returned to action with five tackles after missing Lehigh's last five games due to injury… At plus-one, Lehigh won the turnover battle for the first time since the 2019 Saint Francis game, a span of 20 games… freshman offensive lineman Christian Curatolo and sophomore wide receiver Connor Kennedy made their first career starts.
Like Lehigh Football on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
Team Stats
HC
LEHIGH
Total Yards
233
122
Pass Yards
155
137
Rushing Yards
78
-15
Penalty Yards
78
97
1st Downs
17
12
3rd Downs
5
4
4th Downs
0
0
TOP
33:51
26:09
1st Quarter
HC 0, LEHIGH 3
LEHIGH - Van Dusen, D. 24 yd field goal 4 plays, 7 yards, TOP 1:59
2nd Quarter
HC 7, LEHIGH 3
HC - Coker, Jalen 36 yd pass from Siderman, Marco (Ng, Derek kick) 2 plays, 50 yards, TOP 0:31
HC 14, LEHIGH 3
HC - Siderman, Marco 1 yd run (Ng, Derek kick), 11 plays, 63 yards, TOP 4:07
3rd Quarter
HC 14, LEHIGH 6
LEHIGH - Van Dusen, D. 26 yd field goal 10 plays, 44 yards, TOP 4:08
HC 14, LEHIGH 12
LEHIGH - Burbage, Jalen 9 yd pass from Perri, Dante (Perri, Dante passfailed) 1 plays, 9 yards, TOP 0:04
4th Quarter
HC 21, LEHIGH 12
HC - Sluka, Matthew 7 yd run (Ng, Derek kick), 1 plays, 7 yards, TOP 0:06
HC 24, LEHIGH 12
HC - Ng, Derek 50 yd field goal 8 plays, 36 yards, TOP 5:03
HC 31, LEHIGH 12
HC - Sluka, Matthew 4 yd run (Ng, Derek kick), 3 plays, 6 yards, TOP 0:53
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
18
TD
1
YDS
137
INT
1
Players Mentioned
RB
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WR
/ Football
DL
/ Football
OL
/ Football
WR
/ Football
LB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
DB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
LB
/ Football
LB
/ FootballQB
/ Football
K/P
/ Football
DB
/ FootballLehigh Sports Central: Football
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