Lehigh batters long-time rival Lafayette on way to FCS playoffs, 37-13

Bethlehem, PA - On a day made for football, Lehigh (10-1,5-0) met Lafayette (4-7,1-4) for the 147th time, and in front of 16,013 fans in the Lehigh Valley, the Mountain Hawks dominated their nearby rival, 37-13.  The Patriot League champs enjoyed a 17-0 halftime lead and raced to a 37-0 lead before the end of Q3 when the second teams and the officials got more involved in the final outcome.  The 147th meeting between the two, the most played rivalry in all of college football, catapults the Mountain Hawks into the FCS playoffs.  Lafayette now leads the series 76-66, but Lehigh has won the last four games.  Collegefootballfan.com looks forward to seeing the sixth-ranked Mountain Hawks participate in a playoff game in two weeks and hopefully beyond!  Hopefully for our purposes, they will play at Towson on Friday night, December 2.

     Late in Q1, Lehigh got on track with a 52-yard burst by Mike Sherman (10 rushes, 92 yards, 1 TD) for the Hawks' first score.  Tim Divers' PAT gave Lehigh the 7-0 lead.

     Divers added three more in the second period from 30 yards for a 10-0 lead for a little more breathing room.  The Leopards tried to get a spark from its offense replacing QB Andrew Shoop with Ryan O'Neil, but that didn't work as they turned the ball over on downs with Lehigh taking over from their own 44.  Lehigh capitalized on a drive culminating in a three-yard swing pass from game MVP Chris Lum (20-35, 235 yards, 1 TD pass, 1 TD run) to FB Zach Hayden on the right side to extend the lead, 17-0.  Before the half ended, Lafayette attempted a FG by Austin O'Brien, but it was no good and that's where the score stood before the halftime festivities.

     Lafayette's pep band performed in maroon and white-striped rugby shirts before Lehigh's Marching 97 performed in brand new brown, gold, and white uniforms.  They seemed to have fun putting on a good show for traditionally the biggest crowd every two years at Goodman Stadium.

     Lehigh opened the second half with a 65-yard scoring drive.  Senior TB Matt Fritz, playing in place of injured Zach Barket who roamed the sideline on crutches, ran the ball in on a sweep left from 16 yards out to dominate, 24-0.  The Leopards' Mark Ross caught a pass on the next series and LB Fred Mihal punched the ball out as he went down.  LB Colin Newton picked it off the turf and ran down the right sideline for a 46-yard TD.  He leapt into the end zone for the final yards with a few LC tacklers grasping for his legs, but Lehigh was called for an unsportsmanlike and 15 yards would be walked off on the subsequent kickoff. Newton was ejected from the game for his second such penalty - an NCAA rule I'd never seen called before.  This was one of many questionable calls by this officiating crew.  Lafayette reaped the benefit of 165 penalty yards due to their generosity as Lehigh held them to 259 yards in total offense.  Lehigh forced another Leopard fumble from O'Neil and DT Sajjad Chagani snagged it out of the air and returned it 14 yards to the  45.  Lum completed a 50-yard pass to WR Ryan Spadola ( 5 catches for 116 yards) to the LC four.  Lum took it over from there for a 37-0 lead with 7:52 remaining in the period.  Lafayette fumbled the ball for a third time in the period, but got it back on an INT.

     With the aid of some questionable officiating, the Leopards garnered two scores in the fourth as Lehigh HC Andy Coen saved his starters for the impending playoffs starting next week.  Not only does Barket look like he's out for the season, but WR Jake Drwal left this game early with what looked like a possible hip pointer.  O'Neil tossed a 16-yard TD pass to TE Brandon Hall, and on a 91-yard TD drive added by questionable calls after third down stops by the Mountain Hawks, RB Alan Elder scored from the one to make the final, 37-13 in favor of Lehigh, before the final whistle.

     Lehigh drew No. 8 Towson of the CAA in the second round on Dec. 2 or 3 at a time TBD leading to the Championship game in Frisco, Texas on the evening of January 7.  Lafayette finished its season 4-7.  It began with a 42-6 loss at North Dakota State who finished slightly higher than Lehigh in the polls.  Collegefootballfan.com heads to Columbia, SC to visit our daughter Alex there for Thanksgiving weekend and to attend the annual rivalry between the USC Gamecocks and the Clemson Tigers.  Both show up with 9-2 records.  It should be a passionate barn-burner.

Extra points: Speaking of "passionate", there was intense jawing and some physical confrontations in the Goodman Stadium parking lot with Lafayette students and Lehigh fans before the game near our taligate.  Who says all the college football intensity is in the south?

LBs Mike Groome and Shane Ryan both had eight tackles for the Hawks.  Lehigh led the nation in total offense coming into this game averaging 483.9 yards per game. Spadola broke the Patriot League single season receiving record of 1,439 held by Javarus Dudley of Fordham by six yards with his 116 this day.  He has at least one more game ahead of him.

Chris Lum seems to be dropping his elbow and a lot of his passes are going high.  Could be the reason for his drop in numbers since the first half of the season when he had seven straight passing games of over 300 yards.  Hopefully, the Lehigh coaching staff can work that out before the next game.

Speaking of passionate fans, our Guest Game analyst and Lehigh grad Charlie Roberts  showed up for the game in a Lafayette-colored hooded sweat shirt.  We'll make sure his wife Laura , a Penn State grad who would know to wear Blue and White to State College, makes sure that she dresses him wearing the right colors in the future.

Another team rated ahead of the Hawks entering the playoffs is Northern Iowa.  Lehigh defeated them in the opening round last year in Iowa, 14-7.  We think LU will be a s competitive as anybody entering post season play.

James Madison, one of four CAA teams in the tourney, plays at Eastern Kentucky.  The winner plays the aforementioned No. 2 North Dakota State.  The Lehigh Towson winner will play the winner of that second round game.  UNI hosts Wofford of the Southern Conference, whose three teams all got first round byes - Georgia Southern and Appalachian State.  Sam Houston State finished at No. 1 and will play the winner of Albany (NY) and Stony Brook.