Lehigh bends but doesn't break against Princeton, 35-22;

Wojdowki's 14 points in the fourth finish off Tigers

Bethlehem, PA - The Lehigh Mountain Hawks defense (2-1) forced Princeton (0-1) to settle for five FGs in a well played game at Goodman Stadium at Collegefootballfan.com's Big Tailgate of 2010 to defeat Princeton in their season opener under new Head Coach Bob Surace, 35-22.  CB Jarard Cribbs thwarted two Tiger drives with interceptions while MLB Mike Groome,  a graduate of local Lenape Valley (NJ) HS, played a solid game on defense making 11 tackles. Princeton out-gained the Mountain Hawks in total offense, 528- 327, but the LU defense stiffened up whenever the Tigers neared the goal line.

      Lehigh took a 20-19 lead into the fourth period and extended the lead on an 18-yard  halfback option pass from Jay Campbell to TE Alex Wojdowski (4 catches for 79 yards, 2 TDs) for a touchdown.  The toss was an end-over-end, perpendicular spiral which was probably the worst pass we've ever seen thrown, but it put six on the board for the Hawks.  Princeton countered with Pat Jacobs' fifth FG of the day from 43 yards away to close it down, 27-22, with just over eight minutes left.  A ball well overthrown by PU's Tommy Wornham was intercepted by Cribbs for his second of the game at his own 30.  With 2:26 left, Michael Colvin, subbing for injured QB Chris Lum, threw his first career TD to Wojdowski from the 12, and a two-point conversion by the same two completed the scoring on the day. 35-22.  Princeton drove all the way to the Lehigh nine on its next possession, but the drive stalled on a fourth and six there when a strong blitz by DE Cody Connare forced an incompletion to seal Lehigh's second victory of the season.  It was a great game on a beautiful fall Saturday for the second week in a row in the Lehigh Valley, and our Big Tailgate Party was a great success as we tailgated with parents and friends of the Mountain Hawk football team. 

     Lehigh opened the scoring in the first period when QB Chris Lum took it over from the one and Jake Peery converted for a 7-0 lead.  Deep in their own territory, Lehigh fumbled and Tiger DE Mike Capatano recovered on the Lehigh 14,  but Lehigh's defense held PU to seven yards.  Patrick Jacob booted a 24-yard FG to make the score, 7-3.

    With 8:47 left in the second period, the Tigers found their only way into the end zone as Wornham (32 for 51, 392 yards, 2 INTs, 1 TD) connected with Trey Peacock on an 80-yard TD pass as a Lehigh defender seemed to hesitate to go for the ball allowing Peacock to make an easy catch and long run.  The Tigers led, 10-7.  Courtney Jarvis returned the ensuing kickoff 33 yards to the 42.  Michael Colvin replaced an ailing Chris Lum at QB and completed a 28 yard pass to Wojdowski to get to the 30.  The Hawks drove to the one where Frosh FB Sean Farrell scored his first TD for Lehigh to re-take the lead, 14-10.  Jacobs misfired on a 35-yard FG on Princeton's next offensive series, but they got the ball back on CB Blake Clemons INT to start  at the Princeton 47 with 1:20 left in the half. With no time left in the second period, Jacobs put up a 24-yard FG to trail at halftime, 14-13. 

     As Lehigh's Marching 97 entertained ( I thought it was "99") at the half, many of our tailgaters sought the shade near the concession stands of beautiful Goodman Stadium.  The day was bright, beautiful, and hot in the sun.  Lehigh introduced former players representing all the Patriot League championship teams since the formation of the league during the halftime ceremony.  6,344 fans were on hand of which our Big Tailgate Party contributed  27.  For groups of 20 or more, tickets cost only $5 each.  It's cheaper than taking that many people to a movie!  Parking at Lehigh is free as well.  Most of us came to watch MLB Mike Groome of Lehigh play as he had a great HS career at Lenape Valley Regional (NJ) HS where most of us had seen him play.  He put on a great performance with 11 tackles on defense and on kickoff teams.  Next year, we hope to promote another Big Tailgate party to see Mike play when the Lenape Valley Patriots play on a Friday night so we can all trek to Bethlehem on a Saturday to see him play again during his senior season.  We look forward to it already

     Princeton started its first drive of the second half after a Lehigh punt at  Lehigh's  44.  Once again, the Tigers could only get into FG range, and Jacobs kick gave them a 16-14 lead on a 35-yard FG.  LU countered immediately on the next drive with Peery's 31-yard FG to go up, 17-16.  Jarard Cribbs picked off a Wornham pass on the next series and returned it 27 yards to the PU 15.  Colvin and company could only drive far enough to get another FG from Peery whose 25-yarder extended the Hawks' lead, 20-16.  A 41- yard pass to Peacock (8 catches, 196 yards, 1 TD) put Princeton at the Lehigh 40 to threaten once again, but the Hawk defense tightened deep in their territory to force  Jacobs to launch a 39-yard FG to close the gap to 20-19 to go into the final period.  The two TD passes in the fourth gave Lehigh a 33-22 lead with 2:56 left and the two-point conversion finalized the score.

   Lehigh travels to play at tough New Hampshire (1-2) next weekend who lost to FBS Pitt and suffered a 28-25 upset to Rhode Island on Saturday. Princeton hosts Lafayette who fell to Penn Saturday night, 19-14.  Of course, we will see Lehigh play at Lafayette on November 20 to wrap up the FCS schedule for us before the play-offs.  We had hoped to see the Tigers host the Leopards next Saturday at 6 pm, but the start time for North Carolina at Rutgers was announced yesterday to kick off at 3:30 pm.

Extra points: Princeton All-American LB Steven Cody left the field in the fourth with his leg in an aircast on a cart before being transferred to an ambulance.  It didn't look good for Cody who had 12 tackles against Lehigh.  The extent of his injury is not known yet.

In addition to his TD catch, Campbell carried 21 times for 79 yards to lead all rushers on the day.  Colvin finished 10 of 14 with an INT and a TD for 128 yards.  The Tigers Andrew Kerr had 11 receptions for 125 yards.

This was the 54th time these two teams met - first  that CFF.com attended.  PU leads 39-12-2. Lehigh's win over Princeton was its first since 2002 after losing in 2006 and 2009.  The win ended a 7-game losing streak for the Hawks against Ivy League competition.

We may have a new plan to avoid the anticipated parking complications we reported previously for the game at Lafayette.  Stay tuned.