Mayes and Shafnisky split snaps, Hawks win shootout over Holy Cross

Saturday was a tale of two quarterbacks, as freshman Brad Mayes shared snaps with junior Nick Shafnisky, who for the second straight week played and won with an injured hip. The tandem resembled a double-headed monster, which torched the College of the Holy Cross defense, leading the Mountain Hawks to a 51-38 win.

In his second career start, Mayes completed 17-of-21 passes for 239 passing yards and three touchdowns. For the freshman, there was no bigger pass of Saturday’s contest than his first drop-back from scrimmage — a 61-yard dart to senior wide receiver Derek Knott that was taken to the house 17 seconds into the game.

For Mayes, however, that was all part of the game plan.

“It’s actually funny, before the game we were talking in the locker room, and I just looked at D-Knott and I was like, ‘I just have a feeling the wheel is going to be open.’” Mayes said. “Sure enough, we went out there and the safety went with the post, the wheel opened up, and D-Knott did the rest.”

The first snap touchdown led the way to a 41-point first half for Lehigh, an offensive explosion Holy Cross coach Tom Gilmore had no answer for, despite his familiarity with brown and white football. Gilmore, who has served as the head coach for the Crusaders since 2004, was the Hawks’ defensive coordinator from 2000-2003.

With Mayes carving the purple and white’s defensive from the pocket, Shafnisky added 35 yards on a pair of scores and six rushes. For Lehigh coach Andy Coen, the offensive start was made possible by the stellar defensive from his club, despite all-league junior linebacker Colton Caslow sidelined due to illness.

The Hawks were able to harass Holy Cross junior quarterback Peter Pujals Saturday afternoon, picking him off twice.

“(We) put a lot of pressure on the quarterback — surprised we didn’t sack him more,” Coen said. “I think we sacked him four or five times. (We) really chased him around the yard most of the day there.”

On the other end of the Pujals interceptions was sophomore cornerback Quentin Jones — both times. Jones believes there is one element of Lehigh’s defensive-eleven that has changed dramatically in just one season.

“From last year to this year, our defense has definitely played with a lot more confidence, and the plays we made this year, we didn’t make those last year,” Jones said. “That’s the difference.”

Underclassmen Mayes and Jones were joined by another newcomer on the highlight reel for Lehigh on Saturday, as freshman running back Dom Bragalone continued his stellar rookie season. Despite losing a fumble, Bragalone added a touchdown and 116 yards on just 22 carries.

With the win, Lehigh’s hopes for a share of the Patriot League title remain alive. Tied with Fordham University in the conference standings, Lehigh has two more games left in the regular season to the Rams’ one.

Lehigh will travel to Hamilton, New York, to face Colgate University next weekend — the same team that handed the Rams their only league loss — before returning to host Lafayette College in its final regular season game. Fordham will travel to Washington, D.C. for a matchup with Georgetown University next Saturday.

Despite controlling their own fate, there are many questions surrounding the Hawks going into the tail end of the season, most of which are concerned with that formidable two-headed monster.

For Coen, a week of evaluation on his two-year starter Shafnisky will be pivotal in deciding who gets the nod for next week’s game at Colgate. Among the options are either starting Mayes, or they could continue with the double-trouble attack of both QBs.

The daunting decision is one Coen is happy to have, however, despite not eluding to who’s number he will ultimately call upon.

“It’s a great situation to be in,” Coen said. “A lot of guys don’t have one quarterback that they can win with, and we definitely have two that we can win with. We’re just going to continue to work with both these guys.”