It has been 322 days since the Lehigh football team experienced a victory.
That drought is over.
Behind the rushing attack of juniors Dom Bragalone and Micco Brisker, the Mountain Hawks defeated Colgate University 41-38 on Saturday afternoon to pick up their first win of the season in their Patriot League opener.
With just under four minutes left and Lehigh (1-5, 1-0 Patriot) trailing Colgate 38-35, junior quarterback Brad Mayes connected with senior wide receiver Troy Pelletier for a 35-yard touchdown to put the Mountain Hawks ahead 41-38.
It was then up to Lehigh defense to close the game out. The Mountain Hawk defense struggled against Colgate as it has all season, allowing over 500 yards of offense once again. The Raiders found themselves deep within Lehigh territory with the clock ticking under two minutes but Mountain Hawk defense came up with the big play when they needed it most.
Junior linebacker Mark Walker recovered a Colgate fumble on the Lehigh 30-yard line and the Mountain Hawks were able to ice the game after picking up a first down on the ensuing possession.
Bragalone ran for a season-high 186 rushing yards on 25 carriers to go along with a rushing touchdown. Brisker added a career-high three rushing touchdowns on seven carriers. Pelletier tallied 132 yards on eight receptions including the game-winning score.
The Lehigh defense held Colgate to 10 second-half points after surrendering 28 in the first half. Sophomore linebacker Keith Woetzel led the way with a game-high 13 tackles including one for a loss.
After an 0-5 start in non-conference play, Lehigh will look to move to 2-0 in Patriot League competition when the Mountain Hawks host Georgetown University next Saturday at Goodman Stadium.
6 Comments
Great effort helped by some questionable penalty calls. Go Engi Neers i.e. Mountain Hawks.
I have heard that as of last weekend 9/28/17 that none of the officials from this game got called on the officiate. But I am unable to find any news about it.
Error on the date it should be 10/28/17 not 9/28/17 sorry.
I did not see this game but I heard about it at a game on 11/11. Apparently, one of the Lehigh-Colgate game officials was suspended two games for his “phantom” penalties and missed calls. It’s disappointing and disheartening that such flagrant actions don’t warrant more than two weekends off. I agree with Dave’s post – it should have been in the news.
“Lehigh will shine tonight, Lehigh will shine”! Thanks for the win team, we knew you could do it. Our prayers & cheers are always there for you as we sit in our 50 yd. line seats these many years. Go Lehigh, Go Engineers oh Mountain Hawks! George Kantra’58
The only reason Lehigh won this game was due to the worst officiating I have ever witnessed in any sport. The officials absolutely ignored 2 pass interference calls against Lehigh and called back 3 touchdowns against colgate 2 of which were for imagined penalties. The final nail in the coffin for colgate was not a y great play by Lehigh it was a penalty for celebration after colgate got a first down. There was no celebration other than the receiver signaling for first down which Lehigh had done several times in the game. Also the way that penalty flag was thrown by the official was almost a direct fu to colgate players and fans. The entire officiating team should be suspended by the NCAA several penalties were never even reported to the crowd including the 2nd of the 3 touchdowns the officials called back.
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