Lehigh football drops close game to Cornell, falls to 1-6

Even after recording a season high in rushing yards, Lehigh football fell short against Cornell 19-15 on the road on Oct. 15

Sophomore running back Gaige Garcia led the offense and finished with 162 rushing yards on 25 attempts and a touchdown.

To open the game, the Mountain Hawks marched down the field 68 yards and took a 3-0 lead with a 26-yard field goal. The drive consisted of 17 plays and took over eight minutes. 

The Lehigh defense then stopped Cornell on its first drive and the Mountain Hawks then settled for a 21-yard field goal to bring their lead to 6-0.

On the following drive, Cornell quickly answered with a touchdown and extra point after wide receiver Nicholas Laboy caught a 29-yard pass and Lehigh had a defensive holding call that brought Cornell to the Lehigh 10-yard line. Cornell quarterback Jameson Wang then ran the ball into the endzone for the score to take a 7-6 lead. 

To begin the second quarter, Lehigh junior wide receiver Eric Johnson caught back-to-back catches, which led the Mountain Hawks back into field goal range. 

After a nine play, 73-yard drive, Lehigh missed a 20-yard field goal. 

After forcing a three and out for Cornell, Lehigh’s offense began to drive down the field again but a fumble by junior quarterback Dante Perri gave the ball back to Cornell. 

After the two teams traded field goals, the Mountain Hawk defense forced a fumble, which led to a 13-yard touchdown run from Garcia, bringing Lehigh to halftime leading 15-10. 

At the half, Lehigh had 287 total yards compared to 166 for Cornell. The Mountain Hawk offense also had 5 more first downs. 

In the second half, Lehigh did not score again, led by several mistakes by the offense and missed field goals.

Perri was intercepted by Cornell’s Connor Henderson who scored the only touchdown of the second half, taking the ball 31-yards for the score to give Cornell the lead. 

Cornell missed a two-point conversion but took a 16-15 lead. 

Late in the fourth quarter, Cornell converted another field goal, bringing the score to 19-15. 

With four minutes left and the ball, the Lehigh offense wasn’t able to convert, giving Cornell the win. 

Perri went 19-35 for 184 yards and Johnson and freshman wide receiver Geoffrey Jamiel both had four catches. 

The Mountain Hawks, now 1-6, will look to get back into the win column next Saturday when they take on Bucknell at Goodman Stadium.