Lehigh Gameday blog: Mountain Hawks roll to 49-24 victory

FROM KEITH GROLLER

Chris Lum completed 22 of 34 passes for 346 yards and four touchdowns as No. 13/15 ranked Lehigh opened its season with an impressive 49-24 win over Monmouth on Saturday at Kessler Field in West Long Branch, N.J.

Jake Drwal had eight catches for 117 yards and one touchdown and Ryan Spadola caught six passes for 148 yards and two scores.

Zach Barket added to the offensive extravaganza with 80 yards on 13 carries and two scores.

Lehigh actually trailed 7-0 after Monmouth scored on the game's first possession.

But the Mountain Hawks responded with 21 straight points to take a 21-3 halftime lead.

And then after Monmouth got a field goal to start the second-half scoring, Lehigh answered again with 21 straight points to put the game away.

It was Lehigh's most impressive season-opening victory since a 54-26 win over Monmouth at Goodman Stadium to start the 2005 season.

3:55 p.m.

The game is over. Lehigh wins it 49-24. Offense gets high marks today. The defense wasn't bad after a shaky start. Plenty of cleanup is needed before New Hampshire comes to town, but overall, this is just the way Lehigh wanted to start the season after all of the hype and accolades.

3:50 p.m.

And the scoring continues here at Monmouth. Marcus Dormevil just ripped off a long TD run for Lehigh and the Mountain Hawks re-assert their dominance and up the lead to 49-24. Who had 73 as the over/under number for this game? Not me. My 23-14 prediction in today's paper looks pretty weak.

3:46 p.m.

Monmouth just scored again. It's now 42-24. Final score will be misleading, but I can't imagine Andy Coen is liking how these last few minutes have played out. Mentally, Lehigh got on the bus about 20 minutes ago.

3:37 p.m.

Monmouth converted the Lehigh fumble into its second touchown of the game. The two Lehigh turnovers led to 10 Monmouth points, one of the few blemishes on this balmy day near the beach. It's now 42-17 with 6:03 remaining.

3:33 p.m.

This is a battle of the backup time here at Monmouth, well, at least the Mountain Hawks have cleared the bench. Lehigh just had another turnover, a fumble. But the Mountain Hawks are going to get what they needed -- an impressive season-opening win entering the home opener against New Hampshire, a week from today.

3:18 p.m.

Jake Drwal just made another amazing one-handed catch, this time for a 24-yard touchdown pass and Lehigh now leads 42-10. Lum is having a spectacular day with four TD passes. Spadola and Drwal are now well over 100 yards receiving apeice. For Lehigh fans who love the passing game, happy days are here again!

3:13 p.m.

We're through three quarters here in West Long Branch, NJ. Lehigh leads 35-10 and is knocking on the door again. Very impressive effort by the Lehigh offense and QB Chris Lum (21-for-33 for 322 yards) in particular.

3:09 p.m.

Monmouth had a driving going inside the Lehigh 30, but the Mountain Hawks defense got its first turnover of the season as Billy O'Brien intercepted a Monmouth pass. Lehigh still in control, 35-10, late in the third.

3:03 p.m.

Zach Barket, set for a breakout year, scored his third touchown of the game. This one covering 29 yards, and Lehigh's offense continues to percolate. It's now 35-10, the boys from Bethlehem, with 5:59 left in the third quarter.

2:50 p.m.

As they did in the first half when Monmouth scored on its first possession, Lehigh answered Monmouth's score with a score of its own. Lehigh went 71 yards on four plays, getting the touchdown on a well-thrown Lum pass to Spadola covering 23 yards. Lum also a nice 27-yard run on the drive. Lum is now a very sharp 16 for 25 for 255 yards and three TDs. Spadola has six catches for 148 yards and two TDs.

2:44 p.m.

Monmouth converted the interception into a 29-yard field goal by Eric Spillane. It's now 21-10 lehigh with 10:16 left in the third quarter.

2:38 p.m.

Lehigh's first possession of the second half ends in an interception. Lum was under pressure and should have thrown it away and not into a crowd. Monmouth ball at its own 45, still early in the third.

2:33 p.m.

Key halftime stats: Lehigh has outgained Monmouth 249-145, Chris Lum is 14-for-20 passing for 216 yards. Ryan Spadola has caught five passes for 125 yards. Zach Barket has gained 30 yards on 10 carries. After giving up 72 yards and four first downs on Monmouth's first dirve, Lehigh's defense tightened and the host Hawks managed just 73 yards and four first downs over the rest of the half.

2:30 p.m.

Back from a halftime break. There are no bathrooms within the stadium. You have to go outside the stadium for the Port-A-Johns. At least they allow you to look at other Monmouth athletes as you wait in line. See photo at below right. Monmouth 001

2:12 p.m.

Poor field position and poor offensive execution by Lehigh gave Monmouth one last chance to score in the final minute of the first half. The hosts got the ball at the Lehigh 40 and got to the 30. A 47-yard field goal try on the last play of the half was no good -- your haltime score: Lehigh 21, Monmouth 7.

1:55 p.m.

It was a little too good to be true for Lehigh fans. Lehigh was again in Monmouth territory when a holding penalty, a bad snap in shotgun formation, a delay of game penalty and a couple of incompletions forced Lehigh's first punt of the game. Monmouth ball with about 3:10 left in the half.

1:42 p.m.

After the defense got its first three-and-out stop, the Lehigh offense went back to work with a dandy 9-play, 85-yard drive. And this is what the fans want -- passing, passing and more passing. Jake Drwal's spectacular one-handed catch was good for 21 yards and after Lum overthrew a wide-open Spadola, Lehigh OC Dave Cecchini dialed up a well-executed screen pass that went from Lum to Barket for a 32-yard touchdown. Offense is now 3-for-3 turning possessions into touchowns and Lehigh leads 21-7 with 9:34 left in the half.

1:31 p.m.

Lehigh's defense finally got a stop and on its first play, Lehigh strikes for a big 73-yard TD pass from Lum to Spadola. Those two have picked up where they left off in 2010. It's now 14-7, just 29 seconds into the second quarter.

1:28 p.m.

Fast-moving first quarter is over. Neither defense has yet to make a stop. Monmouth facing a third-and-10 at its 35 as second quarter starts.

1:20 p.m.

Lehigh answered right back on its first possession with a nice-looking TD drive keyed by a 26-yard pass from Chris Lum to Ryan Spadola on third-and-10. Zach Barket, who I think is going to have a big year, had several quality carries and took it the last four yards for the score. Barket carried six times for 19 yards, Lum was 4-for-5 for 45 yards.Offically, it was a 12-play, 64-yard drive. It's now 7-7 with 2:54.

1:10 p.m.

It didn't take long for Monmouth to take the lead. The Hawks went 72 yards on 14 plays for a touchdown on their first down, picking apart the new-look Lehigh secondary for four third-down conversations. A short Pete Nagy TD run has Monmouth up 7-0 with 8:26 left in the first quarter. This one already looks like an uphill battle for Lehigh, which failed miserably in its first true test.

12:49 p.m.

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Here in the press box at Monmouth. Not too bad of a ride here. Took less than 90 minutes from the Lehigh Street exit/entrance of I-78 to the Garden State Parkway exit for Monmouth, but another 30 minutes because of traffic to the stadium. Passed streets filled with fallen tree branches from last weekend's storm.

This has the feel of a high school game. One set of bleachers on the home side only, and then about only half of what they would have at Goodman, Parkland, BASD or Crum Stadium. At least half of the people here are Lehigh people.

If not a high school game, this one takes me back to my days covering Moravian and Muhlenberg.

Hello to Jim Fromhartz, the Monmouth graduate from Northampton. Jim I hope to see the new basketball gym during the postgame interviews.


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