Lehigh finds a way to beat Lafayette, 20-13 in 146th meeting

FROM KEITH GROLLER

If you just looked at the stat sheet from Saturday's Lehigh-Lafayette game at Fisher Stadium, you probably figured the Leopards were the winners.

Lafayette led in first downs, 22-15; rushing yards, 60-58; passing yards 223-214; time of possession 34:07 to 25:53, and in virtually everything else.

But Lehigh won the only place it mattered, on the scoreboard.

The Mountain Hawks won their seventh straight game, improved to 9-2 overall, and completed a perfect 5-0 Patriot League season with a hard-fought 20-13 win before 13,982 fans in Easton.

As has been the case several times recently, Lehigh quarterback Chris Lum overcame a couple of interceptions to throw a pair of touchdown passes to wrap up impressive drives.

He hit Ryan Spadola for a 16-yard TD toss midway through the second quarter to cap a 16-play, 92-yard drive and found Alex Wojdowski for a 14-yard TD with 2:49 left in the third quarter to end a 10-play, 98-yard march.

However, the biggest play for Lehigh was a blocked punt by Shane Ryan that Jon Littlejohn ran in from five yards out for a touchdown early in the third quarter. It turned a 10-7 halftime deficit into a 13-10 lead for Lehigh.

Lafayette scored 10 points in the final minute of the first half, getting a 10-yard TD pass from Ryan O'Neil to Mark Layton and, after Lum was intercepted, a 50-yard field goal by Davis Rodriguez on the final play of the half.

But the blocked punt to start the second half stalled the Lafayette momentum.

"Obviously, I am elated that we found a way to win," said Lehigh coach Andy Coen. "It wasn't pretty at all on offense today except for one or two drives. The defensive kids did a great job, considering they were on the field a whole lot.

"We just found a way to come up with the stops that we needed to get the win. You had to be out of your mind to think this game would be any different. You knew it would be competitive. We expected to get Lafayette's best, and defensively they did a great job against us. They moved it on offense, too, but we got the stops when we needed them."

Lehigh won its third straight over Lafayette and is headed to the FCS playoffs next weekend.The Mountain Hawks, in the playoffs for the first time since 2001, will find out their opponent at 10 a.m. Sunday on ESPNU.

Lafayette, meanwhile, closed out a 2-9 season.

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/