Saturday, September 10
Villanova, Pa.
6:00 PM
Lehigh University
0-2
21
at
26
Villanova
1-1
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Lehigh
0
14
0
7
21
Villanova
6
0
14
6
26
No. 22/19 Villanova uses second-half rally to top Lehigh 26-21
9/10/2016 9:57:00 PM | Football
VILLANOVA, Pa. – In a back-and-forth affair, No. 22/19 Villanova came-from-behind twice to take a lead and then held off Lehigh's late bid at a game-winning drive as the Wildcats handed the Mountain Hawks their second straight defeat, 26-21 Saturday night at Villanova Stadium.
The Mountain Hawks (0-2) used a strong second quarter to take a 14-6 lead into halftime but the Wildcats (1-1) outscored Lehigh 20-7 in over the second 30 minutes.
Villanova out-gained Lehigh 452-364 on the evening, racking up 396 rushing yards, including 239 in the second half.
Junior Troy Pelletier led Lehigh offensively with 13 receptions for 121 yards. Senior Nick Shafnisky completed 29-of-41 passes for 246 yards with one touchdown and one interception. His 11-yard strike to senior Derek Knott gave Lehigh a 21-20 lead with 8:03 to play, but Villanova answered with an eight-play, 83-yard drive culminating in a Javon White two-yard touchdown run on 4th-and-1 for the go-ahead score.
"We entered this game as a team with one goal in mind, to become a better football team this week than we were a week ago," Lehigh head coach Andy Coen said. "I think my guys really took to that message and they really did perform against a very good opponent. I was pleased with that.
"We had some momentum going into that last drive," Coen continued. "I thought our kids executed the two-minute drive very, very well. It's something we practice quite often. Our guys are dialed in with that and I thought they performed that very well. It's a game of inches. I just told these two guys walking across the field here, it really is a game of inches. We were this close to beating a very good football team. There's a lot we can do to keep getting better. I'm proud of the way our guys came out and competed."
Lehigh's defense benefitted from several Villanova miscues in the first quarter, with the Wildcats negating two big plays due to penalties, while also missing a field goal.
The Wildcats took the lead late in the first quarter on a three-yard run by White but Gerard Smith missed the extra point as the Mountain Hawks trailed 6-0 after one period.
Lehigh answered with an impressive nine-play, 74-yard drive taking the lead on a one-yard run by sophomore Dominick Bragalone.
The Mountain Hawks' defense followed with an impressive stop as junior Quentin Jones tackled White for no gain on 4th-and-1. A Villanova penalty gave Lehigh the ball in Wildcat territory but Lehigh's drive was thwarted when Shafnisky was picked off by Rasaan Stewart. Lehigh's defense responded with a three-and-out and after getting the ball back, Shafnisky engineered a seven-play, 63-yard drive, hitting Pelletier for 25 yards on 3rd-and-9 before scoring on a six-yard run on the very next play to put the Mountain Hawks up 14-6.
"I thought we were outstanding in the first half," Coen said. "I thought we were controlling the line of scrimmage. I thought our defense was doing a real nice job against an explosive offense. I think 'Nova helped us with some penalties in the first half, which kept some drives alive for us."
Lehigh opened the second half with a strong drive but came away empty as sophomore Ed Mish missed a 40-yard field goal wide left. Villanova answered with two straight scoring drives, tying the game on an Aaron Forbes 20-yard run and subsequent two point conversion by Zach Bednarczyk, and then taking the lead on a one-yard run by backup quarterback Adeyemi Da Silva. Junior Tyler Cavenas blocked the extra point to keep the Wildcats up by just six.
Early in the fourth quarter, Shafnisky led Lehigh on a 10-play, 75-yard drive capped by the tying touchdown pass to Knott. Mish's extra point put Lehigh up 21-20 with 8:03 remaining. Villanova answered with a strong drive of its own and facing 4th-and-1 from the two yard line, White plunged in for his second touchdown of the game.
Lehigh received the kickoff and began to move the ball and worked itself out of a 2nd-and-24 hole after a bad snap, but facing 4th-and-10 from the Villanova 31, Pelletier was stopped a yard and a half short of the marker on his 13th reception of the game.
"It's a process each week to get better every day," Coen said. "I have no doubt that we got better this week than we did a week ago. It was a top 25 team here, nationally-ranked team. That's where we want this program to be. In order for us to do that, we need to not only schedule these guys, but we also need to beat these guys. We had a real good chance to beat this team and we didn't finish that job. I'm not taking anything away from Villanova. We had our chances, but we didn't finish the job. As we continue our process and go into week three, we need to start finishing things so we can keep getting better."
Knott was Lehigh's second leading receiver with seven catches for 68 yards. Bragalone led Lehigh on the ground with 90 yards on 17 carries.
White led Villanova with 155 yards on 23 carries, while Bednarczyk ran for 92 and completed 6-of-13 passes for 56 yards.
Senior captain Colton Caslow led Lehigh's defensive effort with 10 tackles in his first game of the season, while senior Pierce Ripanti added nine and senior Evan Harvey added eight with two tackles for loss.
The Mountain Hawks will return to action next Saturday when they travel to Philadelphia to face the Penn Quakers. Game time is set for 5 p.m. from historic Franklin Field. The game will be broadcast on ESPN Radio of the Lehigh Valley (1230/1320/1160 AM) as well as ESPNLV.com.
EXTRA POINTS… Temperature at kickoff was near 90 degrees and with high humidity it felt like 95 on the field… Lehigh falls to 0-2 for the second time in three seasons but just the third time in 10-plus years under Andy Coen… junior Harrison Johnson and sophomore Julian Lynn combined for Lehigh's lone sack… Villanova has won five straight games in the series and now leads the all-time series 8-5… first downs and time of possession favored Lehigh slightly (24-23 and 30:26-29:34)… Saturday's attendance for Villanova's home opener was 6,419.
Team Stats
LEHIGH
VU
Total Yards
364
452
Pass Yards
246
56
Rushing Yards
118
396
Penalty Yards
40
75
1st Downs
24
23
3rd Downs
5
2
4th Downs
1
1
TOP
30:26
29:34
1st Quarter
LEHIGH 0, VU 6
VU - White, J. 3 yd run (Smith, G. kickfailed), 6 plays, 80 yards, TOP 3:04
2nd Quarter
LEHIGH 7, VU 6
LEHIGH - Bragalone, Dom 1 yd run (Mish, Ed kick), 9 plays, 74 yards, TOP 3:53
LEHIGH 14, VU 6
LEHIGH - Shafnisky, Nick 6 yd run (Mish, Ed kick), 7 plays, 63 yards, TOP 2:28
3rd Quarter
LEHIGH 14, VU 14
VU - Forbes, A. 20 yd run (Bednarczyk, Z. rush), 7 plays, 77 yards, TOP 3:10
LEHIGH 14, VU 20
VU - DaSilva, A. 1 yd run (Weyler, S. kickblocked), 5 plays, 78 yards, TOP 1:51
4th Quarter
LEHIGH 21, VU 20
LEHIGH - Knott, Derek 11 yd pass from Shafnisky, Nick (Mish, Ed kick) 10 plays, 75 yards, TOP 4:31
LEHIGH 21, VU 26
VU - White, J. 2 yd run (Bednarczyk, Z. rushfailed), 8 plays, 83 yards, TOP 3:38
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
29
TD
1
YDS
246
INT
1
Players Mentioned
RB
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DB
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WR
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