next game:
at Lafayette
11/19/2022 | 12:30 PM
SEN, ESPN+
Fox Sports Radio 94.7 FM and 1230 AM
Nov 19 (Sat) / 12:30 PM
Lafayette
History
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – In a wild, back-and-forth fourth quarter that saw the lead change three times, junior Dante Perri connected with classmate Eric Johnson on an 11-yard touchdown pass with 22 seconds remaining to lead Lehigh to a 36-33 win over Colgate Saturday on Salute to Service Day at Goodman Stadium, presented by Weis Markets.
Lehigh climbed out of an early 14-0 hole and a 12-point third quarter deficit to take a 29-26 lead on a 17-yard touchdown run by junior Jack DiPietro with 3:58 to play; but Colgate answered with a go-ahead one-yard run by quarterback Michael Brescia to go in front 33-29 with 1:15 to play.
Perri engineered a five-play, 73-yard drive culminating in his second touchdown pass and fourth overall touchdown of the day, to give the Mountain Hawks the lead for good. Senior linebacker Nate Norris then clinched the win with a diving interception of Brescia with four seconds remaining.
TOUCHDOWN LEHIGH!! Johnson catches his second TD of the game to regain the lead for Lehigh, 36-33, with just 22 seconds remaining!
💻: https://t.co/iSPaF3PuqG#GoLehigh #beGREAT pic.twitter.com/fu6LzXjA72
— Lehigh Football (@LehighFootball) November 12, 2022
The Lehigh offense enjoyed its best day of the season, gaining 480 yards. Perri enjoyed a stellar day, completing 25-of-33 for 424 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for two scores in the first half. Johnson also enjoyed a career day, hauling in 11 receptions for 208 yards and the game-winning touchdown. Senior Jalen Burbage also eclipsed the 100-yard mark with eight catches for 107 yards and a score.
The victory snaps Lehigh’s seven-game slide and improves the Mountain Hawks to 2-8 overall and 2-3 in the Patriot League. Colgate falls to 3-7 overall and 2-3 in the league.
“This was a great win,” Lehigh head coach Tom Gilmore said. “I’m really proud of our guys and the resilience they’ve shown not only in this game but all season long. We felt like we were getting better but we weren’t playing as consistently as we wanted to and we came out today , we didn’t play a perfect game but we made a lot of plays across the board and we competed really hard until the end.The resilience at the end was great to see.
“Any time you give up a late score like that and then just turn around and go right down the field it really says a lot about your toughness, your resilience, about your competitive spirit and I couldn’t be more proud of the players for that,” Gilmore continued. It was awesome to see. Nate grabbing the interception at the end to seal the deal so all of those things just really contributed to an awesome afternoon.”
The Raider passing game staked them to a 14-0 first-quarter lead as Brescia went 5-for-5 on the opening drive, setting up a Brendan Cassamajor two-yard run. Brescia then tossed a 51-yard scoring pass to Treyvhon Saunders on Colgate’s second drive of the game to put the Raiders up two scores.
A 43-yard completion to Johnson and a 27-yard pass to senior Alex Snyder set up a one-yard score by Perri on a quarterback sneak to bring Lehigh within 14-7 after one quarter.
Perri capped an 11-play, 75-yard drive with his second one-yard touchdown rush, sandwiched around a pair of Spencer Biscoe field goals as Colgate led 20-14 at halftime.
Brescia opened the third quarterback scoring with a three-yard touchdown pass to Garrett Oakey, with the failed two point conversion putting the Raiders up 26-14.
Lehigh answered the Colgate score with an impressive nine-play, 75-yard drive. Perri found Burbage who made a spectacular catch in the back corner of the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown to bring Lehigh within 26-21.
TOUCH DOWN BURBAGE! Jalen Burbage brings Lehigh within five points with an 18-yard completion! It’s 26-21 Colgate with five minutes to play.
💻: https://t.co/iSPaF3PuqG#GoLehigh #beGREAT pic.twitter.com/G3iFdyMpUQ
— Lehigh Football (@LehighFootball) November 12, 2022
Midway through the final quarter, Perri connected with first-year Geoffrey Jamiel, Burbage and then Johnson to move the ball into Raider territory. DiPietro then ran around the right side for his first touchdown of the season to put the Mountain Hawks in front.
Aided by a good kickoff return, Colgate needed to go just 45 yards to reclaim the lead as Brescia scored on a one-yard keeper to put Colgate up 33-29 with 1:15 to play.
Lehigh needed just five plays in the game-winning drive, all Perri completions. He connected with Burbage twice and hit Jamiel and Johnson for 19 yards apiece to move the ball to the Colgate 11. Perri then lofted a fade pass into the right side of the end zone, that Johnson wrestled away from the defensive back for the winning score .
“We just kept trusting the process,” Perri said. “We talked about that a couple weeks ago, just trusting what we’re doing and eventually we’re going to come into our own and I think we saw that today. We didn’t really change who we were. Guys were making plays all over the place and that’s what we can be if we just keeping trusting the process and keeping rolling with it.”
“It was a funny feeling. I had that feeling. I think the whole sideline had that feeling,” Gilmore added. “There was just this energy, this confidence that we were going to get it done and there just was no doubt. It was really neat and it started right away. It was our players trusting the calls and Dante just taking what was there. It was really neat to see and I think they competed so hard during the game they weren’t going to let it get away from them.”
Colgate tried to move into field goal range in the final seconds but Norris picked off Brescia at the Lehigh 34, allowing Lehigh to run out the final four seconds.
Won a thriller to close out the home schedule!#GoLehigh #beGREAT pic.twitter.com/ldLj6PcRuI
— Lehigh Football (@LehighFootball) November 12, 2022
Norris and junior Mike DeNucci tied for game-high honors with 14 tackles. They both had 1.5 tackles for loss and combined on a sack in the second half.
Brescia was 23-of-32-1 for 330 yards and two touchdowns and added 44 rushing yards and a score.
Lehigh finished with 56 rushing yards, thanks in part to three Colgate sacks, while the Mountain Hawk defense limited Colgate to 114 yards on the ground and just 2.8 yards per carry.
The Mountain Hawks will close out the 2022 season next Saturday when they travel to Lafayette for the 158th meeting of college football’s most-played rivalry. Game time is set for 12:30 pm from Fisher Stadium in Easton, Pa. The game will be televised on Service Electric Network and streamed on ESPN+ with audio coverage on Fox Sports Radio 94.7 FM and 1230 AM beginning at 11:30 am
EXTRA POINTS… Perri delivered the first 400-yard passing game by a Lehigh quarterback since Brad Mayes threw for 444 against Penn in 2017… Johnson had the first 200-yard receiving game since Jorge Portorreal had 216 yards against Bucknell in 2018… Lehigh’s 480 yards of Offense were a season-high… After being held without a sack last week, Lehigh had two Saturday, with Trevor Harris recording one and DeNucci and Norris sharing the other… Lehigh is now 15-5 in its last 20 games the week prior to playing Lafayette and 3-3 during that span when the opponent is Colgate… Lehigh had several special recognitions during Saturday’s game… the late head coach Andy Coen was recognized with a pregame video tribute and moment of silence… Lehigh also welcomed back its 2016 and 2017 Patriot League champion football teams and honored its 2022 Patriot League champion softball team.
Like Lehigh Football on Facebook and follow on Twitter other Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
Comments are closed.