South Mountaineer Volume 26, Issue 04

              Vol. 26 — No. 4
OCTOBER 4, 1983
BETHLEHEM, PA.
LU Gridders Down Delaware
For 5th Time In Seven Games
(B&W Photo by SAL MARINELLO)
LEHIGH'S Rennie Benn makes one of his 11 catches—three of them
for touchdowns—at Delaware. He has 32 receptions in four games.
Game At A Glance
LEHIGH 12 0 6 6—24
Delaware 0 6 7 6—19
L—Benn 13 pass from Horn.
Kick missed.
L—Benn 36 pass from Horn.
Pass failed.
D—Cason 15 pass from Webster. Pass failed.
D—Merklinger 13 run. Gas-
son kick.
L—Benn 38 pass from Horn.
Pass failed.
L—Talmadge 37 interception
return. Kick blocked.
D—Hammond 18 pass from
Webster. Pass failed.
Attendance: 18,000
Leh Del
First downs 16   16
Net yds. rushing 39   65
Net yds. passing 282 307
Total yards 321 372
Passes attempted 35   40
Passes completed 18   19
Had intercepted 1     4
Punts 12   11
Avg. distance 27   35
Fumbles 5    4
Fumbles lost 2     3
Penalties 7   10
Yds. penalized 67 101
OFFENSIVE LEADERS
Rushing             att net avg td
Tamburo.L 11   29   2.6 0
LaSelva,L 14   27   1.9 0
Cason.D 11   26   2.3 0
Schreck.L 12   21   1.7 0
Merklinger.D 4   20   5.0 1
Passing att com int yds td
Webster,D ... .40 19 4 307 2
Horn.L 35   18   1 282   3
Receiving                 cgt yds td
Benn.L  11 188 3
Pontiakos.D  6 109 0
Hammond,D 5   96 1
Davidson.L 2   47 0
Darienzo.D  2   32 0
Merklinger,D 2   30 0
Cason,D  2   20 1
Sager.D 2   20 0
LEHIGH PLAYERS
DEFENSE: Outside linebackers—
Serratelli, Theuerkauf, Zimardo,
E.Williams. Tackles—Kasbar, Zlock,
DeVenezia. Middle guards—Walton,
Tylutki. Inside linebackers—Shigo,
Santangelo, Blewitt, Ellow. Corner
backs—Talmadge, Mecca, Thomas,
Bellantoni, Isla. Safetymen—Gum,
O'Hagan, Ragimierski, Cichocki.
OFFENSE: Split ends—Benn,
Mullen. Tight ends—Hunt, Jeffries,
Svanda. Tackles—J.Thompson, Bollinger, Hallick, Exarchakis. Guards—
L.Williams, Bear, Murphy. Centers—
Whitehead, Snyder. Quarterbacks-
Horn, Semler. Fullbacks—Tamburo,
Cirucci. Tailbacks—Schreck, LaSelva.
Wingbacks—Hunsberger, Davidson.
Placekickers—Scott, Melick.
Hall Honored
Senior striker Jeff Hall,
of Naperville, IL, scored
all three Lehigh goals Saturday as the Engineer
soccer team outlasted
Delaware in overtime, 3-
2. He was selected by the
East Coast Conference as
its player-of-the-week in
recognition of his hat trick
performance.
Hall leads the Engineers (3-3) in seasonal
scoring with five goals
and an assist for six
points.
Engineer Aerials, Solid Def ense
Bring 24-19 Edge Before 18, OOO
An outstanding aerial attack, featuring quarterback Marty Horn and split end Rennie Benn,
and a dynamite defense paced by linebacker John Shigo, tackle Wayne Kasbar, middle guard
Wes Walton, and corner back Blair Talmadge, led the way last Saturday as Lehigh's football
team won 24-19 over Delaware before 18,000 fans at Newark.
It was the Engineers' fifth triumph over the frustrated Blue Hens in the last seven meetings
and it came during another of the explosive, gut-wrenching private wars these teams always
seem to produce. No one leaves the stadium early when Lehigh and Delaware are out there.
Horn and Benn, the Engineers' latest pitch-and-catch
dynamic duo, provided almost
all of the offense. The ex-
teammates from Short Hills,
NJ, and Millburn High School,
stunned the Delaware rooters
as other Lehigh quarterbacks
and receivers have done repeatedly in recent years.
Horn, coming off a battering
at Navy which sidelined him for
more than half the game, completed 18 of 35 passes for 282
yards and three touchdowns
with only one interception. Benn
made 11 catches, a Delaware
Stadium record for one game,
for 188 yards and all three of the
TDs, the scores coming on pickups of 13, 36 and 38 yards.
Shigo, Lehigh's All-American
linebacker, was credited with 24
tackles including 10 unassisted,
three of them for losses, and
causing one fumble. The Bethlehem, PA, senior was the hub of a
defense which held the Delaware vaunted running game to a
net of only 65 yards.
Kasbar, of Summit, NJ, had
eight tackles and Walton, of
Closter, NJ, seven. Each threw
runners for losses twice. Talmadge, of Philadelphia, PA,
returned an interception 37
yards for what proved to be the
winning touchdown, had
another interception at the goal
line to nail down the victory with
only 11 seconds left to play, had
five open-field tackles including
one for a loss, and caused a
fumble.
Another key man in the triumph was punter Mike O'Hagan of Hawthorne, NJ, whose
kicking kept the Hens in a hole
much of the afternoon. Lehigh
was able to play position football and O'Hagan punted most
of the time from midfield when
accuracy counted more than
distance.
Delaware won the toss at the
start of the game and elected to
receive, which was the Hens'
first error. The receiver, hit
hard by a crowd of onrushing
Engineers, coughed up the ball
and Scott Theuerkauf, of Dem-
arest, NJ, recovered for Lehigh
at the 25-yard line. Horn had a
TD in just two plays and 33
seconds, firing 12 yards to Benn
and then 13 more to the same
receiver in the end zone.
Late in the period, after being
set back on a penalty, Horn
arched a pass 36 yards over a
defender with Benn making
another grab for a score and it
was 12-0.
Near the end of the first half a
blocked punt gave the Hens a
chance from the Lehigh 17 and
three plays later a 15-yard pass
cut the Engineer lead in half,
12-6. Delaware, coming to life,
connected on another throw of
45 yards to the Lehigh 4 on the
final play of the half.
On their second possession of
the third period the Hens, suddenly finding the range, moved
59 yards for another touchdown
with a 13-yard dash through the
middle providing the points. A
ECAC Honors
For Lehigh QB
Quarterback Marty Horn was
honored by the ECAC as its 1-AA
offensive player-of-the-week
following his efforts against
Delaware and corner back Blair
Talmadge made the honor roll
for his defensive contributions.
John Shigo was ECAC defensive
player-of-the-week against
Northeastern.
Lehigh weekly coaching staff
awards went to Horn (offense),
Shigo (defense) and Mike O'Hagan (special teams).
successful conversion put them
ahead, 13-12, but only until Horn
had a chance to throw again.
Lehigh struck back with aerials
of 39 yards to wingback Jim
Davidson of Selinsgrove, PA,
and 11 yards to tight end Jeff
Hunt of Nazareth, PA, and a 38-
yard scoring strike to Benn, his
third of the afternoon. The Engineers were ahead again, 18-13.
Halfway through the final
stanza Talmadge picked off a
pass and contributed his 37-yard
scoring dash to the end zone
increasing the margin to 24-13
and setting the stage for another
Lehigh-Delaware dash to the
wire. Hen quarterback B.J.
Webster, who had 19 completions in 40 aerial tries for 307
yards and two TDs, connected
on an 18-yard scoring throw
with 4:03 remaining and Delaware was right back in the thick
of it.
Lehigh's defense stopped the
Hens twice but the Engineer
offense couldn't get even one
time-killing first down and Delaware stormed back to the LU
27 with 23 seconds still showing
on the clock. Dave Mecca, of
Dunmore, PA, broke up a pass
in his area near the 5-yard line
and Talmadge intercepted on
the next try, grabbing the ball at
the 3. A quarterback sneak ate
up the final 11 seconds with Delaware, out of timeouts, unable
to stop the clock. It was celebration time for the Engineers and
another disappointing setback
for the Hens.
Actually the Hens didn't
(Continued on Page 2)
How Lehigh Rivals Fared
Northeastern 3-1: Defeated
Springfield, 22-7.
Colgate 4-0: Defeated Boston
U., 34-17.
Navy 1-3: Lost to Washington,
27-10
Delaware: 2-2: Lost to
Lehigh, 24-19.
Connecticut: 2-2: Defeated
New Hampshire, 9-7.
New Hampshire 1-3: Lost to
Connecticut, 9-7.
Army 1-3:  Lost to Harvard,
24-21.
Bucknell    2-2:    Lost   to
Lafayette, 33-2.
Massachusetts  1-3:   Lost to
Rhode Island, 13-3.
E.Stroudsburg 3-1: Defeated
Kutztown, 31-7.
Lafayette 4-0: Defeated Bucknell, 33-3.