South Mountaineer Volume 37, Issue 12

              SPORTS
"Every
one knew the impoi
the gai
ne. Emotions were
Everyc
►ne was up. For son
we did
n't do it today."
ens
Contents
Page 9
♦Olympic sports update
andschedules
♦ Partingshots ofLehigh
football
SOUTH
Page 10
♦ Men's basketball: Misha
Sidoriv
♦ Lehigh-Lafayette football
gamestats
Page 11
♦Women'sbasketball
preview
♦ Wrestlingpicks up season's
first win
MOUNTAINEER
Volume   37,   Issue   12
November 22,  1994
Engineers flattened in season finale
Leopards spoil Lehigh's
championship hopes
with 54-20 victory
By CORKY BLAKE
Easton Express-Times
Lehigh Correspondent
Thiswasn'tsupposed to happen.
Justastrain.planeandautomobilewrecks aren't
supposedtohappen.
Evidence ofthe Brown & White's 54-20 loss were
all over Fisher Field Saturday afternoon.
Missedtackles,"lookout"blocks,interceptions,
fumbles, plenty ofbruised egos.
ThePatriotl^ague'sFredDunlapchampionship
trophy abruptly changedhands from Lehigh to Lafayette
with all the subtleness of a Mike Tyson right hook.
The Engineers had an opportunity to retain at least a
share ofthe championship they won in '93. To do so,
theyhadtobeatLafayette,whichalreadywasassureda
piece ofthe this year's title.
Instead, the Leopards seized thegamefrom the start
and ran away withthe 130th edition. Not since
Lafayette beat Lehigh 64-0 in 1944 and then 46-0 in'54
havethe Engineers beenso humiliated bytheircross-
vaUeyrivals.
"Forthe seniors well remember this year as our
bestyear, buttoday was horrendous," said Sam Lawler,
Lehigh's defensive tackle and senior co-captain.
Lafayette couldn't keep Rabih Abdullah down for long, as the sophomore tailback ran for 116 yards and two touchdowns.
Photo by JOE RYAN
Aaron Brown came in to relieve the injured Bob Aylsworth and passed for
144 yards and one touchdown. Photo by JOE RYAN
Both Lawler and coach Kevin Higgins agreed the
EngineerswerereadyforSaturday'sgame.It'sjustthat
somethinghappened once Lafayette tailbackErik Marsh
ran38yards on thefirstplayfrom scrimmage andLehighcompoundedits troubles
bybeingwhistledfor apersonal foul atthe
end ofthe sequence.
"Everyoneknewtheimportanceofthe
game,"Lawler said. "Emotionswere high.
Everyone was up. For some reason we
didn't do it today."
"This was the most focused the team
hadbeen all season, apart from the
Fordham game,"Higgins said.
YettheEngineersabsorbedabeating
worse than anythingthey experienced
against scholarship schools such as New
Hampshire andDelaware.
In winning the league crown lastyear
at home, Lehigh saved its best game for
theLeopards. OnSaturday theymailedin
theirworst.
Theoffensedidn'tgetuntracked until
the second quarter, andthe defense was
keptoff-balancethe entire game. Even
thoughLehigh entered statisticallywith
thebestdefense against therunin the
PatriotLeague, everyone assumed
Lafayette's all-american tailbackErik
Marsh wouldgainsomewherebetween
150and200yards.
The game's MVP gained 214 yards in
littlemore than three quarters andsetthe
stagefor quarterback ShawnMcHale to shred Lehigh's
secondary. Twoplaysinparticularwere Engineer
killers.
The Leopards led 7-0 and faced third and 15 at their
46. McHale launched a bomb down the middle for
Tramont Evans, who was triple covered.
ffthebaUhadbeenunderthrownoroverthrown,it
would have been picked off. Instead, it landed right in
Evan's hands for a 50-yard gain. Two plays later, Marsh
upped the score to 14-0.
-Please see FINALE, pg. 14.
A rare chance to celebrate, as the Engineers congratulate
Abdullah on his touchdown run. Photo by JOE RYAN