South Mountaineer Volume 37, Issue 11

              SPORTS
pi
Contents
Page 12
Page 13
Page 14
♦Olympic sports update
♦ Where you can watch
♦ Men's basketball
and schedules
Lehigh-Lafayette
preview
♦ LU-HC football game
♦ Football: Three Lehigh
♦ Men's and women's
stats
coaches with different
swimmimg preview
Lehigh-Lafayette
Page 15
backgrounds
♦ Wrestling preview
♦ Wrestle-off results
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SOUTH
MOUNTAINEER
Volume 37, Issue 11
November 15,1994
Lehigh-Lafayette to decide Patriot League title
Engineers come up big with first-ever  Lehigh seniors look to make it back-
win at Holy Cross to-back championships
:*7*»*
ByGLENN HOFMANN
Sports Information Director
Knowingthat they needed a win over HolyCross tokeep alive their hopesfora
second consecutive Patriot League title the Lehigh football team came up to Worcester, MA. a very focused group. And it showed.
TiieEngineersmadeaCrusaderteam,whichhadwonitslasttwogames,lookat
timescompletelyovermatehed.I^hi^i's29-13victorywasn'tnearlyascloseasthe
score indicated. When the game was on the line this was an example of pure domination.
"We had a good week of practice," head coach Kevin Higgins said. "We all knew
that a championship was on the line and I felt good about our chances if we played
with emotion."
Lehighnotonlyplayedwithemotion.butwith precision aswell. TheEngineers
mixed the run and pass beautifully in the first half'. Sophomore Rabih Abdullahled the
rushmgattackastheEngmeersgamedtbeirMghestrunn^
yards). Abdullah, who scored apairoffouryard touchdowns turned in the fifth-best
single-gametotal in schoolhistory with
203yards.
AndsophomoreAaronBrown,
makinghis second start ofthe season
camethroughwhenitcountedashe
completed 12-of-20passes in the first
half alone, including a 24-yard touch-
downstrike to another sophomore, Jason
Streeter on thegame'sopeningposses-
sion which gave Lehigh a 7-0 lead.
Featuring animpressiveball control
offense the Engineers'first drive was 11
plays. Then senior JasonMackinter-
cepted a Holy Cross pass at the Lehigh 4
yard line, theEngineersdrove96yards
on 12 plays (Lehigh's longest drive of
the season) and scored on the first of
Abdullah's two four-yard touchdown
runs to takeal3-0 lead.
"The offensive line really got
afterittodayandcreatedsomegreat
holes," Abdullah, whowasnamedPatriot
League offensive player ofthe week
said. 'Weallworkedreallyhardduring
J0H.:
Rabih Abdullah turned in the fifth-best single
game in LU history.  Photo by JOE RYAN
theweekanditshowed."
Again the defense held and again the offense drove down the field, this time 80
yarcisonnineplayscappedbyathreeyardruribyjuniorRaphaelStillings.I^highled
19-7 and wasneverreaUythreatenedafterthat,inlarge part to thesuperiordefensive
effort.
The defense recorded TENsacks, four ofthemby senior Sam Lawler andin
addition to Mack'sinterceptionJuniorTony Perilla picked offa Crusader pass in the
endzone.DefensivelythelinepushedHolyCrossalloverthefield.
'Wewerefortunateour offense established themselves early," defensivelineman
Sam Lawler said. "Once they got behind weknewtheywouldhave to pass and with
the talent we have on our defensive line we become tough to stop."
For Lawler and the seniors the first-ever Lehigh victory atHolyCrosswas
somethingspecial.
"It meant a lot to win at Holy Cross," Lawler said. "To be the first Lehigh team to
ever winhere makes it special."
Andnow Lawler andMsclassmateshope to become thefirst Lehigh team to ever
win back-to-back championships. Because ofthe win atHolyCrossthatgoalisnow
possible.
ByGLENN HOFMANN
Sports Information Director
WhenLafayette started 0-6 manypeoplecountedthepreseasonPatriotLeague
favorite Leopards out ofthe league race. Luckily for Lafayette non of those six games
was aleague contest. Now as the twoteamspreparefor Saturday's 130th meetingof
collegefootball'smost-playedrivalryitisLafayettewhichat4-0 has clinched atleast
atie for the league title. ALehigh win and the Leopards will have to share the crown,
(head-to-headresults are notused to break ties).
Keepinmindthoughthatthe
Fred DunlapChampionship trophy
is stall at Lehigh and should the
Engineers defeat Lafayette and be
crownedleaguechampionforthe
secondstraightyearthetrophy
womdistaytnrtiteLiehighcampus.
HowcanLehighkeepthetrophy
here?
It's no secretthatthe success
ofLafayetteisdirectlyrelatedto
tberminingofseniorErikMarsh.
Marsh wentoverthe 1,000 yard
marklastweekandis amongthe
top backs in the country. Last year
he rushed for over 200 yards in a
losingeffort against theEngineers.
"There'snoquestionweneed
tocontainMarsh,"head coach
Kevin Higgins said. "Aback as
good as him is difficultto stop
completely,buttheir quarterback
isnowplayingwellandtheyhave
one ofthe best defenses in the league."
Indeed quarterback was aproblem early in the seasonfor Lafayette, butfreshman
Sean McHale has come on recently and against Fordham last weekhe passed for 370
yards and three touchdowns. Defensively, the Leopards are the league leaders in
stoppingtherun, pass andin overall defense.
Lehigh,meanwhilehashadquiteasuccessful season. At 5-4-lthe Engineers are
theonly Patriot League team which will finish with atleasta.500record.haditnot
beenfor some turnovers against Cornell, Columbia andBucknell the Engineers may
have six or even seven wins. Still this season can onlybelookedatas asuccess
considering thetransitionthatusuallytakes place whenacoaching staffchanges.
KevmHiggi^andhisstaffhavedoneafantasticjob.ButforHiggins,his staff and
the players, the season may only be termed a success if they beat their archrivals.
"As afreshman I didn't know what to expect," senior Jason Mack said. "Even if
wewereO-lOthiswouldbethemostmtenseweekofpracticeandthemostimportant
game ofthe season."
"Theyalreadysaidin the papers thatthey were going to try to runitdown our
throats," Mack added. "Against Holy Cross we came up withthe bigplays and we
have todo thatagain againstthem."
"Because I'm a senior I tbink the game will mean that much more to me,"
fiiUbackJasonMastropierrosaid."Itbinkffwecanmixtheriniandpassmtewehave
thelasttwoweekswe'llbeingoodshape."
From here it looks like the key to the game will be very simple. Ifthe Engineers
don't committurnoversthey will beinexcellentposition to win the game. All season
it hasn't so much been a case of teams at the same level ofplay beatingLehigh, but
rather theEngmeersbeatingtheniselves.ThelasttwoweeksLehighhas played
turnover-free. Let'shope they dothesame this Saturday.
Jason Mack leads the Patriot League's second-
ranked defense.  Photo by JOE RYAN