South Mountaineer Volume 39, Issue 10

              PATRIOT LEAGUE HONORS
Brian Baker was named the league's Offensive
Player of the Week after rushing for 154 yards
and catching five passes for 88 yards. Freshman
Phil Stambaugh also received league honors for
completing 25 passes for 283 yards and 2 TDs.
FOOTBALL: Lehigh chalks up second league win 20-10, 8
OLYMPIC SPORTS: Swimming and Diving team sweeps HC,7
Volleyball team hosts, finishes second in Lehigh Classic,7
South Mountaineer
Volume 10, Issue 10
Lehigh University Athletics Weekly
November 12,1996
Lehigh back on top after victory
Brown and White
downs Holy Cross
to move into tie for
Patriot League lead
by Matt Leedy '98
South Mountaineer Editor
The first-half field conditions on
Fitton Field were sloppy, but
Lehigh's play was not.
The Engineers executed their
offensive game plan with precision
and accuracy under dark cloud
cover, wind and rain to storm out to
a 17-3 halftime lead over Holy Cross
College (1-8, 1-3 Patriot League).
The Crusader seniors played
their last game in the college's
historic stadium before 2,863 faithful
fans willing to weather the elements.
Lehigh's first-half domination
proved to be all it would need to
hold on for a 20-10 victory. The win,
along with some help from
Lafayette, catapulted the Brown and
White (4-5, 2-1) into a Patriot
League logjam for first place.
Bucknell, with a chance to
control its own destiny, was upset by
the Leopards (4-4,1-1) 23-7, dropping the Bison conference record to
2-1. Colgate improved to 2-1 in the
league with a 34-14 defeat of
Fordham.
Lehigh's freshman quarterback
Phil Stambaugh had the Engineer
offense hitting on all cylinders. In
the first half, Stambaugh completed
15 of 23 passes for 203 of his 283
yards.
"Going into the game we had a
Joe Ryan
Phil Stambaugh (#17) and Brian Baker (#26) picked apart the Crusader offense.
JoeHyan
Deron Braswell had three catchers for
33 yards against Holy Cross College.
lot of pass plays in," Stambaugh
said. "I felt a lot more comfortable
and with the conditions, I knew we
had to control the gall and get out to
an early lead."
Stambaugh was successful on
nine straight attempts during the
tail end ofthe first quarter and
Lehigh's first drive ofthe second.
Stambaugh also threw both of his
touchdown pass before halftime.
The Brown and White running
attack also strained the Crusaders'
flex defense. Tailback Brian Baker
carried 37 times for 154 yards to
give Lehigh one of its most balanced
offensive games ofthe season. The
sophomore also caught five passes
for 88 yards.
Holy Cross was flagged for
offsides on the opening kickoff and
Dana Fiatarone booted the next one
out of bounds. It was a sign of things
to come.
Holy Cross ran just 28 plays in
the first half for 85 yards.
The Crusaders' most explosive
offensive weapon, running back J.R.
Walz, was virtually eliminated from
Holy Cross' offensive scheme after
the Brown and White steamrolled to
an early lead. Walz carried the ball
just eight times for 26 yards.
After Lehigh jumped out to a 10-
0 first-quarter lead, Holy Cross was
forced to rely on its passing game.
Dan Boland responded by completing just 18 of 40 passes for 228
yards. He scored the Crusaders' only
touchdown on a 15-yard connection
with wide receiver Jeff Laboranti.
Boland was forced into many
mistakes by Lehigh's risky, bump-
and-run style cornerbacks.
"Their corners were really
aggressive," Boland said. "They
hardly drop back at all. Most ofthe
time they played up close and tried
to make plays."
Stambaugh completed passes to
seven different receivers.
Holy Cross Coach Dan Allen was
impressed with Stambaugh.
"He showed a lot of poise," Allen
said. "They did a good job of isolating
our linebackers and throwing those
out and ups."
Stambaugh was also without one
of his top receivers, Joe Falzone. The
sophomore flanker stayed home
Saturday with a 102-degree temperature. His replacement, Steve
Aylsworth, filled in well. The speedy
receiver caught four passes for 36
yards.
Holy Cross' pass defense stiffened
in the last two quarters. Three
Crusaders finished with more than 10
tackles. Middle linebacker David
Streeter had 15 and eclipsed the 400-
tackle milestone for his career.
Baker and the Brown and White
defense allowed Lehigh to hold on for
the win. Baker rushed for 100 yards
in the second half and Lehigh's
defense kept Holy Cross from taking
advantage of any of Lehigh's offensive
stumblings.
Senior middle linebacker Lance
Eckenrode led the team with 12
tackles.
The Brown and White kicking
game also got back on track. After
missing an extra point that allowed
Bucknell to beat Lehigh last week,
Matt Swartz nailed field goals of 32
and 25 yards. He also converted on
both point-after attempts.
The only major glitch for the place
kicker occurred when B.J. Hill
bobbled a high snap and threw incomplete to Meurer in the endzone on a
field goal attempt late in the third
quarter.
Lehigh plays Colgate this week in
Goodman Stadium and Lafayette
hosts Holy Cross in the next round of
the Patriot League title fight.
Stambaugh said, "We still have two
more games left for the championship."
LEHIGH / HOLY CROSS
GAME STATS
ScoreBy Quarters
1 2 3 4    F
Lehigh 10 7 0 3   20|
Holy Cross       0 3 7 6   10
LEHIGH HOLY CROSS
26 First Downs 13
174 Net Rushing 47
283 Net Passing 228
457 Total Yards 275
13-120 Penalties 9-75
4-1 Fumbles/Lost 1-1
3 had intercepted      0
37:06 Possession 22:54
2 Sacks By           0
Lehigh statistical leaders
Rushing: Brian Baker 37-163
Passing: Phil Stambaugh 25-283
Receiving: Jason Streeter 6-62
Tackles: Lance Eckenrode 12
QUOTEBOARD
"I was impressed with him [Phil
Stambaugh]. He showed a lot of
poise. They did a good job of
isolating our linebackers and
throwing those out and ups."
Dan Allen
Holy Cross Coach
"Their corners were really
aggressive. They hardly ever
drop back at all. Most ofthe
time they played up close and
tried to make plays."
Dan Boland
Holy Cross Quarterback
"We have a lot of freshmen and
sophomores growing up and
coming up big in key situations."
Kevin Higgins
Lehigh Coach
"He [Phil Stambaugh] made a lot
of progress from week one to
week two. He was able to throw
deep when we needed him to. He
made some mistakes in the
second half but that was really
just inexperience."
Kevin Higgins
Lehigh Coach
"I felt a lot more comfortable.
"With the conditions I knew we
had to control the ball and get
out to an early lead."
Lehigh QB Phil Stambaugh