South Mountaineer Volume 40, Issue 04

              Lehigh Athletics
Website: http://www.lehigh.edu
Hotline: (610) 758-LULU
SOCCER: Men shut out Big East foe
10
CROSS COUNTRY: Team squares off in tri-meet 11
STATISTICS: The complete weeks scores and statistics 9
South Mountaineer
Volume 11, Issue 4
Lehigh University Athletics Weekly
September 16,1997
Football
Lehigh drops Patriot League opener
Engineers draw on positives in setback to Fordham
by T.J. Furman
Some of the questions the Engineer
football team had going into
Saturday's opener at Fordham were
answered positively, even though the
42-35 overtime result may not have
been what they wanted to see.
The Rams completed an improbable
21-point comeback.
Fordham tied the game when
quarterback Dan Madine threw a six
yard touchdown to Gerry McDermott.
In overtime, fullback Dorian Henry
scored on a one yard run which
proved to be the game winner.
The Rams have made a quick run
at the league title, beginning the
season 2-0.
The Engineers, however, showed
signs they have the weapons to
bounce back from adversity.
Rabih Abdullah still has it, Deron
Braswell never lost it and Ron Jean
may have some of it, too. It was
Lehigh's past present and future all
rolled into one.
"It" is whatever you want to call it.
Abdullah can still explode through the
line like no one else in the Patriot
League, Braswell can make the
amazing catch look like a routine one
and Ron Jean showed signs that he
can make defenders look silly.
A senior running back who missed
all but one offensive series last year,
Abdullah returned for his first
significant action in almost two years
Saturday. After starting slowly, he
served notice to the league, the
nation and to the pro scouts checking
him out that he could be for real
again this year.
His first rush was for just two
yards straight into Fordham's
defensive line. On Lehigh's next
possession, Abdullah showed the form
that made him a preseason Ail-
American last year. He took the ball
seven times on the drive and gained
Abdullah rushed for 170 yards
55 yards.
Abdullah finished the day with 170
yards on 34 carries. At the end of the
first half, Fordham senior Darryl White
grabbed Abdullah by the face mask at the
4-yard line. Abdullah simply preceded to
drag White into the end zone with him
by his face mask for the third of his four
touchdowns on the day.
Abdullah's day did end early when he
sat with a slightly sprained knee,
opposite from the one he injured last
season, but he is now just 541 yards
from becoming the all-time leading
rusher in 113 years of Lehigh football.
For junior wide receiver Braswell, the
order of the day was trying to live up to
high expectations. After a stellar season
when he led the league in receptions,
receptions per game, yards and yards per
catch, Braswell was named a preseason
third-team Ail-American.
Somehow, Braswell was denied first-
team All-Patriot League status last year,
but he's out to correct that wrong now.
The Cherry Hill, N.J., native pulled in
two 40-yard catches. The first was a one-
handed reception around a defensive
back and with only one foot inbounds
down the left sideline. The other
was on a fly pattern where he ■
simply outran his defender and
leapt for the diving grab at the 2.
Braswell finished the day with
only five catches, but had racked
up 102 receiving yards when the
game was over. It was the sixth
100-yard day of his career and
second against Fordham.
For Jean, Abdullah's sophomore
backup, two shining moments
showed hope for a future when
Abdullah has moved on in life and
in football.
Jean ran the ball five times and
piled on 62 yards for an astounding
12.4 average. Jean pulled double
duty, returning two kickoffs as
well.
Late in the third quarter, he
took a kickoff straight up the gut,
following the lead of junior Brian
Baker, and into Fordham territory
for a return of 47 yards. The play
momentarily stemmed the
momentum the Rams had built
during their comeback.
Earlier in the third, after
Abdullah ran a sweep off the left
side for 25 yards, Jean took the
handoff, broke a tackle behind the
line and burst through a seem.
Jean was brought down 50 yards
later at the Fordham 5. Not bad for
a backup that was in to give the
starter a blow.
Braswell gave Jean a pat on the
back on Jean's way off the field
before Abdullah came running in
for the next play. Then in the
middle of the field Abdullah and
Jean leapt into the air and bumped
chests before exchanging an
energetic hug - Lehigh's past,
present and future all rolled into
one.
1997 Football Schedule
Patriot League Summary
Sept. 13
at Fordham ■ga'ss.r
L, 35-42
Last Week:
Sept. 20
at Towson State
1:00
Lafayette             14
Sept. 27
HARVARD <rssr
(satellite TBA)
1:00
Army                   41
Oct. 4
at Colgate
1:00
Towson                27
Oct. 11
PENNSYLVANIA .g**™
(satellite TBA)
1:00
Holy Cross           7
Oct. 18
atHofstra tffyrsss1
(satellite TBA)
1:00
Oct. 25
at Dartmouth
1:00
This Week:
Nov.l
at Bucknell w&KSZ'
(satellite TBA)
12:30
LEHIGH @ Towson
Nov. 8
HOLY CROSS
12:30
Bucknell @ Lafayette
Nov. 15
DELAWARE
12:30
Fordham @ Colgate
Nov. 22
LAFAYETTE ■Sb-set
(satellite TBA)
12:30
Holy Cross @ Georgetown
Lehigh/Fordham
Game Stats
Score By Quarters
12     3     4    OT F
FU 7    7     7     14 7    42
LU 7    21   7     0    0    35
LU
FU
18        First Downs    28
240      Net Rushing    149
169     Net Passing     269
409      Total Yards     418
12-116 Penalties 3-29
1-1       Fumbles/Lost 3-1
2 Interception     1
26:22   Possession      30:57
6 Sacks by 1
Lehigh Leaders
Rushing: Adullah 34-174
Passing: Stambaugh 14-169
Receiving: Braswell 5-102
Tackles: Brinley 12
QUOTEBOARD
"Igive a lot of credit to Fordham.
They played hard, they played
with emotion."
Kevin Higgins
Lehigh Coach
"He's (Lehigh running back
Rabih Abdullah) making us miss,
we've got guys on the ground,
we look like we're out of
position. That's because he is an
excellent player. He made us
look silly sometimes."
Nick Quartaro
Fordham Coach
"That's an excellent team that by
all means should have been
picked as the No. 1 team in the
league to win it. And they still
may. They're a good football
team."
Quartaro about Lehigh
"This was a big day in
Fordham's life."
Jerry McDermott
Fordham receiver