South Mountaineer Volume 40, Issue 11

              Lehigh Athletics
Website: http://www.lehigh.edu
Hotline: (610) 758-LULU
Olympic Sports Report
Service Electric, Ch. 2, Thursday 7:30p.m
This Week: Men's soccer & Cross Count.
VOLLEYBALL: Team clinches playoff berth
10
FOOTBALL:
50 Game Club seeks new members
11
STATISTICS:     The season's complete scores
South Mountaineer
Volume 11, Issue 11
Lehigh University Athletics Weekly
November 4,1997
Football
Lehigh falls short in the rain
Bucknell improves to 8-0 with 21-14 victory at home
by Glenn Hofmann
Director of Sports Communications
Most football people and fans that
were in Lewisburg on Saturday would
probably tell you that the heavy rain
that begin falling in the early
morning hours and continued
through the entire game hurt Lehigh.
After all the Mountain Hawks have
one the best passing attack in the
Patriot League and one of the best in
the country. A little rain is good for a
passing team. Heavy rain is not good.
Most football people and fans that
were in Lewisburg on Saturday would
also probably tell you that right now
Bucknell is a better team than
Lehigh. There is something about
head coach Tom Gadd's group that
makes you think they are always
going to end up on the winning side of
the scoreboard.
Saturday's 21-14 Bucknell victory
over Lehigh marked the eighth time
this year that has happened as the
Bison stayed on course for a final
game showdown with Colgate for the
Patriot League Championship.
Lehigh came into this game sky-
high, but the rain thwarted the high-
powered passing attack and limited
the outside effectiveness of senior
running back Rabih Abdullah.
Bucknell on the other hand doesn't
pass nearly as much and their
running game is often straight ahead.
"We just knew the running game
would be important because Lehigh is
capable of scoring a lot of points,"
Bucknell senior guard George Hogan
said. "It was a game where physical
toughness was very important."
"Their offensive line handled our
defensive line and linebackers,"
Stambaugh passed for two touchdowns
Lehigh head coach Kevin Higgins said.
"Their offensive line manhandled us."
After Bucknell missed a field goal on
its opening posession, Lehigh gained 18
yards on its initial posession before
Abdullah fumbled at his own 44 yard-line.
Eight plays later Bison quarterback Don
McDowell hit fullback Jeremy Myers for a
22-yard touchdown. It stayed that way
until midway through the second quarter
when Bucknell drove 51 yards with Myers
scoring from the one-yard line to make it
14-0.
At the half Lehigh had gained only 15
yards passing and had started most of its
drives deep in its own end. Things would
change in the third quarter as the Lehigh
coaches made some adjustments and
sophomore quarterback Phil Stambaugh
began throwing to tight end J.R. Ryan.
On its second posession of the second
half, Stambaugh drove Lehigh 75 yards
with the final play an eight-yard
touchdown pass to Deron Braswell.
Lehigh would hold Bucknell and drive
to the Bison 28-yard line on its next
credit: Joe Ryan
possession. But the drive would
stall on the final play of the
quarter when Stambaugh fumbled
the ball. On the very next play
McDowell hit Ron Rockett on a 62-
yard touchdown to make the score
21-7.
To Lehigh's credit it didn't give
up. As usual junior Brian Baker
again scored a touchdown. This
time with under 2:45 left in the
game when he pulled in a 49-yard
Stambaugh launch and tight-roped
the sideline to bring Lehigh within
21-14. But the Bucknell ground
game again was a factor . Taking
the ball at the Lehigh 43-yard line
after an unsuccessful on-sides-
kick, the Bison drove down to the
Lehigh 22-yard line as time
expired.
So Lehigh's bid .to knock off two
undefeated teams in a row fell
short and left people on the
Lehigh side wondering what might
have been had it not rained.
Sept. 13
Sept. 20
Sept. 27
Oct. 4
Oct. 11
Oct. 18
Oct. 25
Nov.l
Nov. 8
Nov. 15
Nov. 22
1997 Football Schedule
at Fordham
L, 35-42
at Towson State
W, 16-14
HARVARD
L, 28-35
at Colgate
L, 28-61
PENNSYLVANIA
W, 24-7
at Hofstra
L, 38-45
at Dartmouth
W, 46-26
at Bucknell
L, 14-21
HOLY CROSS
12:30
DELAWARE -
12:30
LAFAYETTE «g*=s2*
12:30
Upcoming Satellite
Coordinate Info:
Delaware Game
KU Band, Telestar 4,
Transponder 10 A
Lafayette Game
KUBand
SBS6
Transponder 11
C-Band
Galaxy 3R
Transponder 18
Lehigh/Bucknell
Game Stats
Score By Quarters
1     2    3    4    F
LU(3-5)       0    0    7    7     14
BU(8-0)      7    7    0    7    21
LEHIGH BU
18 First Downs 19
144 Net Rushing 200
176 Net Passing 151
320 Total Yards       . 351
4-45' Penalties 5-40
4/2 Fumbles/Lost 2/0
0 Interception By 1
24:15 Possession 34:45
0 Sacks by 0
Game Leaders
Rushing:
L:Adullah 29-150, Baker 2-4
B: Peer 30-100, Myers 11 -55
Passing:
L: Stambaugh 17-34-176,2TD
B: McDowell 10-19-151, 2TD
Receiving:
L: Fedorcha 5-18, Ryan 4-55,
Braswell 4-38
B: Peer 3-17, Bombich 2-22
Tackles:
L: Brinley 22, Kmieciak 13
B: Hurdley 11, Hill 10
Patriot League Summary
Last Week:
Bucknell 21 Lehigh 14
Colgate 42 Holy Cross7
New Haven 38 Lafayette 0
Fordham 12 Towson 7
This Week:
Holy Cross at LEHIGH
Bucknell at St. Mary's (Ca.)
Towson at Colgate
Fordham and Lafayette are off
Standings:
Colgate
Bucknell
Fordham
Holy Cross
LEHIGH
Lafayette
Towson
League
4-0
4-0
3-2
1-2
1-3
1-3
04
Overall
5-2
8-0
3-6
3-5
3-5
2-7
2-6