Nov. 17, 2007
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Trailing 17-14 with nine minutes remaining in the game, the Lafayette offense put together a 13-play, 80-yard drive that locked up Lafayette's fourth consecutive victory over Lehigh on Saturday in college's football's most-played rivalry. The Leopards rolled up 374 yards of offense in the dramatic 21-17 triumph in the 143rd meeting between the two schools.
Sophomore quarterback Rob Curley led the game-winning drive and hit Kyle Roeder for a three-yard touchdown pass with 2:53 remaining in the game. The No. 2 ranked defense in the nation came through on Lehigh's final possession, stuffing the Mountain Hawks on four downs to end the game. Curley earned game MVP honors, finishing his fourth start of the season 15-for-25 for 257 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Lafayette has won four straight over Lehigh for the first time since 1946-1949 and owns the all-time series 76-62-5. The teams played in front of a crowd of 16,022 at Goodman Stadium.
The Leopards took the opening drive of the game to the endzone for the fifth time this season. Sophomore Tyrell Coon ran the ball 13 yards and Curley connected on passes to senior Duaeno Dorsey for 42 yards and senior Kevin Logan for 13 yards to put Lafayette on Lehigh's one-yard line. Curley carried the ball into the endzone to put the Leopards up 7-0 three minutes into the game.
The Mountain Hawks took over and moved 60 yards to the Lafayette five-yard line. Senior co-captain Marcel Quarterman sacked Lehigh quarterback Sedale Threatt to push the team back to the 18-yard line. Threatt connected with Mike Fitzgerald to even the score 7-7 with eight minutes remaining in the first quarter.
Lehigh pulled ahead just seconds into the second quarter when Jason Leo booted a 30-yard field goal, ending a seven-play, 47-yard drive to make it 10-7.
The Leopards regained the lead 10 minutes later when Coon ran in from the three-yard line to make it 14-10. Coon carried the ball six times on the drive and Curley completed a 37-yard pass to fullback Jeff Cumming before Coon scored to finish the 10-play, 65-yard drive.
The Mountain Hawks headed into the locker room with a 17-14 lead after Lehigh's Matt McGowan finished a four-play, 65-yard drive with a one-yard run in for the score. Threatt rushed for 17 yards and completed a 28-yard pass to Josh Pastore on the drive.
On the Leopards' second drive of the third quarter Brannan Thomas intercepted a pass intended for Dorsey at the Lafayette 36. The Leopards' defense was able to keep the Mountain Hawks from scoring on either of their drives in the third quarter, and the session ended as it began, with Lehigh up 17-14.
Lehigh opened up the fourth quarter with a 16-play, 66-yard drive that drained more than 10 minutes off the clock. Leo kicked a 35-yard field goal attempt wide to the right, setting up the Leopards' game-winning drive.
Dorsey finished the day with career highs of five catches and 108 yards. Coon carried the ball 29 times for 95 yards and one touchdown in his second career start.
The second-ranked defense in the nation held the Mountain Hawks to 106 yards on the ground and just 244 total offensive yards. Junior linebacker Andy Romans led the team with 10 tackles to finish with 113 on the season. Quarterman had one sack, and eight players recorded tackles for a loss.
Lafayette finished the season with a 7-4 mark, 4-2 in the Patriot League and shattered Lehigh's (5-6, 2-4) bid for a 10th straight winning season. Lafayette ended in a three-way tie with Holy Cross and Colgate for second place in the Patriot League standings.
NOTES
* Senior wide receiver Duaeno Dorsey doubled his previous career-high of 54 receiving yards a game. He finished the game with five catches (tying a career high) for 108 yards. He and junior Shaun Adair are the only Leopards to record 100 receiving yards in a single game this season.
* Tyrell Coon has carried the ball 49 times for 191 yards in his two starts this season (20-96 vs. Holy Cross; 29-95 vs. Lehigh).
* Rob Curley is the fourth Lafayette player in a row to win the MVP award and fifth in six years. Curley is the first sophomore to claim the honor since 2004 (Brad Maurer).
* Junior Andy Romans finished the 2007 season with 113 tackles and 230 for his career. He is ranked 21st nationally for tackles and racked up double-figure tackles seven times this year.
* Seniors Mark Plumby and Kyle Sprenkle tied for second with six tackles against Lehigh. Sprenkle finished the season with 59 tackles and 166 career tackles. Plumby tallied 50 stops for the year and leaves Lafayette with 130 tackles.
* The attendance of 16,022 is the fourth-largest crowd in the 28-year history of Goodman Stadium.
* Lafayette finished a perfect 3-0 in November, boosting their record to 10-2 (excluding postseason games) in the final month of their season over the last four seasons.
* The Leopards are now 7-0 when wearing black uniforms (they sported black pants and white jerseys for the second straight game).
