Final Stats |  Photo Gallery 

BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- Lehigh snapped Lafayette's two-game winning streak in college football's most-played rivalry, beating the Leopards 49-35 on Saturday at Goodman Stadium. Lafayette maintains its long-time lead in the series, 78-68-5.

Sophomore tailback DeSean Brown and the Lafayette offense had their best rushing game of the season. Brown had 35 carries for 146 yards and three touchdowns (all career highs) while the offensive corps managed a season-high 209 yards on the ground a season-high 487 yards of total offense.

The Leopards took the opening kickoff and went three and out on three running plays. Lehigh got the ball at its own 39 after the punt. On the first play, Lehigh QB Nick Shafnisky hit Derek Knott for a 34-yard pass. On 3rd-and-15, Shafnisky floated a ball to Gatlin Casey for 26 yards. Shafnisky finished the 61-yard drive with a three-yard pass to Trevor Socarras for the 7-0 lead.

On the ensuing drive, the Leopards settled for a 48-yard field goal try by Jacob Bissell into the wind. The kick fell short.

When Lehigh got the ball back, first down was again crucial for Lehigh as game MVP Shafnisky threw a 38-yard pass to Casey. Knott's second catch of the game was a five-yard touchdown catch when he got behind a Lafayette defender in the corner of the endzone. Lehigh led 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Lehigh (6-5, 4-2) made it 21-0 to start the third quarter, this time using a Shafnisky to Casey pass from five yards out to score at 14:15. Shafnisky finished the game 21-of-27 for 283 yards and four touchdowns with one interception. He also ran for 109 yards and another TD.

The Leopards (1-10, 0-6) got on the board on the next possession, putting together a nine-play, 78-yard drive. Brown had four carries for 33 yards, the final a 15-yard scamper that made it 21-7 with 10:37 left in the half. C.J. Amill also added a nine-yard run.

On the next drive, Lafayette appeared to have Lehigh stopped near midfield before a facemask penalty gave Lehigh a first down to midfield. Three plays later, Lehigh scored again as Shafnisky ran it in from five yards out to lead 28-7. The scoring play was set up by his own 35-yard pass to Troy Pelletier.

After a holding penalty wiped away a 40-yard pass play from Drew Reed to Darrell Crawford, the Leopards' offense rallied. Amill's leaping grab for 19 yards to the Lehigh 27 and his 12-yard rush to the 15 set up a score.

A six-yard bootleg pass from Reed to fullback Dan Dellovade pulled Lafayette within 28-14 with a minute left. Bissell booted his PAT over the scoreboard to make it Lehigh, 28-14 with a minute left before half.

With the seconds dwindling, Lehigh threatened before the half. Shafnisky completed five short passes down to the Lafayette 32-yard line with eight seconds left in the half. On the next play, Shafnisky ran for 26 yards, but was knocked out at the Leopard three-yard line as time expired with Lehigh leading 28-14.

Lafayette opened the second half with an onside kick that Lehigh recovered. Lehigh scored on the resulting drive using a pass interference penalty and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to set up the score. The officials called Pelletier with his own unsportsmanlike penalty in the rivalry game on the nine-yard TD from Shafnisky, but the score counted and Lehigh led 35-14.

The Leopards were driving deep inside Lehigh territory, with the ball 1st-and-goal at the Lehigh eight-yard line when Tyler Cavenas forced a Brown fumble. Brandon Leaks recovered and returned it 84 yards for a touchdown and a 42-14 advantage.

Lafayette forced a punt and cut the margin to 42-21. Reed completed passes for 18 yards to Crawford, 16 yards to Palumbo and 27 yards to Joey Chenoweth to push the ball down the field. Three straight rushes by Brown, the final a three-yard effort, led to the score following the seven-play, 71-yard drive.

Lafayette stopped Lehigh on its first two drives of the fourth quarter as Matt Smalley picked off a Shafnisky offering on the first drive and Lafayette forced a 43-yard field goal which Ed Mish missed with 6:39 left in the game.

The Leopards had the ball and Reed connected with Brown for 23 yards and Tim Vangelas for 28 more. Brown scored his third TD of the game on 2nd-and-goal from the one-yard line to run the score to 42-28.

The Leopards tried their second onside kick of the game which Lehigh recovered. On the first play from scrimmage, Lehigh TB Dom Bragalone ran for 44 yards and a touchdown.

Lafayette added a final score when Reed (19-31-0 for 278 yards, 2 TD's) hit Vangelas for a 25-yard touchdown that was set up by Brown's 28-yard reception. Brown finished the day with five catches for 88 yards, both career highs, to go along with his season-best rushing day.

Defensively, senior DB Dennis Bencsko led the team with eight tackles while LB Jerry Powe had seven.

NOTES: Jake Bissell and Brandon Bryant were the game captains, joining Bobby DePietro (who started the Lehigh game after missing the last four with a knee injury) and Mark Dodd.

The Lafayete senior class leaves with a Patriot League championship in 2013 and a 2-2 record vs. its archrival, including a 27-7 win over Lehigh in the 150 Meeting in Yankee Stadium.

With five first-half completions, Reed moved ahead of Rob Curley '10 for career completions with 430. In the second half, he completed 14 more and surpassed Brad Maurer '07 (434 completions) to finish his junior season with 444 career completions.