Nov. 19, 2016
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EASTON, Pa. Lafayette senior quarterbacks Drew Reed and Blake Searfoss combined to complete 36 of 54 passes for 398 yards with Reed throwing for two touchdowns for Lafayette in a 45-21 loss to Lehigh on Saturday.
It was the 152nd meeting of college football's most-played rivalry and the first played in Fisher Stadium since 2012. Lafayette continues to lead the all-time series, which began in 1884, 78-69-5.
Lehigh (9-2, 6-0) signal caller senior Nick Shafnisky threw for three touchdowns and ran for another, ending the day 19-of-29 for 268 yards on his way to game MVP honors.
The Lafayette offense appeared to be moving in the right direction to start the game. A 28-yard pass from Reed to Rocco Palumbo and a 15-yarder to Matt Mrazek put the Leopards deep inside Lehigh territory. DeSean Brown's seven-yard run set up the Leopards in the red zone, but his fumble on the next play gave Lehigh the ball at its own 21.
Lehigh converted a pair of third downs, despite two sacks from junior Beau Bosch. The defense held strong, forcing a turnover on downs and handing the Lafayette offense the ball at the 22.
Reed was picked off on the resulting drive and Lehigh took advantage. The Mountain Hawks used five plays to get on the board, scoring on a 16-yard pass from Shafnisky to Troy Pelletier.
Lehigh stretched the lead to 14-0 just into the second quarter as Shafnisky hit Gatlin Casey for a 15-yard strike to end a six-play drive in 1:24. The Leopard offense went three and out as Lehigh took over on its own 40 and marched down the field once again, settling for an Ed Mish field goal to stretch the edge to 17-0 with 10:46 remaining in the first half.
Lafayette (2-9, 1-5) put together a drive midway through the second quarter with the big play coming at 9:30. Reed dropped back and fired a strike over the middle for Wadsworth, who rumbled 56 yards down the left sideline and into the end zone. Ryan Forrester finished it off with the PAT and brought the Maroon and White within 10 at 17-7.
A 54-yard kickoff return by Casey put Lehigh in prime field position and forced Lafayette's defense to defend a short field. The Mountain Hawks worked it down to the goal line and Shafnisky scrambled through two Lafayette defenders for a four-yard touchdown run with 6:36 left in the opening half, putting lead at 24-17.
Lehigh added another touchdown on a three-yard run by Dom Bragalone with a minute left in the half. Lafayette had a final scoring chance in the opening half, but Reed was sacked on the final play on 3rd-and-goal at the two-yard line to move the game into the locker room with the Leopards in a 31-7 hole.
The Mountain Hawks opened the second half with an eight-play, 67-yard drive. Pelletier finished it off with a four-yard reception from Shafnisky to make it 38-7.
Lafayette responded late in the third quarter as Reed and C.J. Amill connected from 17 yards out for the Leopards' second touchdown of the game. The play finished off a nine-play drive that went 65 yards in 3:14.
The Leopard defense made a play to start the fourth quarter as Yasir Thomas picked off Brad Mayes at midfield. Then, a 29-yard Searfoss pass to Wadsworth put Lafayette in scoring position and Brown ran it in from a yard out. The Leopards pulled out a trick play for the two-point conversion as Searfoss took a lateral from Reed, then threw it back across the field to his position mate, who made a circus catch to put the final score at 45-21.
Mrazek and Wadsworth finished with solid receiving days. Mrazek's seven catches put him at 141 for his career and rank him seventh all-time. He passed Frank Corbo `85 (136) and Joe McCourt '05 (139) on Saturday. Wadsworth tied his best single-game output with 97 yards on four catches with career-long 56-yard catch. With 268 passing yards, Reed eclipsed the 7000-yard plateau, finishing his career with 7,007 and a 64 percent completion percentage, second all-time at Lafayette.
Defensively, Robin Cepeda returned to the fold for the Leopards after missing four games due to an elbow injury. Cepeda registered three sacks, the first time since Oct. 5, 2013 (Tyrus White vs. Bucknell) that a Lafayette player had three or more in a game.