Football: No. 19 Lehigh holds on for 34-22 victory

There were plenty of positives from the football team’s opening game against No. 19 Lehigh. But for head coach Bob Surace ’90, a loss is still a loss.

“There’s no moral victory,” Surace said. “I expect our effort to be good. I expect us to execute better than we did. I mean, golly, we had chances, we had a lot of energy in that first half against a good team, and we didn’t get the jump on them that we needed.”

A few minutes into the fourth quarter, it looked like the Tigers (0-1) had that jump on Lehigh (2-1) under the Saturday night lights. Following an electrifying 92-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by senior defensive back Ivan Charbonneau that brought the score to 27-16, the Tigers recovered a surprise onside kick by freshman Brendan Sofen.

However, Princeton could not close out the comeback, falling 34-22 to the Mountain Hawks in a game that played out very similarly to last year’s loss in Bethlehem, Pa. Like last year, the Tigers were plagued by problems scoring in the red zone and the inability of the secondary to prevent the big passing play.

“At the end of the day, the red zone and the explosive plays really affected how we played,” Surace said.

After focusing on improvements on defense, Princeton’s unit impressed early in the first half. Lehigh features one of the most explosive offenses in the Football Championship Subdivision, but were forced into a three-and-out on its first drive.

“They played great tonight,” senior quarterback Tommy Wornham said of his team’s defense. “They played really well today, and having [senior linebacker] Steven Cody and [senior defensive lineman Mike] Catapano both back — they’re providing that leadership — it’s a real spark. I think it definitely helps us.”

On the Tigers’ ensuing possession, Wornham led his team down the field, connecting with junior wideout Shane Wilkinson and senior receiver Isaac Serwanga for completions. Combined with a strong running attack from junior tailback Akil Sharp, which sophomore receiver Connor Kelley complemented with a long reverse sweep, the Tigers got as far as the Mountain Hawks’ seven-yard line. Unfortunately for Princeton, the offense stalled in the red zone and settled for a 25-yard field goal from senior kicker Patrick Jacob — a sign of things to come.

For the rest of the quarter, the Tigers’ defense was rock solid, forcing Lehigh quarterback Chris Lum into three straight incompletions on his next possession. The Mountain Hawks only gained one first down in the entire first quarter.

“We tackled, for the most part, really well,” Surace said. “We held them to the gains they should have had. I thought our tackling against a really good running game [was good]. We got good penetration. Our front seven played better.”

However, Lum and company opened up the second quarter on a tear, earning two first downs before Lum connected with wide receiver Ryan Spadola on a long 49-yard touchdown reception across the middle. Princeton’s ensuing possession ended when Serwanga bobbled a short pass on the left side that ended up in the hands of Lehigh cornerback Gabe Johnson.

Lehigh was not able to capitalize on the turnover, and on the next drive, Wornham completed an amazing behind-the-back shovel pass to Sharp, who exploded down the left side for 44 yards. But once again, the Tigers left points on the board in the red zone, leaving Jacob to hit a 28-yard field goal.

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“Our red-zone execution ... I’ll go back to the drawing board,” Surace said. “I thought we had a good plan there, we really worked hard on it all preseason. But we missed a few opportunities, and they stopped us.”

This inability to finish hurt Princeton, as Lum connected with Spadola for a second touchdown with 23 seconds left in the half. At the break, the Tigers had outgained the Mountain Hawks 84 to 35 on the ground, but Lehigh won in the air 197-112.

Opening up the second half, Lum and Spadola once again exploited a gap in the Princeton secondary, completing a 46-yard pass and run along the left sideline to put Lehigh up 20-6. After trading several possessions, the Tigers took advantage of good field position at midfield, but once again they came away with just a 20-yard field goal to remain behind by two possessions.

Unlike the Tigers, Lehigh found the end zone again, finishing a long drive with a two-yard touchdown reception by fullback Sean Farrell. The Mountain Hawks were up 27-9 and seemed to have the game in hand.

But on the following kickoff, Charbonneau took off on a 92-yard return up the left sideline. Princeton’s first kick return touchdown since 2005 gave the Tigers a glimmer of hope.

“That was a catalyst,” Wornham said. “Ivan did a great job on that. He came off the field and that’s all I thought: Great job, catalyst. Oh here we go. It was awesome. Right after that kick return, everyone was pretty much going nuts on the sideline.”

Sofen — kicking in place of Jacob, who strained a muscle on the previous extra point attempt, according to Surace — surprised the Mountain Hawks with an onside attempt, which the Tigers recovered cleanly. Wornham and freshman tailback Chuck Dibilio, who had 86 yards in his collegiate debut, led the offense down the field. With six minutes, 49 seconds left in the game, Wornham completed a short shovel pass to Dibilio, who broke a tackle and found daylight and the endzone.

Dibilio’s 26-yard catch and run capped off a drive that showed a spark of offensive life from the Tigers. Princeton had brought the game to one possession, 27-22.

“I couldn’t have been more happy,” Dibilio said. “On the play, I was trying to get into the endzone. Once it happened, I couldn’t believe it. To score on my first game, I was ecstatic.”

Unfortunately for Princeton, the defense, which had been tired out by Lehigh’s high-octane offense, could not hold back Lum and running back Keith Sherman. Sherman sealed the deal when he broke into the endzone on a two-yard rush with 1:54 to go.

Princeton will look to rebound next week against Bucknell in the second of three home night games.