Sept. 18, 2010

Center Valley, Pa. - Lehigh and Fordham earned victories on the first Saturday of action pitting the Patriot League against the Ivy League, while Georgetown fell in dramatic fashion on the final play of the game at Yale.

The Mountain Hawks scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to outlast Princeton, 35-22, in Bethlehem. Fordham took the Liberty Cup back from intra-city rival Columbia, taking the lead with just under five minutes to play and recovering a fumble on a first-and-goal play with less than a minute left to hold on for a 16-9 victory on the road.

The feel-good story through the first two weeks of the season nearly added another dramatic chapter, but Georgetown suffered its first loss of the season when Yale's Patrick Witt ran in from one yard out as time expired for a 40-35 final. Bucknell had a 20-9 lead at halftime but could not maintain the momentum in the second half of a 43-20 loss in its home opener against Dartmouth, while Lafayette gave up the final 16 points of the game in a 19-14 loss at Penn. Holy Cross fell at Harvard, 34-6.

A synopsis of each game is included below, along with recaps and box scores from each of the Patriot League schools.

at Lehigh 35, Princeton 22
Box Score

Bethlehem, Pa. - Alex Wojdowski caught a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes as Lehigh (2-1) held off Princeton, 35-22, on Saturday at Goodman Stadium to end a seven-game losing skid against Ivy League opponents.

The Mountain Hawks took a slim 14-13 lead into the half behind a first-quarter touchdown run by Chris Lum and second-quarter scoring run by Sean Farrell. Princeton took a 16-14 advantage early in the third, but Lehigh answered with a pair of Jake Peery field goals to go back up, 20-16. Princeton cut it to 20-19 heading into the fourth quarter, but the Mountain Hawks played a strong final period to pull away. Wojdowski caught a halfback pass from Jay Campbell for an 18-yard touchdown to put Lehigh up, 27-19, with 13:14 left in the game. After Princeton hit another field goal to cut it to 27-22, the Mountain Hawks put the game away with Michael Colvin's 12-yard touchdown pass to Wojdowski with 2:56 to play to complete the scoring.

Colvin replaced an injured Lum and finished 10-of-14 passing for 128 yards and his first career touchdown strike. Campbell ran for 79 yards while also throwing the touchdown pass, while Wojdowski had four receptions for 79 yards and the two scores. Lehigh was outgained by 200 yards, but kept Princeton out of the endzone in four trips into the redzone. The Mountain Hawks also forced three turnovers, two coming on interceptions by Jarard Cribbs. Mike Groome, Colin Newton and Al Pierce shared team honors with 11 tackles apiece.

The Mountain Hawks had lost the last two meetings with Princeton, and beat the Tigers at home for the first time since 2002.

Fordham 16 at Columbia 9
Box Score

Manhattan, N.Y. - Fordham (2-1) will bring the Liberty Cup back to the Bronx after scoring the final 13 points of the game and coming up with a crucial turnover in the final minute to win at Columbia, 16-9, on Saturday.

The teams played to a 3-3 tie at the half, but Columbia went ahead 9-3 on a touchdown less than two minutes into the second half. Fordham marched down the field to try and take the lead, but had to settle for a pair of short Patrick Murray field goals to tie the score at 9-9 with under 10 minutes to play. After the Ram defense forced a three and out, Darryl Whiting finished an 11-play, 69-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown for a 16-9 lead with 4:58 left. Columbia had a great chance to tie the score when it reached a first-and-goal play at the Fordham 4, but the snap was mishandled and Fordham's Anthony Lubischer recovered with 47 seconds left to seal the victory.

Fordham ran for 202 yards on the afternoon, with 105 coming by senior Xavier Martin. Blake Wayne completed 17-of-28 passes for 130 yards, while Jason Caldwell caught seven of them for 61 yards. Michael Martin led the defense with 11 tackles.

The Rams won for the third time in the past four meetings, while the road team was victorious for the third year in a row.

at Yale 40, Georgetown 35
Box Score

New Haven, Conn - Georgetown (2-1) saw its surprising season-opening run come to an end in heartbreaking fashion, as Yale scored a one-yard touchdown on the final play of the game for a 40-35 victory over the Hoyas on Saturday afternoon at the Yale Bowl.

The Hoyas were trying to extend their best start since 1999, and nearly did it by rallying in the second half. Despite a first-quarter touchdown pass from Scott Darby to Jamal Davis and a second-quarter touchdown run by Phillip Oladeji, the Hoyas trailed, 27-14, at the half. But that changed quickly in the second half, as Jeremy Moore took the opening kick 85 yards for a touchdown and the Hoyas cashed in on an interception with a two-yard touchdown run by Keerome Lawrence to take a 28-27 lead just over two minutes into the half. Darby threw a four-yard touchdown pass to John O'Leary with 8:28 left in the period for a 35-27 lead, and Yale closed it to 35-34 entering the fourth quarter.

The final period brought a group of significant plays that almost allowed the Hoyas to hold on. After Darby was intercepted in the red zone, the Hoyas stuffed Yale on three straight goaline plays and Robert McCabe blocked a field goal attempt to preserve the 35-34 lead with 4:41 left. The Hoyas were stopped one yard short of a first down on their possession and had to punt it over to Yale with 1:27 to go in the game. The Bulldogs got down to the one yard line for the final play of the game, with Witt scoring as time expired to deal the Hoyas a tough defeat.

Darby completed 24-of-47 passes for 340 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, with Lawrence catching eight of those for 129 yards. It was the first time the Hoyas have had a 300 yard passer and 100 yard receiver since last year's game against Yale. Oladeji led the rushing effort with 54 yards and a touchdown. Paul Sant' Ambrogio led the defense with 14 tackles.

Dartmouth 43 at Bucknell 20
Box Score

Lewisburg, Pa. - A strong first half did not carry over after the intermisson as Bucknell (0-3) gave up 34 points in the second half and lost to Dartmouth, 43-20, on Saturday at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.

The Bison played a very good first half behind a number of freshman contributors. Four played a role in the first touchdown, as Derrick Palmer recorded an interception, Brandon Wesley threw a 40-yard pass to Victor Walker and finished the drive with a one-yard touchdown strike to Travis Friend for a 10-0 lead in the first quarter. The Bison extended the advantage to 13-0 before Dartmouth got on the board, and took a 20-6 lead on Wesley's six-yard touchdown pass to Terna Ityokumbul with 6:01 to play in the period. The score was set up by a 58-yard completion to Walker.

But from that point, the Big Green took over. Dartmouth added a field goal to cut Bucknell's halftime lead to 20-9, and scored a trio of third-quarter touchdowns to pull ahead, 30-20. The Big Green added two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter to put the game away.

Wesley completed 15-of-23 passes for 201 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, with Walker catching three for 105 yards and becoming the second different Bison receiver in the last five years to reach 100 yards receiving in a game. Tyler Smith had 172 all-purpose yards, while Tyler Anderson led the defense with 10 tackles.

at Penn 19, Lafayette 14
Box Score

Philadelphia, Pa. - Two big plays were not enough for Lafayette (0-2) as Penn scored the final 16 points of the game to rally past the Leopards, 19-14, on Saturday evening at Franklin Field.

Lafayette struggled offensively throughout the night, but took a 14-3 lead in a 1:32 span in the second quarter by scoring on special teams and defense. Kyni Scott recovered a blocked punt in the endzone for a 7-3 lead with 12:45 left in the period, and Mike Phillips returned an interception 25 yards for a score on Penn's next possession for a 14-3 advantage with 11:13 to go in the period. Penn began to chip away from there, tallying a field goal before halftime and a touchdown in the third quarter to cut the Leopard lead to 14-13. The Quakers went ahead 19-14 on a touchdown with 6:21 to play in the game, and Lafayette's final effort was stopped at the Penn 15 as time expired.

The Leopards tallied just eight first downs and 168 yards of total offense, and were outgained by 224 yards overall. Lafayette gave up 243 rushing yards while only recording 19 on the ground itself. Ryan O'Neil, who was injured last week against Georgetown, came off the bench late in the game to go 8-for-13 with 94 yards. Mark Layton caught six passes for 62 yards. Michael Schmidlein had 11 tackles and recovered a fumble, while Phillips also recovered a fumble to go along with the interception.

Lafayette saw its three-game winning streak against Penn come to an end, and is 0-2 for the first time since 2001.

at Harvard 34, Holy Cross 6
Box Score

Cambridge, Mass. - Holy Cross (1-2) struggled against a difficult opponent for the second week in a row as the Crusaders lost at Harvard, 34-6, on Saturday night.

The Crimson took a 20-0 lead at halftime and scored the first 34 points before Holy Cross got on the board with a minute left in the game. Freddie Santana caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Kevin Watson to avoid the shutout.

Watson went 13-for-25 with 116 yards and the touchdown off the bench at quarterback, and led the team with 27 rushing yards. Alex Schneider had six receptions for 48 yards. Roman SanDoval led the defense with 11 tackles.