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White 23, Brown 9

The long-awaited update of Lehigh's spring game is finally here - in-between my blog "makeover" and the whirlwind of activity surrounding the NFL draft.

Last Saturday, Lehigh's offense beat Lehigh's defense 23-9 in the annual Brown/White game. It wasn't exactly easy to find the boxscore of the game, and it will probably be disappearing from the Express-Times archives soon, so courtesy of the Express-Times, here is the boxscore of the game:

Brown 2 5 1 1--9
White 6 4 6 7--23

First quarter
B -- Defensive stop without first down (2 points)
W -- FG Justin Musiek 23
W -- FG Musiek 26

Second quarter
W -- Offensive first down (1 point)
B -- Eric Rath tackled in end zone by Micah Greene, safety (2 points)
B -- Defensive stop (1 point)
W -- FG Musiek 39
B -- Defensive stop without first down (2 points)

Third quarter
W -- FG Tom Viscuso 19
W -- FG Musiek 36
B -- Defensive stop (1 point)

Fourth quarter
B -- Defensive stop (1 point)
W -- Bilal Morris 21 pass from Sedale Threatt (Musiek kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Rich Forman 2-13, Rath 6-10, Matt McGowan 3-6, Frank Trovato 1-2, Ryan Copacia 3-2, Mike Probst 1-0, Mark Borda 3- (minus) 2, Marques Thompson 4- (minus) 2.

PASSING -- Borda 11-15-0 for 147, Threatt 4-7-0 for 46, Probst 3-8-0 for 56, Kevin Marshall 2-7-0 for 18.

RECEIVING -- Rath 4-37, Kevin Zebluim 3-56, Winfred Porter 3-48, Lee Thomas 3-31, Morris 2-26, Gerran Walker 1-28, Adam Kovacs 1-16, Pete Donchez 1-13, Trovato 1-11, Grant Hartman 1-9.

MISSED FIELD GOALS -- Viscuso, third quarter, 36 yards, wide left.

Here's the links to the sundry game previews and summaries on the web:

Offical Lehigh website:
Offense outscores Defense in Annual Spring Game

Morning Call:
Mother Nature Gives PL champs a Break

Express-Times:
Facing the Musiek Could Be a Good Thing
Captains: Graziani, Borda, Selmasska, Cardwell

Brown & White:
Spring Game Showcase for Unproven

My summation of the spring season will come later today, or tomorrow. In the meantime, here's your spring game digest:

On Borda: “Among all the very good things he did last year, the areas that he needed to improve upon, and continues to need to improve upon, is the ability to get rid of the ball on time, and also to progress his reads in the passing game from primary to secondary and even beyond that receivers in the pattern,” Lembo said. “I think he’s done a much better job doing that this spring and I think he’ll continue to improve on both areas.”

At one point, Lehigh rising senior quarterback Mark Borda connected on a pretty 31-yard touchdown strike to classmate Winfred Porter, who has impressed the coaching staff throughout the spring.

Borda summed up the offense’s overall performance on Saturday: “We have the opportunity to be good,” he said, “but we know we’re going to have to work hard over the summer in order to take advantage and be successful.... 'We did OK, but I'm not ecstatic because we should have put the ball in the end zone a little more.''

Team Captains: Borda, along with linebacker Anthony Graziani, offensive lineman Adam Selmasska, and defensive back Kaloma Cardwell are the team’s captains for the 2005 season. All are seniors in 2005, and for Cardwell, this season will mark his second straight as a team captain.

''It's a terrific honor given to me by the team,'' Borda said of his captaincy. ''I'm expected to lead by example every day. I'm ready to take that on.''

"It's a real honor," Graziani said Saturday after making an interception in a warmup drill and then making the second tackle in the team's annual Brown and White spring football game. "Ever since I got hurt in the freshman year, I had to plan to come back for a fifth year. It's nice to be back here as captain."

On the kicking game: "[Kicker] Matt [McNeils] left school in the middle of this semester, for personal reasons," Lehigh coach Pete Lembo said. "It was disappointing for me. I just don't feel like he jumped in with both feet at Lehigh, both academically and socially."

'I felt comfortable today and have all spring,'' the Hanover, N.H., native and Rutgers transfer said. ''A lot of it is mental. Being a transfer, I was a little shaky coming in last year. Now I'm comfortable with the guys, the city, everything else. Having [McNelis] around was added pressure. It's nice to know I don't have to look over my shoulder.''

''I was extremely pleased how Justin kicked under pressure today,'' Lembo said. ''When you look back at last season that was an area where we probably had our greatest inconsistency. It's amazing we were able to win a league championship considering how inconsistent we were. It was nice to see him come out and have success under pressure."

While all three facets of the game looked good, the general consensus is that there is plenty of room for improvement before September rolls around and the Mountain Hawks begin defense of their Patriot League crown. Lembo is confident, however, that the team will work hard over the summer to be ready when preseason practice begins.

''You got to see glimpses of some of the team's strengths,'' Lembo said. ''Zebluim, Thomas and [sophomore and Becahi grad] Pete Donchez played well among as did several others. Receivers are a definite area of strength.''

“Winfred [Porter] has had a good spring,” Lembo said. “He has improved from a consistency standpoint and we have seen glimpses of what he can do. The receiver position is an area of strength on our team.”

On the negative side, Lehigh never generated a running game. Sophomore Rich Forman's 10-yard run on the second series came on a rare opening.

''The offensive line is typically the last part of a team that jells,'' Lembo said. ''I believe in our guys up front. They need to work hard in the summer and get better.''

Lembo said he is interested to see offensive linemen junior Tom Toth, sophomore Jason Russell and freshman Jimmy Kehs battle against sophomore defensive ends Matt Mohler, Paul Fabre and Terrell Jenkins. He said the defensive ends have a big task ahead of them if they hope to replace Alfsen and Lawrence, but that they have the talent to do so.

“Tell you what, those are some big shoes to fill,” Lembo said. “Those are two guys that played a lot of downs for us and played with some great intensity and emotion. I feel good that [Mohler, Fabre and Jenkins] as well as some younger guys, Mike Murawinski and Joel Kriss, have a lot of ability and now it’s a matter of gaining experience and playing with more confidence. We hope they continue in the right direction.”

“This is a low-maintenance group that likes being around each other,” he explained. “The key for us is to develop some guys up front [on the offensive and defensive lines], remain humble, and continue to work to get better.”

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