There's plenty of time to get hyped up for Lehigh/Delaware on Saturday. (If you haven't got your tickets yet, better head to your friendly neighborhood scalper, as it's already sold out.) In the meantime, let's wrap up last week's business first, starting with last week's game balls. It's no secret that one game ball will be going to the gentleman on your left, senior WR Gerran "G" Walker. With 311 all-purpose yards, including 144 returning yards, and 2 receiving TDs, he was a lock. On special teams and offense, he was a monster out there.(Photo courtesy of the Brown & White, Doug Moquet.)
Also on offense, I'd be remiss in not giving a ball to QB Mark Borda for his 22 for 31 day with 344 yards passing, 21 yards rushing and 6 TD passes. His 6 TDs tied a record held by Scott Semptimphelter ('95) and Kyle Keating ('04). He torched the Monmouth secondary and was the reason why Monmouth's upset bid wasn't meant to be.
Finally, for our defensive game ball we offer it to senior LB Matt Purdy for his 10-tackle performance, including 1 tackle for loss. Congratulations to all the winners!
Oh, you wanted your press roundup? Well, here's the links and here's your digest.
Allentown Morning Call:
Borda's 6 TD Passes Lift Mountain Hawks
Lehigh's Walker Starts To Deliver
Easton Express-Times:
Walker Gives Lehigh Extra Juice
Asbury Park Press:
Swift Start by Hawks Slows in Second Half
"We came out in the second half and I thought we lost our composure," said Monmouth coach Kevin Callahan following a 54-26 loss to Lehigh (1-0) before 8,063 at sun-bathed Murray H. Goodman Stadium on Saturday.
"As long as I've been here we've never made that many mental mistakes," Boland said, referring to the third quarter meltdown. "It seemed like every play there was a penalty or or formation problem. We just can't have that... I don't think the score tells the story. We could have done a lot better if we didn't make those mistakes."
"I thought we had enough explosiveness on offense that we would be able to put some points on the board," Callahan said. "I thought we would be able to play pretty good run defense and get Lehigh into a situation where they needed to throw the ball. I don't know if that was such a smart idea, looking at it right now. Our pass defense wasn't as good as we hoped it would be or as good as we thought it was."
"While the game didn't go as smoothly as we would have liked early, nobody panicked," Lembo said. "We just kept plugging away. The defense settled down and played a lot better, especially in the third quarter."
Likewise, Lembo will have a lot of things to clean up for next week. How good are the Mountain Hawks?
"Time will tell," he said.
..........
["G" Walker] set the tone immediately with a 50-yard kickoff return and wound up with 312 all-purpose yards in the biggest day of his career. He caught seven passes for a career-high 157 yards and two touchdowns. His four kickoff returns produced 144 yards and he fit in an 11-yard carry on a reverse.
And the best news of all for Lehigh was that when it was over, Walker said he felt completely healthy.
''I try not to think about it, because in football, sometimes injuries happen,'' Walker said. ''I try to stay positive and do the things I can control and try to care of myself the best that I can. I worked real hard in rehab to get back [from a partial tear of his MCL last season] and a day like today makes it all worthwhile.''
"When you have a guy like Gerran or [former Lehigh tight end] Adam Bergen, you want to make an effort to get him a certain amount of touches," Lehigh coach Pete Lembo said. "At the same time, you never want a game plan to be one-dimensional. We try to stay balanced, but certainly we try to feature our best players."
"A couple of the injuries Gerran has had, they're difficult to come back from if you're a skill player," Lehigh coach Pete Lembo said. "If a lineman had those same injuries, maybe it wouldn't affect him as much. He's really worked hard to take care of his body."
"I'm happy for him. He has always been a low-maintenance kid. I've never had any qualms about his toughness or his attention to detail when it came to rehabbing his injuries. He's just one of those thoroughbred-type athletes that can't function with the type of injuries he has had."
"G (Walker) is a real special player out there," said Borda, who matched a Lehigh record by throwing six touchdown passes. "We can do a couple different things with him. My confidence in him is just growing by the minute."
...
Lembo was obviously pleased with the play of Borda, who shook off an early interception to complete 22 of 31 passes for 344 yards, and tied a school mark with six touchdown passes.
"He played like an experienced quarterback with a lot of poise, and stayed very positive on the sideline even after we had some protection breakdowns," Lembo said. "On his interception, he was hit as he threw the ball. We had a receiver coming open on the post, but he got hit.
"Mark didn't panic. He stayed optimistic and went right back out there and had himself a big day."
As you probably guessed by my consistent references in this posting, I'm liking the nickname for "G" for WR Gerran Walker, even if it does uncomfortably remind me of "G Money", or even worse, seminal rapper Warren G. Still, I give it my thumbs-up of approval.
Tomorrow: A really quick Weekend Roundup; and maybe something to get you pumped for Lehigh/Delaware
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-Ngineer