This will be a really quick one, since I'm extra-cranky from broken computers and general computer malaise. Georgetown is coming tomorrow to Murray Goodman in a game which every year means a lot to coach Lembo. Georgetown is coach Lembo's alma mater, and each year there's an extra bit of emotion and passion in the air for him. There should be a huge crowd on-hand tomorrow to cheer on the Mountain Hawks in our last home game of the year (before Lehigh/Lafayette, that is). I'm going to be interested in what Lehigh team shows up tomorrow.
What you didn't read this week is from Hoya head coach Bob Benson: "We're real good up front. [Seinor DE Michael Ononibaku] and [junior DE Alex Buzbee] are tremendous players... and there aren't many better than junior DT Julius Griauzde. The guys on the edge have to keep us in these games.. we've got to have more success early in games. We have to start early and finish completely.. it's the only way [to bea ta team like Lehigh]."
Easton Express-Times:
Lehigh Back In Command
Allentown Morning Call:
A Long Journey, But Close To Home
Brown & White:
Hawks Host Must-Win Against Hoyas
The Hoya:
G'Town Hopes Homecoming Spirit Lasts Against Lehigh
The mash-up:
What you didn't read this week is from Hoya head coach Bob Benson: "We're real good up front. [Seinor DE Michael Ononibaku] and [junior DE Alex Buzbee] are tremendous players... and there aren't many better than junior DT Julius Griauzde. The guys on the edge have to keep us in these games.. we've got to have more success early in games. We have to start early and finish completely.. it's the only way [to bea ta team like Lehigh]."
Easton Express-Times:
Lehigh Back In Command
Allentown Morning Call:
A Long Journey, But Close To Home
Brown & White:
Hawks Host Must-Win Against Hoyas
The Hoya:
G'Town Hopes Homecoming Spirit Lasts Against Lehigh
The mash-up:
Every year, Pete Lembo bridles his emotion during Georgetown week.
Then, just before game time, Lehigh University's highly successful football coach lets loose with a passion and fire that has allowed him to maintain complete dominance over the team he once played for.
"This is obviously a big game for him," said [senior WR] Adam Kovacs. "A lot of people he knows from college are watching this game. Generally, you can't really tell a change in him. But in his pregame speech, you could sense it means a lot to him. You could see it in his eyes."
"It's special to me," said Lembo, an offensive lineman when the Hoyas played in the NCAA Division III field, "because I'm very pleased that my alma mater is playing a brand of football that I think is appropriate for an institution of that nature."
"I've worked very hard this week to keep [the team] entirely focused on the task at hand -- beating Georgetown. It’s simple... if we ease up at all, we will lose the championship. If we want a championship badly, then we don’t know what a ‘letdown’ is.”
"I'm confident there won't be a letdown," Kovacs said. "It's a pretty mature team, despite having a sophomore quarterback. With what we've gone through this year, at this point we're so focused on our goal... If we trip over these next three weeks, it's done."
[G'Town TE Glenn] Castergine was willing to give the Mountain Hawks their due. “It’ll be a challenge. Lehigh has been great,” he said. “They have great players.”
According to the senior tight end, the key to victory is “coming out fast. We need to play hard and play fast. We have a few guys injured, so we need the guys that are filling in to really step into their roles and do their part.”
One of those injured players is [senior RB Marcus] Slayton. Georgetown’s chief offensive threat of late, Slayton will need to be in the lineup for the Hoyas to achieve success. According to Benson, he is questionable.
“Confidence,” Benson said when asked about the key to Slayton’s improvement. “He is playing with complete confidence. And the offensive line has done a better job.”
“It will probably be the biggest homecrowd so far this year,” senior offensive lineman Adam Selmasska said. “It’s special because a lot of the parents of students will be at the game, and we are representing them, so we need to have a good outing.”
...
Kovacs is in his fifth year at Lehigh after applying for, and receiving, a fifth year of eligibility. He suffered a season-ending stress fracture in his back in preseason camp before his sophomore season in 2002.
"From the moment it happened, I knew I wanted to stay for a fifth year," Kovacs said. "[Pen Argyl grad Anthony Graziani] was the same way. We're good friends. We knew we wanted to be a part of this as long as we could. It's great to play football here and be part of a program that is successful year in, year out.
"You get to compete at the highest level. It's the time of life when the real world is knocking on the door, but to play football for one more year and hang around with the guys, hey, why not?
"I feel like we have six or seven guys who could be a No. 1 or No. 2 threat on another team in our league, even a guy like [Bethelem Catholic grad] Frank Trovato, who hardly gets any time," Kovacs said. "It's tough at times because everybody wants the ball and the opportunity to make plays.
"What helps is that we're all pretty close. We hang out together all the time and we take pride in things as a unit as opposed to individual accolades. We joke around about who's getting the ball more. It's not like we're competing for a spot in the NFL draft. We just want to help our team win. I couldn't imagine being on a defense worrying about trying to stop us."
"It feels great for us to know we control our own destiny again," Kovacs said. "It was scary for a couple of weeks."
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