Lehigh 27, Lafayette 21, OT

Murray Goodman has been the source of some of the most thrilling chapters of "The Rivalry", and today's heart-stopping overtime win was no exception to that rule.

I have been going to see "The Rivalry" every year since 1988, missing the big game against Lafayette only once. Of all the games I've seen, the one I saw this weekend at could have been the craziest one of them all.

There have been close finishes before. Lafayette QB Rob Curley two years ago found WR Kyle Roeder on a slant pattern in the end zone in 2007 to deal Lehigh a 21-17 defeat. In 2005, Leopard QB Pat Davis' heave was found by RB Jonathan Hurt for a dramatic touchdown pass to ruin Lehigh's shot at a playoff autobid in a 23-19 defeat - and in the process put Lafayette in the playoff field as an at-large bid. In 1999, with Lafayette head coach Bill Russo coaching in his last game, his Leopards came very close to upsetting the Mountain Hawks - but were stopped short in a 14-12 defeat.

Overtime also happened before at Murray Goodman - in 1995, when Lehigh overcame a 16 point deficit to force the first overtime game in "The Rivalry". And when WR Brian Klingerman caught that touchdown pass in the end zone with a leaping one-handed grab, Kevin Higgins' Lehigh team would win a Patriot League championship and cap off one of the most thrilling Rivalries ever. (Had they needed a second overtime, it was debatable if they could conduct it - the sun had already set, and darkness has just started to envelop the stadium.)

But in all of those games, Lehigh were either heavy favorites over "the boys from Easton", or at worst their equals. In today's game, 3-7 Lehigh's only role in the larger picture was to be a spoiler over the 8-2 Leopards. Frank Tavani's team, who was looking for revenge for last year's loss, also had to have had an eye towards the playoffs if they finished 9-2.

A win by Lehigh would have clearly been a huge upset. It would be a win against a nationally-ranked opponent, something Lehigh hadn't done since they beat Harvard in 2007. It would be against the same Rob Curley that bedeviled them two years ago - and the same Rob Curley that very nearly made it on the Walter Payton ballot this year.

And - somehow - this team did it. They didn't do it pretty; but in the end, Lehigh just kept making play after play after play after play. They hung around when Lafayette threatened to really get rolling. Despite Leopards hanging all over him all day, junior QB J.B. Clark got the ball where it needed to go. The defense stopped the Leopards when they had to.

And they won.

On paper, this was a mismatch. Yet somehow this team kept coming back out there and making plays to win this football game.

*****

It didn't look like Clark would get his second consecutive MVP trophy early after he fumbled in the red zone on the opening drive.

Lafayette took that turnover and proceeded to march right down the field. But junior FS John Venerio picked off a trick play pass from Lafayette sophomore WR Kyle Hayes in the end zone to stop their first drive, setting the tone early for a defensive battle.

After a drive stalled at the Lafayette 48, sophomore P Alex Smith booted a 46 yard punt, downed at the 2 by freshman DB Bryan Andrews. After that, however, Lafayette would get their offensive engine going. Curley would take off to convert for one big third down and find junior WR Mark Layton to convert another. He'd then find sophomore WR Mitch Bennett with a picture-perfect pass the right corner of the end zone to give the Leopards a 7-0 lead.

After a fumble on a muffed punt, Lafayette looked like they would take control of the game. But after senior DT B.J. Benning stood up Lafayette senior RB Tyrell Coon on two straight runs, on fourth down sophomore LB Devin Greene would make a great defensive play to prevent Coon from catching the ball around the sticks, thwarting another drive.

After another Lehigh offensive drive stalled, Lafayette was soon knocking on the door once again - with a 14 yard screen pass to senior RB Maurice White and a 29 yard Curley-to-Bennett connection to get to the edge of Lehigh's red zone. But - again - Lehigh would make a play, with Andrews' interception in the end zone to stop another Leopard drive.

Four drives. One became seven Leopard points, but the defense forced two end-zone turnovers and made a play on fourth down to stop another drive, which for all practical purposes was another turnover. This time, Lehigh would respond.

In the drive that could have summed up the game, Clark went to work, still down 7-0 and without much to show for his effort. After he found sophomore WR Jake Drwal twice for a total of 34 yards two get to midfield - both times with leaping grabs - three more times on the drive he would overcome sacks to convert on third down and more than ten.

Once, he found junior TE Alex Wojdowski wide-open on the right side for a 25 yard gain that looked until the last moment to be doomed to failure. The second time, he willed a ball to junior WR Craig Zurn to get a first down in the red zone. And the third time, he tried to find Drwal in the corner of the end zone - and might have had him, too, if Lafayette junior DB Donald Ellis hadn't grabbed him for an easy pass interference call for the officials.

1st and goal at the 2 - and even then, it still wasn't easy. An incompletion to Drwal, then a zipped ball over the head of Craig Zurn that bounced the padding behind the goalpost. But Clark fought though it and - finally - hit a wide open freshman WR James Flynn for the game tying score right before halftime.

*****

By all rights, Lehigh should have been down by at least two touchdowns. Yet somehow the Mountain Hawks were in this thing.

It made for a strange experience in the stands, too. Normally in these Lehigh/Lafayette games, there is energy to spare pouring out of the stands, but many of the Lehigh faithful seemed to hold back some of their energy - almost not sure whether to get behind the team. Granted, they had seen a lot this year: too many close losses, the first time Lehigh was ever shut out at Murray Goodman stadium, and not a single win against a team with a winning record.

Sure, there were still the students - loudly cheering the first downs, getting pumped when the T-shirt cannon shot up at the crowd, and oohing on the big defensive hits. But it's as if they'd been burned by their last boyfriend - would they ever learn to love with reckless abandon again?

On the other side, the Lafayette fans seemed to have more of the unrestrained energy. There was a confidence about them that Curley would somehow do it all again, that the number of sacks by senior LB Mark Leggerio, senior DT Ian Dell and senior DT Andrew Poulson would ultimately take their toll and take apart the Mountain Hawks. They'd seen it before so many times this year - why not in this game, too?

Tentatively, the second half began - Lehigh fans still hoping for the best, but secretly expecting the worst.

*****

Lehigh's worst fears were realized in the third quarter when Curley and the Leopard offense went on a methodical 9 play, 82 yard drive that seemed to demonstrate that the Lafayette machine was simply going to overwhelm Lehigh in the second half. Big runs by sophomore RB Jerome Rudolph, interspersed with four perfect passes, including a 29 yard strike to sophomore WR Greg Stripe and a 3 yard pass to senior TE Michael Bolton on the back edge of the end zone that would give Lafayette a 14-7 lead.

A Lehigh 3-and-out in other games would have given most fans that "here we go again" feeling. But this ensuing 3-and-out would change everything.

After a booming 51 yard punt by Alex Smith, Leopard junior WR Nathan Padia tried to run across the field and someow lost the ball - which would be pounced upon by gratefully be Lehigh's John Venerio in the end zone.

The scoreboard didn't lie: Lehigh, 14, Lafayette 14, even if the extra point - for effect - would bounce off the right post, and through, for the score.

"I didn't even see the play," coach Andy Coen said after the game. "I saw the ball go over his head, and then a mad scramble. I'll be looking forward to seeing that one on the tape!"

The 3rd quarter would wind to an end after both defenses stepped up. While Padia would redeem himself with a 18 yard punt return that set the table nicely for the Leopards next drive, B.J. Benning simply refused to lose underneath, stuffing interior run after interior run. But Curley would do just enough to move the sticks: finding Layton for one first down, and Tyrell Coon would break free outside for another to set up a first and goal at the six.

First down. Senior LB Matt Cohen. Stops Tyrell Coon cold.

Second down. Benning and senior LB Troy Taylor. They stop Tyrell Coon after a two yard gain.

Third down. Coon looks like he's going to break through for the touchdown, but then senior LB Al Pierce and B.J. Benning deliver a crushing hit to stop him short. Again.

Fourth down - and Tavani, in a move that might be second-guessed for quite some time, elects to go for it instead of kick the field goal. Junior DT David Brown and Troy Taylor knock Coon back 1 yard! Lafayette turns the ball over on downs.

Slowly, the Lehigh crowd starts to believe that maybe, just maybe, this might be their day.

*****

Clark then led Lehigh on the best offensive drive of the year. Again Lehigh would find themselves with third downs to convert on the drive, and again Clark would will the ball to convert them. 3rd and 7? Clark to Drwal, 14 yards. 3rd-and-3? Clark to Wojcowski, right at the sticks. 3rd and 8? Clark threads a ball to sophomore WR De'Vaughn Gordon, who then evades two tacklers and rumbles down the center of the field to the Lafayette 6 yard line. After the 63 yard pas play, suddenly, there are even more believers in the Lehigh stands.

Lehigh hasn't run the ball all that effectively - but when they need it, senior FB Anthony Fossati drives through with the 1 yard TD to put Lehigh up 21-14. (Was that his first carry of the year?)

But there's loads of time left - and Rob Curley has been here before. While it was a lead in the fourth quarter, at n time did it ever feel safe.

With two minutes to play - and the Lehigh fans holding their collective breath - Curley did exactly what he did in 2007. He engineered a 75 yard drive, ending with a 34 yard grab by Hayes to tie the game at 21. Curley did what Curley does during that dive: he went a brutally efficient 4-for-5, with a 21 yard scramble thrown in for good measure.

With the tying touchdown, the Lafayette fans exploded on the other sideline, and any Lehigh energy in the stands was gone at this point. Momentum all pointed Lafayette's way. The Leopards had the quarterback. They had the defense. They would find a way to win this, just like they had all year in so many ways. And Lehigh, who had found a way to lose these types of games all year, would do so again.

Overtime.

*****

In reality, the overtime consisted of exactly four plays. But it felt like the entire period was played in slow motion. Each play brought such momentum swings it's hard to put it into words.

Play One. Clark finds Drwal over the middle and gains 17 yards to get into the red zone. It looked like it could have been picked off - but somehow the ball gets past the Lafayette defender, and Drwal hauls it in and makes it to the seven yard line.

Play Two. After evading pressure, Clark finds an streaking Wojdowski who finds his way in the end zone for the TD. Relief pours over the Lehigh crowd; Lafayette will have to score a touchdown to keep up.

Play Three. A high snap on the extra point - and it sails wide right. No good. A six point lead. Hearts stopped. Now, all Curley would need to do is do what he's always done - drive to win the game, and give Lafayette sophomore PK Davis Rodriguez a chance to deliver a humiliating end to the Lehigh season.

Play Four. Curley, under pressure, tosses the ball. Al Pierce fakes a rush, reads Curley's eyes, and drops back into coverage. He reaches up. He pulls the football in.

He runs with the ball. Game over. He holds onto the ball tightly. Game over? He falls down. Game over!

"Coach [Kotulski] challenges us on that play every week in practice," Pierce said in the post-game press conference, making it seem as matter-of-fact as if he were describing what he ate yesterday. "We did it every day, I can't tell you how many times. It got me the first couple times, biting on the running back."

"Our defensive coaches this year were awesome," coach Coen said. "The amount of injuries, the pieces they've had to move around, the people they've had to plug in, the changing schemes - guys were in and out. It was great getting Al back today."

It almost didn't seem safe to root for Lehigh until Pierce came down with the interception. But then - everything changed.

A year's worth of energy rushed out of the Lehigh stands with that interception. All those times that Lehigh fans had sat in frustration this year after close losses vanished. All at once the fans got behind the team - even if they didn't quite believe what they saw. They stormed the field. They surrounded the team. Senior DT B.J. Benning was carried off the field on their shoulders. Senior LB Matt Cohen celebrated by doing a bit of crowd surfing.

"It's only fitting we had a chance to win one this way," Coen said. "This was such a tough season for our guys, I'm so happy for them we were able to get the win today. It (my hair) got a lot grayer all year, I'll tell you that. To win the game in OT after all the tough losses we had all season, it speaks volumes of these guys."

Unbelievable. It's one folks will be talking about for a long, long time.