Lehigh 38, Lafayette 21, Final

(Photo Credit: Facebook/Will Rackley)

Down 14-3 and 21-10, early on it looked like Lehigh's playoff hopes, already dimmed by the Mountain Hawks' loss to Colgate, might be done in completely at the hands of their bitter rivals, who were looking for their first win over Lehigh after being unsuccessful in their last four tries.

Then Lehigh put together their best half of football of the year.

Scoring 28 unanswered points, and shutting out the Leopards in the second half, the Mountain Hawks finished the regular season with a resounding 38-21 victory.

Ultimately, it wasn't enough to get to the postseason, even though it would have been for the first time since the playoffs expanded to 20 teams that a team with 10 Division I wins would not qualify for the FCS playoffs.

But that shouldn't obscure a fantastic effort by Lehigh's class of 2013 to stay undefeated against "That School in Easton" and their achievement of being only the 10th team in school history to break the 10 win barrier.

No school wants to go winless against their rivals, and Lafayette roared out to a big start to grab the early momentum.

And, unfortunately, it came from something all too familiar to Lehigh football fans in 2012 - an interception.

On the second play from scrimmage, senior QB Michael Colvin threw a short pass into a gap that was rapidly closed by Lafayette senior DT Rick Lyster, which he promptly returned to Lehigh's 15 yard line to put the Mountain Hawks on the back foot.

From there, senior QB Andrew Shoop would fire a perfect pass in a spot where only junior WR Mark Ross

Lehigh won. And now, a nervous Lehigh Football Nation waits.

(16 minutes into the press conference, it's worth hearing senior QB Michael Colvin and head coach Andy Coen about the playoffs and The Rivalry.)

A more thorough recap will come later.

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