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QB Mike Rieker, quarterback of the 1977 Division II National Champions, showed up to talk to Steve Degler about his role on that team and share some stories (and some video highlights) about that magical season.
One thing he didn't do is talk about funny locker room stories about head coach John Whitehead.
"It was strictly business with coach Whitehead," he said. "There was no footing around in the locker room until you left. He was all business, and it reflected on us, a lot of guys took to heart they didn't want to make mistakes, because you'd have to face him. He was a tough taskmaster and a great teacher, and he ended up being a really good friend.
Lehigh Sports Central Special
Weekly Game Previews
WFMZ Preview
The experts pick who they think will be winning this weekend:Fresh off its first win, @LehighFootball looks to keep rolling this week against Georgetown. Dave Lesko reports.https://t.co/CbGgmEy8dn— WFMZ-TV 69 Sports (@69Sports) October 11, 2017
Lehigh 34, Georgetown 28: LFN's Game Breakdown and Fearless Prediction
Lehigh 42, Georgetown 13: Keith Groller, The Morning Call
Lehigh 52, Georgetown 27: The FCS Wedge
RCN Podcast: w/ Georgetown head football coach Rob Sgarlata/Lehigh Preview (44th minute)
ESPNLV Happy Hour Podcast w/ Lehigh head football coach Andy Coen
Georgetown always circles Lehigh on the calendar, and the reason for that is the Mountain Hawks are the only Patriot League team that the Hoyas have not beaten since becoming a member of the Patriot League.
There have been years when Georgetown has challenged for a Patriot League title, and years where Lehigh has really struggled to win football games. Yet every time in recent memory, for whatever reason, Lehigh has always been the better team on the day.
It was not always this way.
In a ten year period of early Lehigh football from 1901 to 1910, there was a sequence of games, oddly enough, that were scheduled with Georgetown on Thanksgiving after the Lafayette game.
“As a quarterback, you have to be a vocal leader," junior QB Brad Mayes said. "I’ve done it in the past when I was younger and in high school, and even when I played the past couple of years here, but I hadn’t done it until this year. We were just down seven. I didn’t understand the long faces and I basically said ‘When’s enough, enough?’ I said you guys have to hate losing as much as I do. We just had to go out and put forth the effort. We’re still a good football team. We just had to execute and it would work out, and it did.”
The backfield combined for 212 rushing yards and four touchdowns in Lehigh’s Patriot League opener. Junior RB Dominick Bragalone tallied a season-high 186 rushing yards on 25 carries while junior RB Micco Brisker notched a career-high three touchdowns.
“It was the first Patriot League matchup, so it was important to get that win to get everything started and jolted, because coming in 0-5 we needed to get our confidence back,” senior RB Nana Amankwah-Ayeh said. “Now that we’re in league play, these games really matter if we want to be able to win a championship.”
Weekly Player Highlights
Brown and White: Former Lehigh athletes apply lessons learned to life as graduates after sports
For graduate students Devon Carter and Cody Triolo, the lessons learned at Lehigh have prepared them for life after sports in ways they couldn’t have imagined.
Carter was a member of the Lehigh men’s basketball team from 2012-16, and he said he remembers his time as a freshman vividly.
He was a marketing major before switching to psychology and a guard for the basketball team but didn’t play his first year because of a torn ACL.
Now a second-year graduate student pursuing social psychology and special education, Carter said he is thankful for the time-management abilities he gained as an undergraduate student.
“Time management has really helped me,” he said. “I used to try to get my work done before practice because I would normally be so tired after practice. Now I usually get work done with that same mentality. It really taught me work ethic and to get work done in a timely manner.”
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