BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Raiders fell 36-33 on the road to Lehigh after a late-game Mountain Hawks touchdown.
Michael Brescia passed for a career-high 315-yards and completed 23-of-32 passes, including two touchdowns.
Brescia opened the game by passing to Brady Hutchison for 12-yards to get the first down. He then passed to Oakey for 24-yards at the Lehigh 33. Shortly after, Jadeon Henry caught the ball for 14-yards at the goal line just two yards shy of the end zone. Sophomore Brendan Cassamajor brought it home for his first career touchdown. Spencer Biscoe nailed the extra point attempt to have the Raiders leading by seven.
After rushing for 10-yards, Brescia passed it 51-yards to Treyvhon Saunders, who scored his second touchdown of the season. Biscoe kicked his second extra point of the day to extend the Raiders' lead to 14.
Lehigh retaliated with their touchdown to trail the Raiders by seven.
The first quarter ended with Brescia passing a 44-yard dagger to senior Ryan Cekay to get the Raiders at Lehigh's two-yard line.
Brescia opened the second quarter with two quick passes, but Biscoe came out on fourth down to boot a 24-yard field goal to give Colgate a 17-7 lead.
Lehigh steadily made their way down into the red zone to open their first possession of the quarter. The Mountain Hawks rushed a yard to score and trail the Raiders by only three points. Henry rushed for 26-yards on the kickoff return to start the Raiders' drive at their own 40.
Brescia started Colgate's second drive with a quick rush, then a 21-yard pass to Oakey to get the Raiders at Lehigh's 37. Brescia tossed it five yards to freshman Jariyah Sawyer to bring the Raiders closer to touchdown territory. On fourth down, the sophomore quarterback rushed it up five yards to get the first down. Biscoe came out on fourth down to crush a 44-yard field goal to bump the lead back up to 20-14.
The Raider defense forced the Mountain Hawks to punt for the first time in the second quarter on their second drive.
Brescia opened the Raiders' last possession of the first half with a 10-yard pass to Oakey. The quarterback then passed it to Jake Ryan, but a penalty on the offense brought the Raiders back to their 36-yard line. Nothing else came from the Raiders' drive, keeping their lead 20-14 heading into the halftime break.
The Raiders forced the Mountain Hawks to punt coming out of halftime after Lehigh's quarterback intentionally grounded the ball. Max Hurleman returned the punt for 19-yards to get the Raiders to Lehigh's 38.
Henry rushed for 19-yards to kick off the Raiders' first possession of the second half. Hutchison brought it down another 6-yards to get Colgate to the 13-yard line. Jake Ryan caught a 12-yard pass to get the Raiders on the one-yard line.
Cassamajor rushed and lost a couple of yards, but Brescia found Oakey on the next snap in the endzone. Colgate went for the two-point conversion but was unsuccessful, leading 26-14.
Lehigh answered the Raider touchdown with their own to trail by only five points.
Shelby Pruett and the rest of the special teams were forced to come out for the first time in the game as the offense could not make many moves down the field in their second possession of the third quarter.
Both Lehigh and Colgate were forced to punt on their next possessions. Pruett had a 54-yard punt with senior Mikey Jarmolowich pushing the Mountain Hawk returner back another 12-yards, forcing Lehigh to start their next drive at their 17-yard line.
Colgate's defense capitalized off Jarmolowich's tackle for loss, forcing Lehigh to punt for the fourth time in five possessions. The Raiders started a drive to end the third quarter at their 47-yard line.
The fourth quarter started with back-to-back rushes from Brescia and Henry, but nothing else came from the drive. Jacob Jaworski made an appearance as the punter for the second straight game, punting for 40-yards.
A penalty on Lehigh's offense spoiled any chances of progression down the field forcing them to punt away another possession.
The Raiders were able to get the first down to keep their second possession going, as Ryan caught a 10-yard pass at Colgate's 38-yard line. Two penalties, one on each team, had the Raiders first down at their 47-yard line. Brescia picked up the next first down, but a penalty on the offense brought them back to their own 43. Colgate, unfortunately, couldn't gain back the lost yards, forcing Pruett to come out.
Lehigh started their next drive quickly, going down the field 37-yards reaching the Colgate 43. Keeping up the pace, they reached the red zone, then the end zone, to lead for the first time in the game. The Mountain Hawks went for the two-point conversion, and succeeded, which bumped their lead to 29-26.
Not taking the lead change lightly, Henry returned Lehigh's kickoff for 41-yards with the Raider drive starting at the Mountain Hawks' 45-yard line. Hutchison caught a first down at the 31-yard line to keep moving down the field. Brescia rushed up to the 25-yard line, then on the next snap, passed it to Ryan right near the goal line. Brescia rushed up the middle to score his first rushing touchdown of the game to get the Raiders' lead back. Biscoe was successful on the extra point kick, upping the lead to 33-29.
Lehigh felt the pressure and made four quick snaps to get them deep into touchdown territory at the Colgate 11-yard line. Lehigh scored an 11-yard passing touchdown to take a three-point lead with 22 seconds left in the game. Sadly, for the Raiders, there was not enough time for a comeback win.
NOTES
- Brescia's 315 passing yards are the most in a game since 2019.
- Senior Tyler Flick tallied a team high eight tackles.
- Pruett recorded a season-high 57-yard punt.
- Oakey, Ryan, and Hutchison all captured five receptions.
UP NEXT
The Raiders travel to Fordham on Saturday, Nov. 19, for the final regular season game of the 2022 season. Game time against the Rams is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Jack Coffey Field.
