Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Lehigh
Bucknell Football Loses Homecoming Game to Lehigh, 35-16
10/24/2009 8:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 24, 2009
| Highlights
| Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame CeremonyLEWISBURG, Pa. - Lehigh's JB Clark completed 24 of 37 passes for 327 yards and one touchdown, leading the Mountain Hawks to a season-high 461 yards of total offense as the Bucknell football team lost to Lehigh 35-16 Saturday afternoon at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. The Mountain Hawks converted 10 times on third down and limited the Bison to 295 yards of total offense as Bucknell lost for the 12th consecutive time in the series.
Prior to the game, puddles were forming on the Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium FieldTurf due to heavy rain, but by kickoff sunny skies covered the field. The rain that blanketed the area much of the morning held off until a slight sprinkle began in the final minutes.
Preseason All-American Shaun Pasternak made his first start of the season for Bucknell (3-4, 1-1 Patriot League) and caught six passes for 127 yards and one touchdown. He now has six career 100-yard games and he moved into the top 10 in program history with 1,485 career yards.
Lehigh entered the game ranked 14th nationally in total defense and held the Bison in check. Bucknell's quarterbacks completed 15 of 28 passes and the Bison rushed for 74 yards total, with no player accumulating more than 22 yards. The Bison turned the ball over just once, but were forced to punt six times and held the ball for 23:04, compared to nearly 37 minutes for the Mountain Hawks.
Lehigh (2-5, 2-0 PL) jumped out to a 14-0 lead as Bucknell registered only three first downs on its first four drives. The Bison did not score until less than two minutes remained in the first half, stretching their first-half scoreless streak to nearly 90 minutes.
Bucknell's first score came when Marcello Trigg, who relieved starter C.J. Hopson in the second quarter, weaved his way through the Mountain Hawks defense for a 17-yard touchdown run. That score capped a seven-play, 81-yard hurry-up drive that took 2:02 and featured four completions for 64 yards by Trigg.
The momentum was short-lived as Lehigh's JB Clark engineered a hurry-up drive of his own, covering 60 yards on 10 plays in 1:33. A five-yard touchdown pass from Clark to Alex Wojdowski with five seconds remaining in the half gave the Mountain Hawks a 21-7 halftime lead. The Mountain Hawks had a big third-down conversion during the drive, and followed that with a fourth-down conversion.
Bucknell narrowed the score to 21-10 on a 26-yard field goal by Drew Orth midway through the third quarter, but drew no closer the rest of the way as Lehigh scored on back-to-back drives at the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth.
The Bison tacked on another touchdown when Trigg found Pasternak down the left sideline for a 43-yard touchdown. It was Bucknell's third play over 30 yards in the contest, and it marked the 30th career touchdown pass by Trigg, moving him into a tie for second in program history with Bob Gibbon.
Trigg, who returned to the lineup after missing the Penn game two weeks ago, completed 14 of 26 passes for a season-high 216 yards. His pass to Pasternak was one of three plays of at least 30 yards in the contest. The Bison had not registered a 30-yard play since the season opener at Duquesne.
On the defensive side of the ball, Greg Jones led the way for Bucknell with 10 tackles, his fourth double-figure outing of the year. Bryce Robertson recorded a career-high nine tackles, while Ahkiel White intercepted a pass for the third game in a row, giving him seven in his career. Troy Taylor led the Mountain Hawks with seven stops.
Lehigh's big advantage in the game was the fact in converted 10 of 20 times on third down and 4 of 5 times on fourth down. The Mountain Hawks recorded 198 of their 461 yards on either third or fourth down.
Bucknell, which saw its four-game home winning streak snapped, has been outscored by Lehigh 432-146 during its 12-game losing streak to the Mountain Hawks.
The Bison will head on the road next Saturday, Oct. 31, to commence a three-game road trip at Lafayette. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. in Easton, Pa.
