Flames Fall Just Short at No. 15/16 Lehigh
9/24/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
For the second week in a row, Liberty's Top 25 match-up came down to a last-second field goal attempt. After falling to No. 13/14 James Madison at home on a clock-expiring 40-yarder, the Flames could not find the same result, as Alex Kacere attempted to send the game into overtime with a 54-yard yard attempt.
However, the kick fell into the end zone, allowing No. 15/16 Lehigh to escape with a 27-24 Homecoming victory, Saturday afternoon, inside of Goodman Stadium.
The game marked the first time No. 23 Liberty had faced back-to-back Top 25 opponents since the close of the 1999 season.
With the victory, the Mountain Lions raise their record to 3-1 on the season, while the Flames drop to 1-3 for the first time under head coach Danny Rocco.
For the first time on the year, the Flames took their opening drive of the game and managed to put points on the scoreboard.
The Flames implemented a similar hurry-up style as they had during previous games in 2011, and managed to get inside the Mountain Hawks' 10-yard line. Mike Brown completed 4-of-4 passing attempts for 43 yards during the 12-play effort, but was sacked for a seven-yard loss on a third-and-goal situation.
The Flames were forced to settle for a 39-yard field goal by Alex Kacere at the 9:41 mark, giving Liberty the early 3-0 edge.
For the second-straight effort, Liberty mounted a double-digit play drive which looked like it was going to add to the Flames' lead.
On the 11th play of the drive, Brown avoided a tackle and found Pat Kelly open in the end zone for what would have been an 11-yard touchdown reception. However, the play was called back due to a personal foul.
Head coach Danny Rocco then brought Kacere back onto the field, but the redshirt freshman had his first career missed field goal, pushing his 31-yard attempt wide left to keep the game's score at 3-0 following 15 minutes of action.
Penalties continued to be the story on the next drive, with flags flying against both teams during the Lehigh 13-play, 67-yard scoring push. The first penalty was called on the Flames, when Liberty was whistled for another personal foul after a tackle below the knees on Lehigh quarterback Chris Lum. The flag gave Lehigh a first-and-goal situation.
However, the Mountain Hawks were called for a holding penalty on the next play, pushing the home team back so they would eventually have to settle for a 30-yard field goal. Tim Divers' first field goal of the season tied the game, 3-3, with 11:17 left to play in the opening half.
Lehigh's Homecoming crowd did not have to wait nearly as long to see its Mountain Hawks put their next set of points on the scoreboard, as it only took two additional plays.
Lehigh's special teams, which had been plagued by mistakes during its first three games, pulled off an on-side kick to quickly give the Mountain Hawks the ball at the 45-yard line.
Lum then found his All-America receiver Ryan Spadola open over the middle of the field. The junior outdistanced Liberty's defenders on a 55-yard touchdown play just 12 seconds later.
The offensive showdown that was expected early in the game finally started to take shape, when Liberty promptly responded with its first big play of the game.
Brown and his All-America receiver, Chris Summers, found each other on three consecutive plays, with the last being a 49-yard touchdown reception at 10:06. The scoring play was the 22nd career touchdown catch of Summers' career, tying him for the program's record with Liberty Athletics Hall of Famer Kelvin Edwards (1982-85).
Penalties continued to be the story of the opening half, as the second touchdown of the day was wiped off the scoreboard due to an infraction.
This time the yellow flag cost the home team, when Lum's screen play pass to Jack Drwal was negated after an offensive pass interference call. Lehigh would manage to take the lead, but it would be just by three points, 13-10, after a 30-yard Divers field goal at the 6:21 mark.
Liberty tried to answer back and looked like it had regained the lead. However, Kelly's second touchdown of the afternoon was kept from him when he was flagged for offensive pass interference on what would have been a 22-yard touchdown reception in the corner of the end zone.
On the very next play, Brown committed the first turnover of the afternoon, when his attempted pass downfield was intercepted by Jon Littlejohn.
Four plays later, Lehigh committed its first giveaway of the afternoon, when Walt Aikens stepped in front of a pass from Lum and returned it 46 yards for another seeming score.
But Liberty was flagged for an illegal block during the return and the ball was brought back to the 28-yard line. On the very next play, Summers took over the program's all-time career touchdown reception mark, when Brown found him open in the end zone for a score to give the Flames the 17-13 lead with 2:22 left before halftime.
But the lead was once again short-lived for the Flames, as Lum found Keith Sherman open on a sideline route and the sophomore scampered down Liberty's side of the field for a 73-yard touchdown reception to give Lehigh the 20-17 halftime lead.
As expected, the two teams were able to tally high offensive numbers, as they combined for 541 total offensive yards during the first 30 minutes. Lehigh outdistanced the Flames in the offensive stats, 291 yards to Liberty's 250 yards.
Brown finished the opening half 15-of-19 for 208 yards, with two touchdown passes to Summers. Brown also carried the ball nine times for 16 yards, while Aldreakis Allen rushed six times for 26 yards. Summers was Brown's top first-half target with nine receptions for 142 yards.
Lum was 10-of-19 passing during the opening 30 minutes for 213 yards and two touchdowns, with Sherman carrying the ball eight times for 53 yards. Spadola was Lehigh's top receiver, finishing the first half with four catches for 86 yards.
Lehigh took the opening drive of the second half and methodically marched downfield, pushing its lead to 10 points, 27-17, on a 12-play, 70-yard drive that used 5:36 on the game clock. The 12th and final play was a four-yard burst by Michael Colvin, his first score of the season.
The Mountain Hawks continued to keep the momentum on the next several drives, ones that forced Liberty to punt and another where Brown was picked off for the second time on the day.
However the pendulum seemed to swing back in Liberty's favor for a while, after a bad punt snap and a 15-yard rushing touchdown by Allen at the 2:45 of the third quarter pulled Liberty back within three points, 27-24.
The momentum continued in Liberty's favor during the first play of the fourth quarter. Facing a fourth-and-12 situation from the Flames' 28-yard line, Leigh head coach Andy Coen elected to go for it rather than attempt a field goal.
Lum dropped back and tried to find an open receiver in the end zone, but Aikens was able to record his second interception of the afternoon and give Liberty another chance.
Both team's stout offenses went quite for a while until the Flames pieced together their longest drive of the second half. After starting at the one-yard line, Liberty managed to march deep into Lehigh territory.
On a third-and-three play from the 21-yard line, Brown ran out to the outside for the first down. But the ball was stripped from the senior's hand just after he got past the yardage marker by Fred Mihal and the pigskin was recovered by Billy Boyko to give the home team the ball back.
The Mountain Lions tried to run the clock out on the ensuing drive, but were forced to give the ball back on downs when their drive stalled at the Liberty 15-yard line.
With 29 seconds on the clock, Brown completed three passes and rushed for 10 yards to get the Flames past midfield. Following a 17-yard out route to Kelly, Kacere was called upon to try the game-tying kick. But the freshman's attempt fell into the end zone and allowed the home to secure the victory.
Liberty held Lehigh to its fewest total offensive yards this season, 424, and well below the Mountain Lions' No. 3-ranked scoring average of 41.3 points per game.
Lehigh edged out the Flames in total offensive yards, 424 to 404, with both teams predominately using their passing games.
Brown finished the afternoon completing 25-of-38 for 297 yards, while Lum was 18-of-38 for 300 yards. Both quarterbacks finished the game with two touchdown passes.
Brown was Liberty's leading rusher, as he carried the ball 21 times for 64 yards, followed by Allen's eight carries for 45 yards. Lehigh's top ground gainer was Sherman, who finished with 16 carries for 81 yards.
Summers had a career afternoon, finishing the game with a career-high 15 receptions for a career-best 205 yards. Summers becomes the second player in program history to surpass the 200-yard receiving mark in a game, joining his teammate Kelly, who closed out the 2010 season with a 235-yard effort against Stony Brook.
Four Liberty players finished the afternoon with six stops each (Sigmon, Chris Mayo, Scott Hyland and Brandon Robinson), while Aikens became the second Flame this season to record two interceptions in a single game.
The Flames return home next weekend for their final non-conference tune-up against Kentucky Wesleyan. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., inside of Williams Stadium, Liberty's final night game of the regular season.
The match-up will be the second in the series between the Flames and the Panthers. The two squads' first and only other meeting was on Sept. 20, 2003, when Liberty posted a 47-7 victory on Liberty Mountain.
