BETHLEHEM – Brandon Hill’s 19-yard touchdown strike to senior Eric Sumlin with 12 seconds remaining was the difference in Monmouth’s 28-21 win over Lehigh on Saturday afternoon.
With the win Monmouth improves to 3-1 on the season while Lehigh falls to 0-4.
With 3:49 remaining and the score tied at 21-21, Lehigh lined up to attempt a 32-yard field goal but redshirt freshman DJ Martin blocked the kick and senior Pat O’Hara slammed LU holder Ryan Pandy who attempted to pick up the ball at the MU 26.
Hill and company went to work, moving the ball to the Lehigh 46 through the air and on the ground with Lavon Chaney, who was aided by a 15-yard personal foul call on a late hit. With 24 seconds left, Monmouth called a timeout facing a third and 13. After a 12 men on the field infraction for Lehigh, Hill hit Neal Sterling for 15 yards on the right sideline. Sterling, who set a career-high with 184 receiving yards, made a circus catch and dragged his foot before the sideline to set up first and 10 from the 19 with 16 seconds remaining. On the next play, Hill delivered a strike to Sumlin in the middle of the end zone with 12 seconds left giving Monmouth its first win in six tries over the Mountain Hawks.
Lehigh took over from its own 25, completed an 11-yard pass and then heaved one deep where Monmouth safety Mike Basile was waiting to knock the ball down as time expired.
“We knew it was going to be tough game, a game that would go the full 60 minutes and it was, coming right down to the final seconds,” Monmouth head coach Kevin Callahan said. “Our defense got a stop when it needed to and ended up blocking a field goal which was huge. Then our offense took the field and put on a very impressive 74-yard drive to go down the field and score a touchdown.
“It was a game in which our guys showed a lot of heart, a lot of desire and made plays when we had to,” he said.
Hill finished 33-of-44 for a career-high 390 yards and three touchdowns. Sterling set a career-high for receiving yards with 183 yards on a season-high 11 catches. Chaney finished with 205 all-purpose yards including 93 on the ground and nine receptions for 72 yards.
Monmouth rolled up 512 yards of offense while the defense, which had three sacks, was led by Basile who had a career-high nine solo stops.
Chaney led the Hawks on the ground, with KB Asante registering 54 yards on nine carries, including a 32-yard run. Davenport finished with three catches for 51 yards – all coming on one drive. Sumlin ended with three second-half receptions for 35 yards, including the game-winner with 12 seconds remaining. Darnell Leslie registered six tackles, including two for a loss and a sack. Linebacker Tyler Thompson and corner Joe Johnson each registered seven tackles in the game.
Lehigh, which registered three sacks in the game, was led by cornerback Brandon Leaks who finished with nine tackles.
Monmouth wraps up its three-game Pennsylvania road swing against Robert Morris for a 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4, showdown at Joe Walton Stadium.
