Storming back

BETHLEHEM, Pa --After Lehigh dominated the first half of Saturday's game, it seemed as though the Penn football team might suffer its first loss since a rain-soaked night in Villanova nearly a year ago.

Then, lightning struck, and the Quakers emerged with a 31-24 win over the 19th ranked team in the country. No. 21 Penn (2-0) went into the half trailing Lehigh (3-1) 24-10 and was down by the same margin with six minutes to go in the third quarter. However, a one-hour, six-minute lightning delay changed the momentum.

It was "really tough. It's tough on both sides," Penn coach Al Bagnoli said. "You look at it from the perspective of getting the kids all set up again and the field becomes a concern."

After the delay, a rejuvenated Penn squad emerged from the locker room and took complete control of the game.

On the next play from scrimmage, Mitchell found his favorite target of the day, junior Dan Castles, for an eight-yard touchdown pass that cut the deficit in half, to 24-17.

After another touchdown catch by Castles tied the game, sophomore receiver Sagar Patel caught his first career pass at a very opportune time.

Mitchell found him in back of the end zone to cap off a 73-yard drive that provided Penn with its first lead of the afternoon at 31-24 with 8:46 to play.

"I didn't really even know that I came down [in bounds], I just looked at the referee. I didn't go into the play thinking that I was going to get the ball," Patel said. "Maybe I'll get some more playing time now."

As the two teams headed to their respective locker rooms at the half there was little positive that could be discussed.

Mitchell was a disappointing9-for-23 for only 84 yards in the first half. The senior had connected on passes with just three receivers and looked confused, at times, with the Engineers' defense.

Sophomore running back Sam Mathews provided the lone bright spot for the Red and Blue offense with his 65-yard scamper down the sideline that led to Penn's first touchdown.

On the defensive side of the ball, Penn battled valiantly after the loss of senior All-Ivy linebacker Steve Lhotak.

With just under five minutes remaining in the first quarter, Lhotak hurt his knee. He remained on the sidelines for the rest of game. After the game, it was reported that he sustained injury to his right MCL and should be expected to miss several weeks.

"Once I saw Steve go down I knew it was bad because I've never seen him actually stay down on the ground," junior linebacker Luke Hadden said. "That's a team leader, best defensive player and everyone just stepped their games up."

The biggest play of the first half, however, was turned in not by the offense or the defense, but was rather a special teams blunder that gave Lehigh a momentum-killing touchdown following Penn's initial score.

Trailing, 10-7, and fresh off a touchdown-scoring drive, Bagnoli decided to attempt an on-sides kick in hopes of catching Lehigh off guard and getting the ball back into the hands of his offense.

Penn's offense did get the ball back, but not due to a special teams recovery of the ball. Lehigh defensive back Trevor Micklos scooped up the kick and ran 43 yards untouched into the end zone providing Lehigh with a 17-7 lead.

For the first half of the third quarter, it looked to be much of the same as Penn was unable to move the ball with any consistency against a stout Lehigh defense. As Penn finally began to mount a solid drive deep into Lehigh territory, the skies above Goodman Stadium opened, causing the delay.

After Castles' touchdown, Penn was unable to benefit further from great defensive and special teams play in the third quarter that gave Penn's offense an average starting position of Lehigh's 37-yard line, the game entered its final stanza with Penn still trailing, 24-17. But again the Quakers were driving deep into Lehigh territory.

"There's no question field position hurt us in the second quarter and the third quarter," Lehigh coach Pete Lembo said. "When you're playing against a good defense, field position is critical."

At the start of the fourth quarter, Penn benefited from the end zone switch. No longer confounded by the slippery mud that plagued sharp cuts on their drives in the third quarter, Mitchell hit Castles for his third touchdown catch of the game, from four yards out, to tie the game at 24 with 13:27 left to play. Castles finished with 12 catches for 153 yards.

"Fortunately we switched sides," Bagnoli said. "We had the better surface and it ended up helping us."

Once again the Penn defense, which allowed just 66 yards of total offense in the second half, forced a quick three and out by Lehigh's offense and got the Red and Blue offense back onto the field.

Eight plays later, Mitchell found Patel in the end zone.

Lehigh's last drive fell short as senior wide receiver Dave Crockett dropped a wide open pass on fourth down with less than two minutes to play.

Mathews ran for 10 of his 128 yards and one final first down to seal the victory for Penn.

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