Lehigh's Second-Half Comeback Dooms Harvard Football

With less than two minutes left on the clock, sophomore quarterback Colton Chapple stepped right and lofted a pass deep down the field. The ball rode the 25-mile per hour winds all the way to the endzone, where senior Mike Cook hauled in the pass. The receiver planted his feet by the sideline and launched into celebration after the apparent touchdown catch had vaulted Harvard into the lead.

But the referee saw it differently, and a minute after Cook was ruled out of bounds, Lehigh quarterback Chris Lum was taking a knee, icing the game and cementing a number of what-ifs on a day that the Crimson came up just short.

Harvard football fell to Lehigh, 21-19, at Harvard Stadium on Saturday after a pair of 30-minute halves that didn’t resemble each other at all. The Crimson rode a 17-0 lead into the locker room at the break behind solid defensive play and a few big runs from senior Gino Gordon. But the second half was a different story, as the Mountain Hawks emerged the more prepared squad.

“Our first half of football...was not a very pretty one,” Lehigh coach Andy Coen said. “We didn’t tackle very well, we didn’t execute the offense the way we’re capable of, and we had to pick ourselves up at halftime. And we came out in the third quarter and obviously responded very, very well.”

Behind Lum, Lehigh carved up the injury-riddled Crimson secondary with 195 yards passing in the third quarter—finishing the day with more than 300 yards in the air.

And suddenly Harvard was in danger of relinquishing a 17-point lead for the first time since 2000.

“With regards to [passing], they did some things that worked pretty well against what we were doing,” said captain and safety Collin Zych. “But give [Lehigh] credit, they made plays when they needed to.”

Early on, it was the Crimson that made all the plays. After opening the game with a defensive three-and-out, Harvard drove 49 yards before rookie David Mothander booted home a 38-yard field goal for the 3-0 advantage. The Crimson followed up with a forced fumble, as senior Chuks Obi knocked the ball loose from Mountain Hawk running back Jay Campbell, and, two plays later, the offensive line had such a good seal on the left side that Gordon scampered 18 yards untouched into the endzone.

“We gave up some big plays in the run game, largely due to missed tackles,” Coen said. “Gino Gordon I think is a fabulous back...he’s proved that here.”

But Gordon, who finished with 118 yards on 22 carries, was far from the only weapon working for Harvard.

Chapple found a rhythm with two of his emerging favorite targets, sophomore tight end Kyle Juszczyk and junior wideout Adam Chrissis. The pair finished with 58 and 55 yards receiving, respectively, to lead the Crimson, and Juszczyk’s 17-yard reception off a playaction pass from Chapple staked Harvard to a 17-0 lead.

After the Crimson defense stifled Lehigh for the remainder of the half—adding a missed field goal and another forced fumble to preserve the shutout—the home team appeared to head to the locker room on cruise control.

“Obviously [the game was] a tale of two halves,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. “I was not unhappy with our effort, but in the end we just did not make enough plays.”

Indeed, from the very beginning of the third quarter, momentum seemed to shift in the Mountain Hawks’ favor.

“I think it first started with the opening kickoff,” Lehigh receiver Ryan Spadola said. “[Linebacker] Jerard Gordon had a huge hit on the returner, and I think that sparked everybody.”

Certainly, Spadola got the message. The sophomore receiver exploded in the third quarter, hauling in nine passes for 159 yards and a pair of scores on just three drives. Spadola grabbed the Mountain Hawks’ first touchdown of the day on a four-yard reception before capping off the quarter with a 51-yard catch-and-run on a post route that put Lehigh ahead, 21-17. Spadola finished the day with a career-high 206 receiving yards.

“We just came out in the second half, and we just wanted this game,” Spadola said. “We took advantage of every opportunity, and when our numbers were called...we took advantage and made plays.”

The sudden 21-point turnaround left the Crimson sputtering. Harvard got the strong wind at its back for the final period and hoped to take advantage, but the squad could not muster a promising drive until just over three minutes remained.

Following a failed fake punt by the Mountain Hawks, the Crimson took over at its own 37 and moved to the Lehigh 28 after a big fourth-down reception from Chrissis. On the next play, Chapple appeared to hit Cook for the game-winning score, but instead, Harvard just faced second and 10.

“[The referee] ruled it out of bounds,” Murphy said. “We won’t know until we see the film.”

Two plays later, Chapple’s fourth-down desperation throw found the arms of a Lehigh defender, and Harvard was left with a difficult loss. An intentional safety from the Mountain Hawks brought the final score to 21-19, but the Crimson was already looking ahead to the rest of its Ivy slate.

“I’m not in the least bit concerned about [bouncing back],” Murphy said, “I’m really not.”

—Staff writer Max N. Brondfield can be reached at mbrondf@fas.harvard.edu.