The Green & White defense also delivered a five-sack effort tonight vs. Lehigh, led by two each from junior linebacker
Quintin Hampton (Moultrie, GA / Colquitt County / UCF) and sophomore linebacker
Cameron Gill (Douglasville, GA / Chapel Hill), to go with the one sack recorded by junior nose tackle
Charbel Dabire (Toronto, Canada / New Mexico Military Institute).
In the first-ever meeting between schools, who are separated by just 87 miles, Wagner overcame early deficits of 7-0 and 14-7 before the Seahawks reeled off 24 unanswered points, spanning the second and third quarters, in pulling away for the win.
For Lehigh, quarterback Brad Mayes, who entered the game ranked second nationally in passing yards, completed 18-of-45 passes for 306 yards with his favorite targets being Jorge Protorreal (eight catches, 132 yards) and Troy Pelletier (six catches, 143 yards). On the ground, Dom Bragalone rushed for 102 yards on 21 carries.
Overall, Wagner outgained Lehigh by a slim margin of 454-445 yards, highlighted by a 249-139-yeard edge on the ground.
Lehigh scored on its opening drive tonight as Mayes found Pelletier for 53 yards to the Wagner 30-yard line. Three plays later, Bragalone raced 26 yards for the score to cap a 5-play, 83-yard drive Mountain Hawks took a 7-0 lead with 12:56 left in the first quarter.
The Seahawks responded with the tying touchdown less than 1:30 later Fulse exploded for a 50-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7-7.
The Mountain Hawks regained the lead early in the second quarter, marching 95 yards in 12 plays. A key play in the drive came on fourth-and-six from the Wagner 35-yard line, when Mayes hit Portorreal for 21 yards down to the Seahawks' 14-yard line. Following a Lehigh penalty, Bragalone ran 16 yards to set up a three-yard Mayes dash from three yards out to put Lehigh back on top, 14-7, lead with 10:43 left in the second quarter.
Late in the quarter, Wagner used an 11-play drive, 70-yard drive to even the score at 14-14 with 4:34 left in the half with Fulse capping the drive from one yard out. On the ensuing kickoff,
James Cooper's (Linwood, NJ / Mainland Regional/ Temple) boot into the wind dropped in front of the Lehigh return man with sophomore linebacker Allah Sessions (Elmira, NY / Elmira) pouncing on the ball at the Mountain Hawks' 23-yard line. The turnover led to a 26-yard Cooper field with 3:12 left on the clock which gave Wagner a 17-14 halftime lead.
The Seahawks struck quickly following the break, needing just 1:37 in driving 73 yards on just four plays as a 30-yard touchdown strike from
Luke Massei to redshirt-sophomore wide receiver
Willie Dale (Staten Island, NY / St. Peter's) gave Wagner a two-score lead at 24-14 less than two minutes into the second half.
After the Seahawk defense forced Lehigh into a three and out, Wagner went 69 yards in six plays, cappyed by a 24-yard TD burst by Knight which gave the Seahawks a commanding 31-14 lead with 9:18 left in the third quarter.
The Mountain Hawks answered with a 75-play drive, capped by a Bragalone one-yard scoring run on a direct snap, which brought Lehigh to within 31-20 late in the third quarter.
Knight then put the exclamation point on the win with a 60-yard fourth-quarter TD run to forge the final score of 37-21.
Punter
Eric Silvester (Lincolndale, NY / Somers) continued his fine freshman season in helping to key Wagner's 37-20 win over Lehigh. On the evening, the left-footed Silvester averaged 39.8 yards on five punts with a long boot of 53 yards. In addition, three of his five punts were downed inside the 20-yard line. A pair of first-quarter punts pinned Lehigh back on its own nine and five yard-lines, respectively. In the third quarter, with the Seahawks backed up to their own eight and facing fourth down, Silvester uncorked a 53-yard punt all the way to the Lehigh 39-yard line, allowing Wagner to escape from a deep hole.
Wagner is next in action on Saturday, October 7 when the Seahawks travel to Pittsburgh, PA for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff vs. the Duquesne Dukes.
NOTES
*With Knight and Fulse both eclipsing the 100-yard rushing plateau, this marks the first time that Wagner has had two backs go for 100 or more on the ground since September 18, 2010 when Torian Phillips and Jeremy Martinez ran for 133 and 117 yards, respectively, in a 41-7 win over Cornell.
*Wagner's 37-20 win over Lehigh came in the first-ever meeting between the schools which are separated by just 87 miles.
*With the victory, the Seahawks improve to 14-9 all-time vs. teams that currently comprise the Patriot League. The Patriot League foe that Wagner has faced the most often is Fordham as the New York City rivals have met 11 times with the Seahawks holding an 8-3 lead in the series.
*The 205-yard passing by Massei is a career high. Coming in his third career start, the 6-1, 190-pound Massei eclipsed his previous career best of 120 yards at Columbia (9/16). Additionally, his 20 completions and 32 passing attempts also set career highs.
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