VILLANOVA, Pa.—The last one of a career high 13 tackles for fifth year linebacker
Garrett Rogan (Mercer Island, Wash.) was a sack on the final play of the game as Villanova (4-4, 3-2 Patriot League) held off visiting No. 11 Lehigh (6-2, 4-1 Patriot League) as time expired in a Homecoming Weekend thriller at Villanova Stadium early Saturday evening. Rogan and the Wildcats withstood a 20-play drive by the Mountain Hawks over the final 3:33 of the contest and made a first-and-goal stand from the two-yard line on the final three plays of a 24-18 triumph.
The last drive of the game started after a field goal by junior
Dominic LeBlanc (Dawsonville, Ga.) with 3:33 to play gave Villanova a six-point lead and its only points of the second half. A fast start by the Wildcats earlier in the day included rushing touchdowns from quarterback
Pat McQuaide (Solon, Ohio) and running backs
Isaiah Ragland (Alexandria, Va.) and
Ja'briel Mace (Somers Point, N.J.) which forged a 21-0 Villanova lead at halftime.
In the second half, however, Lehigh controlled time of possession to the tune of a 51-19 advantage in total offensive plays and pulled to within 21-18 on a touchdown and two-point conversion with 8:28 to play. The Wildcats countered that touchdown with an 11-play, 65-yard scoring drive, but settled for a field goal after having first-and-goal from the 10-yard line.
McQuaide opened the scoring with his second rushing touchdown in as many games and finished 16-of-26 through the air for 201 yards. The running back duo of Mace and Ragland combined for 135 yards and two scores, with Mace running 17 times for 91 yards and Ragland carrying 10 times for 44 yards. Ragland topped 1,900 career rushing yards in the game and Mace surpassed the 1,700-yard mark.
Villanova's two longest runs of the game came on a second quarter drive which began at the seven-yard line with 10:07 left in the period. Mace rushed for 31 yards on the first play of that possession and broke away for 42 yards two plays later as the Wildcats went from their own seven-yard line to the red zone in a span of three plays. Ragland capped that drive with a 14-yard touchdown run with 8:04 to play in the quarter.
After a short four-and-out possession by the Mountain Hawks, Villanova took over on downs from Lehigh's 33-yard line with 5:54 to go before halftime. A one-yard run by Mace with 2:45 remaining in the half extended the lead to a 21-0 margin.
The game's momentum started to swing in the opposite direction when the Mountain Hawks drove 75 yards on 11 plays to begin the second half. Lehigh tailback Luke Yoder rushed for a five-yard touchdown and, with 2:53 to play in the third quarter, a 34-yard field goal by Connor Poole pulled Lehigh to within 21-10. Quarterback Derek Morgan's six-yard run and a rush for a two-point conversion by Anthony Feaster after a 10-play, 80-yard drive in the fourth quarter set up the drama of the closing minutes.
Rogan nearly doubled his previous career high for tackles in a game which was seven in each of the first two games this season. He had 11 solo stops among his 13 total tackles for the day and added a career-high three tackles for loss, among them the final play of the game for his second career sack and first this season. Junior linebacker
Omari Bursey (Broomfield, Colo.) had another huge game with 13 tackles of his own to notch his fifth game this year with 10+ total stops. Senior linebacker
Christian Caballero (Niceville, Fla.) added nine tackles and junior cornerback
Newton Essiem (Frederick, Md.) had seven stops.
Villanova won for the sixth straight year on Homecoming Weekend and improved to 40-21 (.656) all-time in Homecoming games in a tradition that started in 1958. The game was the 400
th all-time at Villanova Stadium for the Wildcats, who have won more than 70 percent of their games at their venerable on-campus home.
The matchup between Villanova and Lehigh was the 21
st game in the all-time series but the first ever as conference rivals. After the Wildcats handed the Mountain Hawks their first conference loss of the season, the Patriot League standings coming out of the weekend have six teams within a game of first place. Villanova is 16-5 in the series against Lehigh and head coach
Mark Ferrante is 8-0 against the Mountain Hawks. The Wildcats have won the last 13 meetings in the series by an average of 19.7 points per game, although that includes victories in last year's playoffs and Saturday's game by a combined total of only 13 points.
Villanova goes back on the road next weekend for a 12:30 p.m. matchup at Lafayette on Halloween afternoon.
