Archive For The “Dominick Bragalone” Category
One of the nice things about having done this for long is that at my fingertips I can summon up the definitive account of the last five meetings of The Rivalry through my game recaps of the time. Here’s a quick summary of the last five times Lehigh faced off against Lafayette in the most important game of the season. And heck – it’s Throwback Thursday somewhere, right?
This season, I thought it would be a good idea to do a LFN report card on how the team did last week as well as reviving the old “LFN Players of the Week” to go along with it. Lehigh’s 21-19 win last week over St. Francis was, most importantly, a victory, but as hardcore Lehigh football fans we want a deeper view and analysis.
So here we go.
Read more »
It was marginally better than last seasons 1st round loss to New Hampshire, but it still wasn’t close.After holding Stony Brook scoreless in the first quarter and battling back to a 24-14 deficit at halftime, Stony Brooks’ 2-play, 77 yard drive where Q…
It was marginally better than last seasons 1st round loss to New Hampshire, but it still wasn’t close.After holding Stony Brook scoreless in the first quarter and battling back to a 24-14 deficit at halftime, Stony Brooks’ 2-play, 77 yard drive where Q…
It was marginally better than last seasons 1st round loss to New Hampshire, but it still wasn’t close.After holding Stony Brook scoreless in the first quarter and battling back to a 24-14 deficit at halftime, Stony Brooks’ 2-play, 77 yard drive where Q…
The term “control of your playoff destiny” is thrown around a lot.
The 3-6 Mountain Hawks were in control of their destiny this weekend. Win against Holy Cross, and Lehigh will stay alive for no worse than a co-Patriot League Championship and possibly a ticket to the FCS Playoffs.
By the time the clock hit triple zero’s, the Mountain Hawks did what they had to do, beating the Crusaders 34-21, and keeping destiny in their own hands with one more regular season game to go – the 153rd meeting of The Rivalry next weekend vs. Lafayette.
Junior RB Dominick Bragalone carried the offense on his back with 30 carries for 205 yards and 4 touchdowns, but he and the offense fed off the energy of some big Lehigh defensive and special teams plays. Once Lehigh went up 14-0, Holy Cross would never get any closer than a touchdown.
(Photo Credit: Lehigh Athletics)
The ambulance came onto the field for the third time during a Lehigh football game.
On this occasion, it was that senior TE Drew Paulsen was trying to recover an onsides kick for the Mountain Hawks. Down only a field goal, head coach Andy Coen was trying to get the ball back to take advantage of momentum.
But something happened.
On the tackle, he had a head or neck injury, necessitating for the third time this year that an ambulance had to come on to the field for a Lehigh game.
The extremely-loved senior out of Tampa, Florida was carted out on a gurney, and headed to local Presybterian hospital for observation. On the TV broadcast, they showed tears from some of the players on the sidelines.
Lehigh lost to Fordham, 45-35, in an extremely frustrating game where the Mountain Hawks turned over the ball four times, twice in the red zone, and twice setting up Fordham in their red zone. But the injury to Paulsen, and the right leg injury that came up earlier to senior DT Jimmy Mitchell, was the focus after the game. The worries were clearly centered around the two seniors’ well-being.
“It’s unbelievable,” Coen said, Paulsen’s injury clearly very much on his mind. “I’ve been doing this for thirty-something years, and I’ve had three of these in one season.”
There’s a pretty good chance that senior WR Troy Pelletier, who made the Patriot League’s preseason all-Conference team and is on the Walter Payton Award watch list to start the year, will be the starter in the season opener vs. Villanova.
It’s also not a headline that junior RB Dominick Bragalone, also on the Patriot League’s preseason all-Conference team, is likely to -shocker! – be a starter on September 2nd.
But that doesn’t mean that there still aren’t plenty of questions as the Mountain Hawks enter into their fall training camp for fans to think about.
Read more »
The parties raged on in the parking garage next to Fisher Field, which were packed with Lafayette fans eager to enjoy a party with plenty of great food and copious drinks.
The tiny businesses below Fisher Field, the small bits of capitalism next to the concrete husks of factory jobs that have left ages ago, had plenty of visiting Lehigh fans, enjoying the tailgates and ready to invade the stadium that they hadn’t seen in four years.
In the line coming into the stadium, a silent protest of hundreds of Lafayette students clad in black, handing out a political statement on a piece of paper and showing some signs that were up seemingly to simply show that these people exist, and are not happy.
Somewhere in this mix of people escaping, people expressing and people denying, a football game was played, one that matched an 8-2 team that was headed to the national stage and the FCS playoffs, the other a 2-8 squad that had their fans questioning the tenure of their head coach.
It was one of the strangest disconnect of emotions that I’ve ever seen in a Rivalry game, one where the outcome, a 45-21 victory by the Brown and White, was almost expected by everyone going through the crowded gates at Fisher Field.
There was plenty to celebrate – for one side, anyway.
Read more »
(Photo Credit: Jay Anderson/Worcester Telegram)
It was a day where even when things went wrong they went right for the Mountain Hawks.
It was early in the second quarter, deadlocked at 7. Sophomore QB Brad Mayes, picked the starter as senior QB Nick Shanfisky would be the backup to let his injured leg continue to heal, would get a drive going with an 18 yard pass to junior WR Troy Pelletier. Two plays later, sophomore RB Dominick Bragalone would run a counter play left, escape a few tackles, and surge for a 28 yard run into Holy Cross territory.
You could feel some momentum building as Mayes would connect on a 4th and 7 to Pelletier to get into the Holy Cross red zone, and again when he would rifle a ball to junior WR Gatlin Casey over the middle. There was even more when sophomore RB Micco Brisker would keep his legs moving – and his offensive line, pushing – until he reached the end zone.
Up 13-7, on the extra point Shafnisky, who holds during extra points, got a low snap, and scrolled right. Looking up, he saw junior DE Tyler Cavenas, wide open in the end zone, waving his hands. To salvage the free shot at points, he lofted the ball to Tyler – and he came down with the ball.
It ended up a very good day for the Mountain Hawks, where positive thing after positive thing kept happening for the Mountain Hawks, some planned, some unplanned. Despite a game where weather seemed like it might make for a tough go, Lehigh wasn’t slowed down at all in their 46-14 win.
