BETHLEHEM, PA- The Red Flash's go-ahead field goal was blocked with 45 seconds left and the Lehigh Mountain Hawks survived a tremendous Red Flash effort, 21-19 on Saturday afternoon at Goodman Stadium.
 
Saint Francis had a pivotal fourth-down stop with just over two-minutes remaining and drove into field goal position. A pair of pass interference plays got the Red Flash into the Red Zone and Jymere Jordan-Toney (Philadelphia, Pa./Franklin) put the ball on the far hash around the 12-yard line. But Eric Bofenkamp's (Warren, Ohio/John F. Kennedy) kick came out low and Lehigh hung on for the victory.
 
Neither team was able to get anything going early as the Red Flash set the tone early on defense. Da'Jon Lee (Fairfax, Va./Robinson) forced a fumble from Lehigh running back Dom Bragalone on the Mountain Hawks opening possession and the Red Flash held a top-10 FCS offense a year ago scoreless in the opening quarter.
 
Saint Francis got the first big play of the game when Bear Fenimore (Austin, Texas/Westwood) hit Kamron Lewis (Fresno, Calif./Edison) for a 42 yard strike up the far sideline. Lewis made a beautiful back shoulder play on a purposefully underthrown ball to make the catch and get the Red Flash down to the Lehigh six-yard line. Three plays later Fenimore snuck it across the goal line and Eric Bofenkamp (Warren, Ohio/John F. Kennedy) added the extra point to put SFU up 7-0 midway through the first quarter.
 
Again, the Red Flash defense limited the potent Mountain Hawk attack, forcing a punt for the third-straight possession. On the ensuing drive for the Red Flash, it was Lewis again making a big play. This time Fenimore found Lewis for 31 yards, putting Saint Francis inside the Lehigh 30-yard line. However, the drive would stall and Fenimore's pass on fourth down went over the head of Cyrus Holder (Uniondale, N.Y./Milford Academy), giving the ball back to the Mountain Hawks at the end of the opening stanza.
 
Saint Francis would take that 7-0 lead into the second quarter, but the quick-strike attack of Lehigh would soon take effect. On the third play of the drive, senior running back Dom Bragalone would get the corner and shoot 52 yards up the near sideline to tie the game at 7-7. The senior would rush for a game-high 141 yards and all three Lehigh scores, breaking the school's all-time leading rushing and touchdown record in the process.
 
The Red Flash would immediately respond. After a penalty on the kickoff pinned SFU back at their own 13, Jymere Jordan-Toney (Philadelphia, Pa./Franklin) got them out of the shadow of their goal line with a 12-yard run and Cyrus Holder (Uniondale, N.Y./Milford Academy) would haul in a 30-yard pass from Fenimore to put the Red Flash at midfield. Fenimore would find Holder again for 12 more yards and another first-down rush from Jordan-Toney set up a Eric Bofenkamp (Warren, Ohio/John F. Kennedy) field goal. The senior was true from 41 yards and SFU re-took the lead at 10-7 with just over five minutes left in the half.
 
The Mountain Hawks picked up momentum off their first scoring drive, taking their final drive of the half 12 plays and 75 yards. Quarterback Brad Mayes found Luke Christiano for 21 yards on a third-and-13 to keep the drive alive. The stout Red Flash run defense kept Bragalone in check but the senior converted a pair of short-yardage first downs, then punched it in from two-yards out on fourth down to give Lehigh their first lead of the game. Saint Francis would run out the first half and head to the locker room down 14-10.
 
Out of the halftime break, the Red Flash embarked on a time-consuming drive. Jordan-Toney had six carries for 22 yards and a pair of first downs as part of a 17-play, 66-yard drive. Bofenkamp thought he'd made it a 14-13 game with a 25-yard field goal, but roughing the kicker gave the Red Flash a fresh set of downs inside the five. The Flash averted disaster when Jordan-Toney jumped on an errant pitch on first-and-goal and Lewis' catch on third down was ruled out of the end zone. Bofenkamp converted once again, bringing the Red Flash to within one at 14-13.
 
Lehigh wasted no time on their first drive of the second half. Brad Mayes hit Jorge Portorreal on a fade pass that went for 31 yards and took Lehigh inside the Red Flash 20. Bragalone took it from there, punching it in from 11-yards out two plays later capping a 75-yard scoring drive as the Mountain Hawks took a 21-13 lead into the fourth quarter.
 
Saint Francis punter Andrew Zecca (Berkeley Heights, N.J./Gov. Livingston) had a great game, averaging over 50 yards on his four punts of the day. He pinned Lehigh back at their own eight-yard line on a 52-yarder that set up the biggest play of the game for the Red Flash. On third-and-five, Da'Jon Lee (Fairfax, Va./Robinson) came around the far end and stripped Brad Mayes. Lee then recovered the fumble before losing the ball in the end zone, Ben Bruni (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) then recovered for the Red Flash, making it 21-19. The two-point conversion was intercepted as Fenimore tried to get the ball to Lewis as SFU made it a one-score game.
 
The defenses would take over in the fourth quarter, as each team traded drives with nothing to show for it. With just over five minutes to go, Fenimore would again find Holder for a big gain, this time going for 43 yards up to midfield. Holder would finish the game with five catches for a team-high 95 yards. The drive would stall when Fenimore's pass to Terrell Johnson was tipped and intercepted, giving Lehigh the ball at the SFU 40 with three minutes to go.
 
The Red Flash defense would stand tall, conserving clock with a pair of timeouts and forced Lehigh to make a decision on a fourth-and-short at the SFU 30. The Mountain Hawks gambled and lost as SFU stopped the run in the backfield, giving SFU back the ball with 1:53 on the game clock.
 
Fenimore got the offense rolling, thanks to a pair of pass interference penalties and a key Terrell Johnson catch on a third down. That set up the Red Flash inside the Lehigh 20 and forced the Mountain Hawks to use their timeouts. A pair of Jordan-Toney rushes set the Red Flash up on the far hash for the potential game winning field goal. With 45 seconds left, Bofenkamp's kick was a low line drive that was deflected at the line and recovered by the Mountain Hawks, who ran out the clock for the victory.
 
Da'Jon Lee (Fairfax, Va./Robinson) had a tremendous opening to the season, finishing with eight tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. His eight tackles tied Jarren Williams (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy) for the team high and Williams recovered the first fumble Lee forced in the first quarter.
 
Offensively, Bear Fenimore (Austin, Texas/Westwood) played behind a terrific offensive line and delivered a strong game. The graduate student went 17-for-26 passing for 242 yards and a rushing score. He found both Cyrus Holder (Uniondale, N.Y./Milford Academy) and Kamron Lewis (Fresno, Calif./Edison) five times, with Holder going for 94 yards and Lewis 85. Jymere Jordan-Toney (Philadelphia, Pa./Franklin) carried the bulk of the rushing load, carrying 23 times for 75 yards. As a team, the Red Flash had an even 300 yards of offense, compared to 321 for Lehigh.
 
Andrew Zecca (Berkeley Heights, N.J./Gov. Livingston) led the special teams and flipped the field for the Red Flash with a 53-yard punting average that included a 62-yard boot. Two of his four punts pinned Lehigh inside the 20 and helped lead to the defensive score.
 
For Lehigh, Bragalone's 141 yards rushing and three touchdowns were the bulk of the offense. The Mountain Hawks threw for 181 yards, split between two quarterbacks. Luke Christiano caught the majority of the balls, bringing in seven passes for 62 yards.
 
The Red Flash will open up their home schedule next weekend as the Delaware State Hornets to DeGol Arena. Kick-off from Loretto is set for noon.