The Morning Call from Allentown, Pennsylvania • 37

Michigan wins kfifa Sixers come up short vs. Knicks in Rose Bowl rca Gameday C2-J NBA C4 Varsity C5 College football C9-H Scoreboard 03 place PAGE C4 SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2003 THE MORNING CALL SECTION LEHIGH 30, LAFAYETTE 10 n. tfihish urt in Comment I 1 PAUL yards to the Leopards' 8 to set up Dave Wilson's 8-yard touchdown run. Wilson finished with, 101 yards on 28 carries. Keating also came up big, particularly in his dual role as Lehigh's punter.

Late in the third quarter, with the outcome still in doubt, he rocketed a 62-yard punt to the Lafayette The Hawks' exceptional defense, led by end Mike Grego-rek and linebackers Tom Mc-Geoy and Mike Taggart, took away Lafayette tailback Joe McCourt as a run threat (just 31 yards on 11 totes) and put enough pressure on Glavic to, with one exception (a 13-yard scoring pass to Archie Fisher with 13 seconds left in the first half), keep him from getting his club into the end zone. "It was an emotional, physical and hard-hitting game," said fired-up Lehigh coach Pete Lembo. "Lafayette came up here to play, and it played hard. It's nice to finish with a win over our archrivaL" Lembo still hopes the Mountain Hawks will get an at-large NCAAbid. "I'm hopeful we'll get a chance to buckle it up one more time and represent Lehigh and the Patriot League in the postseason," he said.

"I'll start by congratulating MICHIGAN STATE Arturo Fernandez The Morning Call LEHIGH'S JERMAINE PUGH, who accumulated HO return yards and 265 yards of total offense, returns a punt in the second quarter. Pugh, who had punt returns of 53 and 40 yards, was the game's MVP. A bus ending to ra V- i3 The senior does it via the run, the pass, punt returns for 265 yards. ByTedMeixell Of The Morning Call Lafayette quarterback Marko Glavic and wide receiver John Weyrauch set the records on Saturday in the 139th Lehigh-Lafayette game at Goodman Stadium. But Lehigh's Gerran Walk- er and Jer- INSIDE Lehigh happy with win; not worrying about playoff berth.

PAGE a maine Pugh made all the big plays. The result was a 30-10 victory for the revenge-minded and NCAA Division I-AA playoff hopeful Mountain Hawks (8-3, 6-1 Patriot) before a sun-drenched crowd of 16,000. Pugh, a senior and the game's MVP, had punt returns of 53 and 40 yards and turned a middle screen from quarterback Kyle Keating into a game-clinching 79-yard touchdown. In between, he rushed 15 times for 68 yards. Walker, a sophomore, turned a rocket screen into a 35-yard TD as the Hawks scored on their first possession.

Later, on the same play, he raced 53 Michael Robinson seemed to need a break, however brief. "I'm exhausted right now physically, emotionally, mentally," said Robinson, after playing tailback, quarterback and receiver on Saturday. "At the same time, I want to go out there and play." Perhaps Penn State head coach Joe Paterno said it best: "I want to get out of here, get on the plane, and go home and hug my wife." For Penn State, the season finale started to go wrong even before the Lions and Spartans took the field. Three players were disciplined, including Maurice Humphrey, who was beginning to look like a go-to receiver in last week's victory over Indiana. He didn't make the trip after breaking an unspecified team rule.

Ernie Terrell and Chris McKelvy stayed home, too. Even so, Penn State opened this game with a glimmer of hope. Michigan State (8-4, 5-3) had lost three consecutive games coming into the contest, and the Lions took a 3-0 lead on Robbie Gould's 29-yard, first-quarter field goal. In addition, Penn State moved the ball PSU PAGE C8 I it Rob Ortcrmaiw Special to The Morning Call HAYGOOD p6) loses the ball after Muhlenberg's Than Petrakis (4). season r' Lehigh can stand on its own record Nick Noel has an ingrained bias.

He played football at Lehigh University. In fact, he has ties to the Lambert Cup-winning team that went to the NCAA playoffs in 1973 although he admits he had given up the game by then to protect both his undersized body and his grade-point average. Noel, an Easton attorney, still follows Lehigh football. He sent an e-mail last week to drum up support for a Lehigh Division I-AA playoff bid. "In surveying the other areas of the country from where the teams will be pulled, it seems that the media 'campaigns' more for the home team It would be nice REINHARD PAGE C6 PENN STATE POSTGAME REPORT CARD Rushing offense 55-yard effort (54 by QBTB WR Michael Robinson) is a fitting end to the weakest Penn State running game in years.

Passing offense Somebody get Zack Mills a body cast for that beating he took. Having the starting right tackle and split end out for disciplinary reasons didn't help. Running defense Not like it mattered. But on the bright side, streak of 100-yard rushers ended at seven. Passing defense MSU quarterback Jeff Smoker had lots of time, plenty of open receivers and a couple steps of good luck.

Special teams Return man Calvin Lowry played with grit but fumbled another punt. Another fake punt burns Lions as well. Overall grade Very grim end to a grim season. RIVALRY PAGE C6 Eagles is still impressive By Larry O'Rourke Of The Morning Call PHILADELPHIA Barring at least a couple of performances that would exceed reasonable expectations, the final statistics produced by the Philadelphia Eagles' defense this season will not be as impressive as those of recent seasons. Three opposing running backs already have rushed for 100 yards against the Eagles.

One team, the New England Patriots, already has scored 31 -points against Philly. Still, this could be defen sive coordinator Jim Johnson's best season for several reasons: Free safety Brian Dawk-ins sat out Games 2-9 because of a Lis Franc foot sprain. EAGLES PAGE C3 Flyers down Bruins, take lead in East By Gary R. Blockus Of The Morning Call PHILADELPHIA For all but 32 seconds, the Flyers dominated the best road team in the NHL. And by the time Saturday's game ended, Philadelphia's 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins not only put the Flyers on top of the entire Eastern Conference, but one point ahead of the Vancouver Canucks for the NHL lead with the Canucks playing a late-night game.

"It's a huge win," said Jeremy Roenick, who had an assist on Mark Recchi's game-winning power play goal at the end of the second period. "This was a big test to see FLYERS PAGE C14 41, PENN STATE 10 Perm State's 41-10 loss at Michigan State caps its worst-ever campaign. By Beth Hudson Of The Morning Call EAST LANSING, Midi. At least it's over. Penn State's worst football season ever careened to its inevitable conclusion in this case, a resounding thud on Saturday afternoon in a 41-10 loss at Michigan State.

And the final notes said it all: These Nittany Lions (3-9, 1-7) lost more games than any other football team in school history, and Penn State failed to win a road game for the first time since 1935. The only other time the Lions lost eight or more games in a season was 1931, when they were 2-8. So, at least it's over. And, in one way or another, that's what everyone on the team said after this one. Some players like senior fullback Sean McHugh wish they could return and try to rebuild in 2004.

Some like junior safety Andrew Guman are optimistic that the Lions will do just that. And some players like sophomore 'V 1 f- A Ij. i CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT'S BRIAN being dragged out of bounds by 5) tten Itiiiin, Al Goldii Associated Press MICHIGAN STATE QUARTERBACK Jeff Smoker celebrates after his team's win over Penn State. Smoker passed for 357 yards and four TDs. end zone.

But it did take a lunging, controversial one-handed grab by George Jones to complete a 31-yard pass play that kept the drive alive. And, ultimately, Kelchner's gamble proved to be enough to end Muhlenberg's season as the Captains turned that play into the game-winning touchdown in a 24-20 NCAA first-round playoff victory at POM-CO Stadium. "I thought about punting for two seconds," Kelchner, a MUHLENBERG PAGE CS A -1 Mules fall short in Division III playoffs By Jeff Schuler Of The Morning Call NEWPORT NEWS, Va. There still was time to pin Muhlenberg College deep, to put the game in the hands of a defense that for much the season had carried his team to the NCAA Division III playoffs. Instead, with five minutes left and facing a fourth-and-seven at the Muhleberg 47, Christopher Newport coach Matt Kelchner went for it all.

Well, not quite all. Phillip Jones' pass didn't go into the.