Late rally lifts Lehigh over Georgetown 27-24

BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) — Nate Hope ran for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and Austin Henning kicked a 27-yard field goal as time expired to lift Lehigh to a 27-24 victory over Georgetown on Saturday.

Lehigh (4-3, 3-0 Patriot League) jumped out to a 10-0 first-quarter lead on Henning’s 36-yard field goal and a 32-yard TD run by Zaythan Hill. The only scoring of the second quarter was a 23-yard field goal by Georgetown’s Brad Hurst that left the Hoyas (5-3, 1-2) trailing 10-3 at the half.

Quarterback Gunther Johnson capped a nine-play, 77-yard drive on Georgetown’s first possession of the third quarter with a 3-yard TD toss to Joshua Tomas, but Hurst missed the extra-point kick and left the Hoyas trailing 10-9. Two possessions later Johnson connected with Cameron Crayton for a 25-yard score and Georgetown led 16-10 after three quarters.

The Mountain Hawks used Hope’s 1-yard scoring run to take a 17-16 lead 49 seconds into the final quarter and Hope’s 2-yard TD run stretched the lead to 24-16 with 2:55 left to play.

But the Hoyas weren’t finished. Johnson connected with Michael Dereus for a 72-yard scoring strike on fourth-and-4 from their own 28-yard line and then hit Joshua Stakely for the 2-point conversion to knot the score at 24 with 1:23 remaining.

That was enough time for Mountain Hawks quarterback Tyler Monaco to lead his team to victory. Monaco kept the drive alive with a 12-yard pass to Devon Bibbens on third-and-10 at the Lehigh 31-yard line. Two plays later Monaco hit Bibbens for a 48-yard gain, setting up Henning’s game-winning kick.

Johnson finished 20-of-30 passing for 267 yards and three TDs. Dereus had six catches for 155 yards and a score.

Monaco completed 23 of 36 passes for 271 yards.