Drake started its football season two quarters too late in Saturday’s 28-14 loss to Lehigh.

Playing before a crowd of 3,628 at Drake Stadium, the Bulldogs were dominated in the first half and fell behind 21-0, but rallied in the second half. Drake closed to within 21-14 with 7 minutes 44 seconds to play and then had a chance to tie when Nick Chenier recovered the ensuing kickoff at Lehigh’s 22-yard line.

But Drake lost the ball on downs when quarterback Mike Piatkowski was sacked for an 8-yard loss on 4th-and-4. Lehigh added an insurance score by driving 76 yards, capped by a 28-yard touchdown by Jay Campbell, his third score of the night. That made it 28-14 with 4:10 left.

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“We had momentum, we had everything going our way,” Chenier said. “I thought we were going to come out on top and put that in (the end zone) and stop them again on defense and come out with an awesome ‘W.’

“We just didn’t capitalize, but we put a lot of heart in it. What I take from this game is good things are ahead for us.”

Lehigh amassed 420 yards to Drake’s 177 and was especially dominant in the first half, when it outgained the Bulldogs 277-37.

“We just weren’t able to execute,” Drake coach Chris Creighton said. “They had long drives and scored and we weren’t able to muster any first downs. … We didn’t change a lot in the third quarter at all, we just started executing.

The Mountain Hawks scored on their first two possessions, driving 69 yards in 10 plays on the first and 80 yards on nine plays on the second to lead 14-0 with 3:21 left in the first quarter.

A 23-yard touchdown pass from Chris Lum to Craig Zurn made it 21-0 with10:40 to play in the half.

“It kind of hit like a tidal wave,” Chenier said. “Once we got our feet under ourselves in the second half, they only got a couple first downs. We were busting our tails and I thought we played really well in the second half, we just didn’t come out the way we wanted to in the first half.”

Drake’s best chance to score came late in the first half after David Witkiewicz blocked a field goal to give Drake the ball on Lehigh’s 39-yard line.

The Bulldogs drove to the 15-yard line before the drive stalled and Billy Janssen’s 32-yard field-goal attempt at the end of the half was wide.

In the second half, Drake started going to counter runs and screen passes and began moving the ball.

The Bulldogs drove 88 yards to get within 21-7 following Tom Kostek’s7-yard touchdown run with 4:45 left in the third quarter. Then a 12-yard touchdown pass from Piatkowski to Drew Blackmon made it 21-14.

“On that whole drive, they were so worried about the run that finally I was able to get a quick release on the outside and ‘Pike’ put it right on me,” Blackmon said.

Then Chenier recovered the kickoff, a bloop to the right side, to get Drake the ball back, but the Bulldogs couldn’t score.

“The positive for me is we were down 21-0 with no light and it was not going well at all,” Creighton said. “Then you look at the scoreboard and it’s21-14. But they made plays. They’re well-coached.”

Lehigh didn’t commit a turnover and Lum finished 23-of-36 for 288 yards while Campbell gained 107 yards on 22 carries.

Piatkowski completed 20-of-34 passes with an interception for 148 yards. Kostek was Drake’s leading rusher with 44 yards.

Bulldogs dig themselves too deep a hole
By DAN JOHNSON, The Des Moines Register
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100904/SPORTS0204/100904020/1097/Drake-football-Bulldogs-dig-themselves-too-deep-a-hole