QUICK RECAP: Lehigh Dominates The Leopards In A 45-21 Rivalry Win

In the most-played college football Rivalry, there was a mild concern of complacency on the Lehigh side.

Would they be able to manage the emotions of the Rivalry after a bye week? Would they come out flat, and let 2-8 Lafayette take away their chance at an outright Patriot League championship, an undefeated Patriot League record, and a 9-2 regular season mark?

The Mountain Hawks proved resoundingly that fans needn't have worried.

Lehigh rolled to a 17-0 lead before Lafayette connected on a big pass play, then kept the foot on the gas to get to a 45-7 lead before starting to put in the second stringers.

It was pretty telling that the biggest outpouring of emotion during the game happened when Lehigh's marching band, the Marching 97, marched off Lafayette's pep band after they went over on their time to play. It was that sort of day for a joyous Lehigh victory.

Senior QB Nick Shafnisky came away with the MVP trophy for the second straight Rivalry. After coming out near the end of the 3rd quarter, Shaf ended his final regular season game for the Brown and White 19 for 29 passing for 268 yards and 3 TDs. Two of his touchdown passes went to junior WR Troy Pelletier (93 yards), and the third went to junior WR Gatlin Casey (79 yards), while he added 13 yards on the ground as well.

The touchdown of the day might have been Shaf's running touchdown, where, at the goal line, Shaf faked right, evaded a couple of tackles, and then surged forward in the end zone to put Lehigh up 24-7.

Lafayette's hope at a comeback came to a grinding halt at the end of the first half, when, with 3rd and goal at the 2, senior ROV Laquan Lambert and senior LB Pierce Ripanti collapsed on Lafayette QB Drew Reed, sacking him and causing the first half to expire holding the Leopards to a 31-7 deficit.

Coming out of the second half, the Lehigh offense mounted an 8 play, 67 yard drive that would end with a Shaf-to-Pelletier touchdown connection to go up 38-7 and cause many Lafayette fans to head to their tailgates early.

Lambert would lead the defense in tackles with 8, including 1 1/2 tackles for loss, but it felt like he was attacking and agonizing Reed all afternoon, along with Ripanti, with 6 tackles and 2 tackles for loss.

Check in later for more on this game, and about Lehigh's chances at hosting a playoff game, later tonight.

Comments

How The Ivy League Is Able To Break the NCAA's Scholarship Limits and Still Consider Themselves FCS

By now you've seen the results. In 2018, the Ivy League has taken the FCS by storm. Perhaps it was Penn's 30-10 defeat of Lehigh a couple of weeks ago . Or maybe it was Princeton's 50-9 drubbing of another team that made the FCS Playoffs last year, Monmouth. Or maybe it was Yale's shockingly dominant 35-14 win over nationally-ranked Maine last weekend. The Ivy League has gone an astounding 12-4 so far in out-of-conference play, many of those wins coming against the Patriot League. But it's not just against the Patriot League where the Ivy League has excelled. Every Ivy League school has at least one out-of-conference victory, which is remarkable since it is only three games into their football season. The four losses - Rhode Island over Harvard, Holy Cross over Yale, Delaware over Cornell, and Cal Poly over Brown - were either close losses that could have gone either way or expected blowouts of teams picked to be at the bottom of the Ivy League. W

Eleven Guys Who Might Be Lafayette's Next Head Football Coach

It was a surprise. Well, to me, anyway. Most people assumed that Lafayette head coach John Garrett was safe as the Leopards' head coach. Though his five year record wasn't great, he had beaten bitter Rival Lehigh in two out of the last three Rivalry games, despite a tough 17-10 loss to Lehigh the final week of the year. Listening to the post-game press conference, I also didn't pick up on some of the signs that his job security might be in jeopardy. Garrett was a bit prickly, but it was understandable - he had just lost a game to Lafayette's Rivals. "The future is bright for Lafayette football," he said, not letting on that he might not be a part of that future. But by Monday, the announcement was made - after five years leading the Leopard football team, "Lafayette College will not renew the contract of head football coach John Garrett," a short press release stated. "A national search for his replacement will begin immediately. Defensive

Made-Up Midseason Grades for Lehigh Football

We are now officially midway through the 2023 Lehigh football season. The Mountain Hawks sit at 1-5 overall, and 0-1 in the Patriot League. I thought I'd go ahead and make up some midseason grades, and set some "fan goals" for the second half. The 2023 Mountain Hawks were picked to finish fifth in the seven team Patriot League. In order to meet or exceed that expectation, they'll probably have to go at least 3-2 the rest of the way in conference play. Their remaining games are vs. Georgetown, at Bucknell, vs. Holy Cross, at Colgate, and vs. Lafayette in The Rivalry. Can they do it? Culture Changing: B+ . I was there in the Bronx last week after the tough 38-35 defeat to Fordham, and there wasn't a single player emerging from the locker room that looked like they didn't care. Every face was glum. They didn't even seem sad. More frustrated and angry. That may seem normal, considering the agonizing way the Mountain Hawks lost, but it was a marked chan

Lehigh Football Nation

Search This Blog