Lehigh Football Nation

It was good to see some football in Murray Goodman stadium today. Battling raindrops under an overcast, spring sky, Lehigh's offense (the White team) won the "official" game, 48-34 over the Lehigh defense (the Brown team), using a modified scoring system. But the spring practice was defined by the early statement of the defense, with a big interception by junior CB Donavon Harris and a slew of tipped balls by the Mountain Hawks' experienced defensive front. Eventually, though, the offense would settle down, and junior QB Brad Mayes and his backup, senior QB Matt Timochenko , would start to make hay and put touchdowns on the scoreboard. Junior WR Cam Richardson , who won the Jim Gum scholarship award before the game, made much of his opportunity working alongside senior WR Gatlin Casey and senior WR Troy Pelletier with the first-string offense.  The Northwestern Lehigh product caught 4 balls for 60 yards, and was a frequent target of Mayes and Timochenko.

(Photo Credit: The Morning Call) Going to practice this Wednesday, I wondered how things were going with the Mountain Hawks this spring. You never really know what to expect until you go, and on a surprisingly chilly evening, I arrived up at Lehigh's practice fields. A lot of times at practice you hear jeremiads from the coaching staff on "spirited competition" and competing for positions.  But you don't always see it on the practice field. On Wednesday, though, it was there.  I saw it. Maybe it's a product of a lot of players knowing where they fit on the team, and that's certainly what is my impression in regards to the Lehigh offense. When you have returning all-Patriot League players at running back, wide receiver, and the offensive line, that's one level of comfort.  When you have a returning quarterback that started three games, including an FCS playoff game, and led an 63-35 win over Yale with 524 yards passing, that's yet anothe

Last season, a disappointed LB Colton Caslow talked about the Lehigh defense after a top 26-21 loss to nationally-ranked Villanova. Caslow, LB Pierce Ripanti and LB Evan Harvey had combined for 27 tackles against the Wildcats, but it wasn't enough to spring the upset. "None of those plays I made would have been possible if I didn't have the fantastic teammates I have around me out there," he said after the game .  "Everyone's just been flying around, we're getting all eleven players to the ball, everyone has a lot higher energy out there, and we're in a lot better shape than we were last year." Caslow's disappointment would be the last time he'd experience that emotion after a regular-season football game, as Lehigh then proceeded to win their next nine games and the Patriot League championship.  Caslow, and the defense, never averted their focus and improvement from that point forward. This weekend at the Brown/Whit