Fake Field Goal Helps Spur Mountain Hawks To 44-30 Win over Penn, Get to 5-0

BETHLEHEM, PA – At home on a hot and humid Parents day weekend, in front of an 8,000 strong crowd, the Lehigh Mountain Hawks came out of the halftime locker room up 16-14, playing just well enough to stay ahead of the visiting Penn Quakers, but not well enough to get any sort of separation.

In the first quarter, the Mountain Hawks scored one touchdown, QB Hayden Johnson finding WR Matt D’Avino for a pretty 22 yard grab, but saw their three other offensive possessions end in field goals by PK Nick Garrido, kicks of 35, 33, and 25 respectively, and a turnover on downs.

However a big play from Penn QB Liam O’Brien – a 48 yard pass to WR Bisi Owens, after he avoided pressure from Lehigh’s front line – and, later, a 4 yard touchdown run by O’Brien – meant that Lehigh only had a measly two point lead going into the locker room.

Head coach Kevin Cahill was frustrated.

“You’re not going to win games against really good teams like Penn kicking field goals,” he said after the game. “They did a great job of holding us, keeping us out of the end zone, so give them credit, they did a great job stopping us on those drives. But you’re eventually going to run out of time.”

At the beginning of the second half, it looked for a moment that converting field goals instead of touchdowns might end up costing the Mountain Hawks.

The Quakers would seize momentum as they received the second half kickoff, first seeing a 60 yard kickoff return by WR Julien Stokes, then two plays later seeing QB Liam O’Brien find WR Jaden Richardson with a perfect pass to have Penn take the lead.

With all the momentum on Penn’s side, Lehigh got the kickoff after Penn took the lead and saw another drive stall at the Penn 20. As they had done three times before, Lehigh lined up for a fourth field goal try. It was poised to be Garrido’s only four field goal game in his Lehigh career, and would have built up on his career scoring high.

It was then that the Lehigh coaching staff got together and made a bold call.

“We saw the look earlier in the game,” Cahill said. “The situation had to be right, the right down, the right distance, everything had to be correct. I was in the headset, and, you know, Mike Morita does a fantastic job with our offensive line, and he helps with the field goal unit. And I said it to him – let’s run it. He agrees, he thinks we got it. And we just called it and went with it. I didn’t think field goals were going to win this game.”

WR Geoffrey Jamiel lined up as the holder, the ball was hiked to him, and he took off with the ball – getting the first down, then barreling into the end zone for a touchdown – a perfectly executed fake, with the kicker, Garrido, trailing Jamiel, ready to take the option pitch if necessary.

“I was excited,” Garrido said. “I’ve always wanted to run that play, and the fact that we got it was just amazing.”

Everything about that play – the execution by Jamiel, the roar of the crowd, the touchdown that gave Lehigh the lead – seemed to propel the Mountain Hawks forward, the floodgates opening. Cahill’s gambit paid off perfectly, and in so doing probably ended up winning the game.

It was then the turn of the defense to make a big play.

After a Lehigh fumble on a Penn punt, O’Brien and the Quaker offense seemed like they were in business to tie the game or better. But a huge 3rd and 9 play for Lehigh involved DB Nick Peltekian corralling O’Brien with a strip sack, and DL Matt Spatny recovering the loose ball.

Up 23-20, the first play of the fourth quarter was a pretty move by Jamiel in the end zone on a looping throw by Johnson, electrifying the crowd right next to the Lehigh student section “Clutch’s Kettle”. That score gave Lehigh a 30-20 lead, and was Jamiel’s lone touchdown on the afternoon in a dominating 8 catch, 132 yard receiving performance.

“We always talk about competing for balls in the air and winning your one-on-one battle and making a play. It was kind of like ‘see ball, get ball’,” Jamiel said afterwards. “I saw it in the air, Hayden gave me a shot. And, you know, it was a big time throw. He kind of put it right where it needed to be. So, I mean, that’s all credit to Hayden. And, you know, TE Joe Maranca came across, had a great one on one block to give us some time to throw that. I just put my hands up and he put it right there.”

Penn didn’t say die.

O’Brien found Richardson for the second time after a six play, 65 yard drive to cut the deficit to 30-27. Richardson, the Bethlehem Catholic product and NFL prospect, had 12 catches for 141 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Penn then forced its only Lehigh punt of the game, giving Penn another opportunity to possibly tie the game or take the lead.

On the first play after the punt, LB Tyler Ochojski tipped O’Brien’s pass, slightly, and sophomore DB Mekahi Smith grabbed the ball out of the air – again – making his fourth interception in five games to set the Mountain Hawks up in Quaker territory.

“I give credit to the defensive line especially, when they get after the quarterback really fast,” Smith said. “The pressure forces some passes into double coverage we can build off of.”

Just as in the other games, Smith’s interception was consequential, a pivotal moment that gave Lehigh a huge boost.

Five plays later, RB Luke Yoder would barrel into the end zone from 1 yard out to give Lehigh a 37-27 lead, a lead from which Penn could not recover.

The Quakers would manage another FG, but Lehigh’s next possession would be the clincher, ending with Yoder’s second touchdown on the afternoon, a 25 yard run. Yoder and RB Jaden Green would combine for 279 of Lehigh’s 539 total yards of offense, contributing to a lopsided time of possession, 36 minutes to Penn’s 23.

“Playing on Saturday is just 1% of what we do,” Jamiel said. “We work at it 24/7, 365 days a year. We compete in the spring, in the summer and everything with us is a competition. And we learn how to win. It starts with Coach Cahill, and he instills that mindset in us. So, we’re lucky enough to win today, but really we try to do it every day of the year.”

“They had a great game plan to come in and attack our defense,” Cahill said. “We had three turnovers today, which is huge. But we’ve got to make those adjustments and respond faster. I thought their offense was really good, O’Brien is a good player, Richardson is one of the best receivers I’ve seen at this level. I’m looking forward to him, you know, graduating and moving on to the NFL. He and Bisi Owens are two tremendous athletes, not to mention the running back, who is very good too. So they’re a very, very good ball club. They’re very dangerous. They’re gonna, they’re gonna do well in that, in the Ivy League.”

Lehigh (5-0, 2-0 Patriot) host Yale next week, the program where he was formerly offensive coordinator under current head coach Tony Reno. Penn (1-1, 0-0 Ivy) host undefeated Dartmouth in a big early season Ivy League matchup.

“It’s one game at a time, you know, we’ve got stuff to clean up from today,” Cahill concluded. We’ll focus on that and clean that up and get ready for next week against Yale. They’re going to be very good, of course I’m very familiar with them, and I’m very close friends on that staff, really good friends on that staff, so it’ll be good to see them, but also, obviously, they’re trying to win the game, and so are we. It’s a bit more personal.”

Full Box Score

Penn	7	7	6	10	30
Lehigh	13	3	7	21	44

PEN: PASS – O’Brien,Liam (316); RUSH – Stokes,Julien (37); REC – Richardson,Jared (141)

LEH: PASS – Johnson, Hayden (239); RUSH – Yoder, Luke (173); REC – Jamiel, Geoffrey (132)

Scoring Summary

	1st	LEH	12:08	LEH – Garrido,Nick 35 yd field goal 7 plays, 47 yards, TOP 02:45	0	3
	1st	LEH	06:00	LEH – D’Avino,Matt 22 yd pass from Johnson,Hayden (Garrido,Nick kick) 9 plays, 77 yards, TOP 04:39	0	10
	1st	PEN	04:15	PEN – Owens,Bisi 48 yd pass from O’Brien,Liam (Smith,Sam kick) 4 plays, 77 yards, TOP 01:38	7	10
	1st	LEH	00:42	LEH – Garrido,Nick 33 yd field goal 9 plays, 53 yards, TOP 03:27	7	13
	2nd	LEH	09:29	LEH – Garrido,Nick 25 yd field goal 6 plays, 21 yards, TOP 03:18	7	16
	2nd	PEN	05:20	PEN – O’Brien,Liam 4 yd run (Smith,Sam kick), 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 04:09	14	16
	3rd	PEN	14:05	PEN – Richardson,Jared 6 yd pass from O’Brien,Liam () 2 plays, 40 yards, TOP 00:45	20	16
	3rd	LEH	08:59	LEH – Jamiel,Geoffrey 20 yd run (Garrido,Nick kick), 10 plays, 65 yards, TOP 05:06	20	23
	4th	LEH	14:52	LEH – Jamiel,Geoffrey 35 yd pass from Johnson,Hayden (Garrido,Nick kick) 6 plays, 58 yards, TOP 03:11	20	30
	4th	PEN	12:48	PEN – Richardson,Jared 18 yd pass from O’Brien,Liam (Walters,Mason kick) 6 plays, 65 yards, TOP 02:00	27	30
	4th	LEH	07:22	LEH – Yoder,Luke 1 yd run (Garrido,Nick kick), 5 plays, 20 yards, TOP 02:47	27	37
	4th	PEN	04:50	PEN – Walters,Mason 32 yd field goal 6 plays, 56 yards, TOP 02:26	30	37
	4th	LEH	00:58	LEH – Yoder,Luke 25 yd run (Garrido,Nick kick), 9 plays, 75 yards, TOP 03:52	30	44
					30	44

Chuck Burton

Chuck has been writing about Lehigh football since the dawn of the internet, or perhaps it only seems like it. He’s executive editor of the College Sports Journal and has also written a book, The Rivalry: How Two Schools Started the Most Played College Football Series.

Reach him at: this email or click below: