Game of the Week? Lehigh Dominates William & Mary 44-20 In Comprehensive Performance
BETHLEHEM, PA — All over social media, it was billed as the “FCS Game of the Week” — a battle for first place in the Patriot League, and the only matchup of the weekend between two FCS Top 20 teams.
“It doesn’t matter what [social media] says,” Lehigh head coach Rich Nagy said. “It’s going to matter how we perform and what we do. We try to be 1-0 in what we do.”
Well, Lehigh went out in their Murray Goodman Stadium home opener and performed. And then some.
From their first opening few drives, the Lehigh Mountain Hawks (3-0, 3-0 Patriot) made it feel less like the Game of the Week and more like business as usual.
What was expected to be a heavyweight battle with William & Mary (2-1, 1-1 Patriot) turned into a 44-20 Lehigh romp instead.
Blasting Out of the Gate
Right from the start it looked like Lehigh’s day after the Lehigh defense stopped William & Mary after the opening kickoff. DE Aidan Williams battled down a screen pass on second down from surprise starting QB Carter Carroll, and then hurried him on his next pass, forcing a three-and-out right at the start.
“It’s always nice to start out hot like that,” DB Luke Denny said after the game, who led the team with 7 tackles. “To get momentum, get a three and out, it sets the tone for the game.”
From there it took all of four plays for the Lehigh offense to get on the board. RB Luke Yoder burst through the line for a 50 yard run, taken down at the 1 yard line. (“I thought I was in,” he said afterwards. “I would have liked tht long one,”) One play later, QB Hayden Johnson handed it off to Yoder one play later, which gave Lehigh a lead with a one yard touchdown run.
The Mountain Hawks would never be threatened again as the ball kept rolling Lehigh’s way.
“Playing off the defense, going out there and getting that three-and-out, then us going down and scoring, playing complementary football offensively and defensively. It allows us to go out there and do what we need to do as an offense. It was fun, playing off the defense with all theit three-and-outs. It was awesome,” Yoder said.
The very next play a fumbled snap caused William & Mary to kick the ball out of the end zone to score the Mountain Hawks a safety, making it 9-0 Lehigh.
On the defense’s next possession, DT Jadin Nelson and DB Nick Peltekian stuffed William & Mary RB Andrew King on first down after a two yard run. After a near interception and another incompletion, the defense had forced another three-and-out and set the table for the Lehigh offense to get rolling again.
And roll they did.
“The guys up front, they’re the heart of the defense. If they’re bringing pressure to the quarterback, it just kind of makes everything else easier for the back end,” Denny said. “We always say, don’t create the play. Just make the play. Let the play come to you.” We have a lot of young guys who have stepped up over the last couple of games, and that’s been really helpful.”
After that 3 and out, WR Nick Palumbo caught a rifle shot over the middle from Johnson and rumbled 37 yards into Tribe territory, RB Aaron Crossley converted a big third down through a massive hole in the offensive line, and on the ninth play of the drive, with everyone in the stadium knowing it was going to him, Yoder went off tackle left and scored his second touchdown without any William & Mary player within five yards of him.
“Everyone up thee is working tiogether,” Yoder said afterwards. “Everyone in the offensive line room is so close, working in the trenches together to get the push that we need and allows me to hit the holes that I see. It ends up working out pretty well.”
Morgan Madness
Another stop on the next play on 3rd and 10, with DB Jackson Dowd breaking up the pass and a swarm of defenders pressuring the quarterback, William & Mary had to punt yet again on their next drive.
After Johnson pulled up limp on a scramble, his backup, QB Derek Morgan, stepped right in and the Lehigh offense didn’t miss a beat.
After a penalty and a couple of Yoder runs, Morgan dropped back to pass, and threw an absolute dime to Palumbo for a 22 yard touchdown pass to mabe it 23-0 after the extea point.
It was Morgan’s first pass attempt of his Division I football career, and it was a touchdown. That’s the sort of day it was for the Mountain Hawks.
Hayden Johnson would add a spectacular 50 yard touchdown run before being held out the rest of the way, while Yoder would pilre on in the second half with his third touchdown on the afternoon, an 11 yard run that would bring him to 169 yards on 23 carries.
But the Goddard, Kansas native, who went 3-for-4 passing for 36 yards and the touchdown, added 6 rushes and 72 yards on his own, including a 8 yard scramble that was remarkable in that it was Barry Sanders-esque in understatedness. No flexing, no posing, just handing the ball to the official, getting caught in the net, then calmly trotting to the sideline – in the second rushing touchdown of his Divsion I football career.
“We just play with the ‘next play’ mentality and when Hayden goes down, we know we have a backup who’s ready to rock,” Yoder said. “I think Derek came in and did a great job of executing. I don’t think there was that much of a dip.”
“We talk all the time about the guys staying prepared because you don’t know what’s going to happen,” Nagy said. “I give [Derek] a ton of credit because every other position you can sub in and sub out all the time. But it was great learning experience for our entire team about how you have to stay ready. We didn’t miss a beat when he came into the game. I always say that In the bad, there’s good. You never want to lose your starting quarterback, but it was great to see some of the things Derek did, not only for himself but for our football team.”
Lehigh remains at home next week as they play Dartmouth, who are playing in their 2026 season opener against the Mountain Hawks.
 William & Mary | 0 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 20 |
 Lehigh | 16 | 21 | 0 | 7 | 44 |
W&M: PASS – Watkins,Winston (164); RUSH – King,Andrew (78); REC – Austin,Kai (82)
LEH: PASS – Johnson, Hayden (84); RUSH – Yoder, Luke (169); REC – Palumbo, Nick (71)
Scoring Summary
| 1st | LEH | 12:07 | LEH – Yoder,Luke 1 yd run (Poole,Connor kick), 4 plays, 69 yards, TOP 02:08 | 0 | 7 |
| 1st | LEH | 11:56 | LEH – 0 yd safety | 0 | 9 |
| 1st | LEH | 01:40 | LEH – Yoder,Luke 2 yd run (Poole,Connor kick), 9 plays, 85 yards, TOP 05:19 | 0 | 16 |
| 2nd | LEH | 11:45 | LEH – Palumbo,Nick 22 yd pass from Morgan,Derek (Poole,Connor kick) 5 plays, 65 yards, TOP 02:48 | 0 | 23 |
| 2nd | LEH | 09:08 | LEH – Johnson,Hayden 50 yd run (Poole,Connor kick), 3 plays, 58 yards, TOP 01:27 | 0 | 30 |
| 2nd | W&M | 01:54 | W&M – Chavis,Jah’Kei 4 yd run (Lipinski,Max kick), 4 plays, 74 yards, TOP 01:45 | 7 | 30 |
| 2nd | LEH | 00:02 | LEH – Morgan,Derek 8 yd run (Poole,Connor kick), 9 plays, 75 yards, TOP 01:52 | 7 | 37 |
| 4th | W&M | 13:01 | W&M – Chavis,Jah’Kei 1 yd run (Lipinski,Max kick), 10 plays, 75 yards, TOP 04:32 | 14 | 37 |
| 4th | LEH | 08:35 | LEH – Yoder,Luke 11 yd run (Poole,Connor kick), 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 04:26 | 14 | 44 |
| 4th | W&M | 02:42 | W&M – Watkins,Winston 1 yd run (), 16 plays, 79 yards, TOP 05:48 | 20 | 44 |
| TOTAL: | 20 | 44 | ||||
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:
