GAME TEN, HOLY CROSS AT LEHIGH – Number Four In the Nation Tries to Take Care of Business In Final Regular Season Home Game

BETHLEHEM, PA – It is not easy to survive an entire college football season undefeated, but the Lehigh Mountain Hawks (9-0, 4-0 Patriot League) hope to keep their incredible 2025 winning streak alive as they close out their regular season home schedule against the Holy Cross Crusaders (1-8. 1-3 Patriot League).

It feels like a lifetime ago, but just last year Lehigh headed up to Worcester, Massachusetts to play a football game against Holy Cross with way fewer expectations.

In 2024 in the first week in November, the 5-3 Mountain Hawks were in playoff mode; thanks to their double overtime loss to Bucknell, every Patriot League game was in effect a playoff game.

Picked to finish sixth in the Patriot League in the preseason, they were seen as upstarts, given an outside chance to win the league and qualify for the FCS Playoffs. There was no national ranking; the thought of Lehigh doing so was seen as remote, at best. Besides, they were not in control of their own destiny. They needed help in the form of a Bucknell loss to even consider it.

And up were the defending Patriot League co-champions, the perennial title contenders, the team who under Bob Chesney and Dan Curran were 31-4 in Patriot League play since 2018. The Crusaders were still on top of the mountain, standing in Lehigh’s way, the way they had been for the last seven years.

That all would change suddenly and drastically for both teams.

Down 10-7, Holy Cross lined up for a game-tying field goal with a few seconds left on the clock. They hiked the ball, with the crowd and even probably most Lehigh fans fully expecting overtime, because that’s what Holy Cross had done up until that point in Patriot League play.

But then something amazing happened.

Lehigh DE Andrew Sharga reached up and blocked the low kick, DB Mason Moore picked up the loose ball, and a host of elated Mountain Hawks celebrated as the clock struck zero.

The Mountain Hawks had done what they hadn’t been able to do in their last six contests against the Crusaders: beat them 10-7 in a classic, all-timer of a game.

“This was the type of game we expected,” Lehigh head coach Kevin Cahill said after that game. “You’re not going to come in here and blow a team out, nor are we going to get blown out. I’m proud of out kids in the way they fought. Holy Cross is a very physical team. We knew we had to raise our standard. It was a hard-fought game and we were glad we got the win.”

It was a game that would do a lot more than just a victory – it was a game that would forge Lehigh’s defensive identity, for the end of 2024 into 2025.

It was a tough, brutal physical defensive battle, where both teams combined for fewer than 500 yards of total offense. Lehigh QBs Dante Perri and QB Hayden Johnson would combine for 55 yards passing, though one of those passes would end up in the hands of WR Mason Humphrey for a touchdown.

But it was the defense who played their guts out, never allowing Holy Cross to advance past the Lehigh 35 yard line after WR Jacob Petersen caught a TD pass from QB Joe Pesansky in the second quarter. Lehigh P Connor Poole averaged an eye-watering 46.5 yards per punt, and his leg was crucial in Lehigh’s victory.

“We battled the entire four quarters, the entire 60 minutes of football,” DB Mason Moore also said after that game, and added 5 tackles and 1 pass break-up. “We’ve been practicing and preparing for this moment since fall camp, and this week, coach Cahill fired us up with a pregame speech.”

You know the rest of the story of the 2024 season.

Holy Cross would beat Bucknell in overtime the following week, and would end up Patriot League co-champions, but the Mountain Hawks would return home and wallop both Colgate and their longtime Rival Lafayette to win the other share of the Patriot League champions as well as the autobid to the FCS Playoffs.

The goalposts came down in Murray Goodman Stadium, Lehigh upset Richmond in the FCS Playoffs the following week, and then Lehigh suddenly was not the team that has suffered through losing records and rebuilding. They had arrived. And in 2025 – so far – they have proven that they were no one-year fluke.

It’s not difficult to see a straight line between that big win in Worcester and this year’s Lehigh success.

DL Matt Spatny and LB Tyler Ochojski combined for two of Lehigh’s three sacks on the afternoon, while NT T.J. Burke helped stuff the Holy Cross run game, helping Lehigh allow only 105 total rushing yards. While LB Jackson Dowd and LB Mike DeNucci would lead the team in tackles, it was a true team effort on defense, no one player doing everything.

That sort of intense teamwork, “we-don’t-care-about-our-sack-statistics” attitude has definitely carried over to 2025, where Lehigh leads both the Patriot League and in the Top 10 nationally in rushing defense.

It really showed itself last week in a dominating 41-0 win over Georgetown.

Similar to the game against Holy Cross last season, this year against the Hoyas Lehigh didn’t allow Georgetown to run a play inside the Lehigh 20 yard line except during one drive, their final drive of the game, which ultimately was a fourth-down stop, preserving their shutout.

Like the Holy Cross game last year, the defense held the Hoyas under 300 yards of total offense.

“We talk all the time about our standard and the way we play,” Cahill said. “The challenge all week was, ‘Can we just focus on how we play and not worry about the scoreboard?’ I’m proud of how our guys did that today. It was process-oriented football, and when we looked up at the scoreboard at the end, the scoreboard read 41-0.”

While different, the similarites of last week’s win stand out defensively in their similarity to their gutsy, tough old-school win in Worcester.

They’ll need more of that this week if they want to continue their goals of being undefeated this year.

Cursed Crusaders

On the flip side of that coin, Holy Cross has to see this week as a chance to regain what they had – to pour out the frustrations of so many one-score losses this season, send the seniors out with a victory over the No. 4 team in the nation, and use that win to spring the Crusaders forward in 2026, with the aim of reclaiming the title.

Like Lehigh, Holy Cross takes a similar approach to preparation.

“They have a veteran group, so we’re going to have to minimize our mistakes,” said WR Blake Youngblood about Lehigh on local media. “Not create a bunch of turnovers on our side of the ball and create turnovers on defense. Special teams have to be engaged. We have to get our playmakers involved and score a lot of touchdowns.”

While Holy Cross didn’t turn over the ball last year against Lehigh, special teams played a huge part.

“I think first defensively, we have to stop the run,” said LB Sam Boyer. “Do exactly what we did last year. We allowed 10 points against them, I think. We have to stop the run. The defense needs to play together like we have been doing all year and just keep focusing up.”

That, too, mirrors Lehigh’s approach to preparation for each week of football. Even this small peek at Holy Cross football shows how similar both schools are in terms of approach.

Yet their seasons could not have been more different.

Lehigh has played one nationally-ranked team that is no longer ranked – Richmond, whom Holy Cross beat on the road, 28-22 in their only win of the season a couple weeks ago. Holy Cross, on the other hand, has played FBS Northern Illinois, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Yale, and Harvard. All were losses, but a grand total of seven points separated the Crusaders from Rhode Island (9-7). New Hampshire (19-16), and Northern Illinois (19-17).

Rhode Island and Harvard are both now Top Ten teams in most national polls, as is Lehigh.

Injuries have played a big part in Holy Cross’ struggles, granted, but it’s hard to imagine a more heartbreaking turn of schedule than the Crusaders this season. Picked to be right there with Lehigh in November in the preseason, it didn’t work out that way.

Holy Cross’ fall-from-ahead game against Colgate two weeks ago illustrates the rough go Holy Cross has had, surging to a 28-10 lead.

Already starting a sophomore at QB earlier in the season due to injury, WR Max Mosey made a sensational punt return for touchdown, putting Holy Cross up 28-10 on Colgate, but the Raiders would score the next 19 points of the game to eke out a 29-28 victory.

Clearly Holy Cross is doing some things right, but haven’t been able to close things out, and there would be no better time for the Crusaders to do so than against the No. 4 team in the nation, and the team that apparently stole their mojo.

In 2025, Holy Cross had six opportunities to win games in the closing minutes, trailing by one score in the fourth quarter. Six times they weren’t successful, and the Crusaders are in rebuilding mode, trying to reset for next year. But there is no better reset than winning a game against a Top Ten team.

Expect Physicality

I expect two teams this week that will be all-out against each other, especially defensively. While the offense has struggled at times, the Crusader defense only gave up three field goals to Rhode Island, and overall still has a top-notch defense. It wouldn’t surprise me to see another 10-7, 13-10, or 21-20 type of game, no matter what anyone says.

What I do know is that Holy Cross won’t come to Lehigh and back down. The Mountain Hawks will get their best shot, and the challenge of being undefeated might sorely be tested.

Can Holy Cross get their mojo back – and put the Patriot League title race on its head? Or will Lehigh barrel ahead, close out a perfect home record, and soldier on in their amazing season?

HOLY CROSS CRUSADERS (1-8, 1-3 Patriot) AT LEHIGH MOUNTAIN HAWKS (9-0, 4-0 Patriot)
WHERE: Murray Goodman Stadium, Bethlehem, PA, Saturday, November 8th, Noon
STREAMING: ESPN+
TV CREW: PxP – Marco Socci; Analyst – Mike Yadush
RADIO: BROADCAST (Fox Sports Lehigh Valley 94.7 FM/1230 AM; LVFoxSports.com):
RADIO CREW: PxP – Matt Kerr; Analysts – Tom Fallon, Connor Brown