Lehigh Survives Late Shark Attack, Prevails 20-17 In Second Win In A Row
BROOKVILLE, LI – At home last week, the game was over at halftime.
This week, the Lehigh Mountain Hawks (2-1, 0-0 PL) had to hold on in the final minute against the LIU Sharks (0-3, 0-0 NEC) to win 20-17.
It came down to a shoestring tackle of Shark RB Pat Bowen by LB William Parton, holding on just enough to trip him a half yard short of the fourth down conversion as LIU was driving for the game-tying field goal, or worse.
“One of the biggest focuses in our practices, we have a tackling circuit, focusing on our form tackling,” Parton said after the game, “going into the game we knew we would have to do that, and we did that and did that at a high level.”
The tackle capped a thrilling back-and forth game. No team had more than a one score lead the entire game on a hot, midday game in Brookville, Long Island that finished in a brisk 2 hours and 30 minutes.
“We needed something like this, to win a close game,” head coach Kevin Cahill said after the game. “You can’t name one guy that really stuck out, that’s the way we’re going to operate. I’m really proud of these kids. We won as a team this week. They fought all the way to the end. We faced some adversity today, and we fought through it. And that’s growth for our program.”
Big plays came from all over the Lehigh defense – a big hit by DB Mason Moore on 3rd down to stop a drive, and huge pressure by DL Matt Spatny, LB Mike DeNucci and LB Tyler Ochoski to force a 1st and goal at the 10 from LIU to end up as a FG instead of a go-ahead touchdown.
But the sequence that really seemed to define this team came after the Mountain Hawks fell behind 14-13 after a great 4th and 3 conversion by Shark QB Luca Stanzani to WR Michael Love to give the Sharks the lead.
A muffed kickoff resulted in LIU setting up shop at the Lehigh 27, and it looked like momentum was all on the Sharks’ side. But Lehigh’s defense held firm, getting pressure on the quarterback, and on 3rd down DB Davis Rice leaped up and got a critical interception, meaning the muffed kickoff resulted in no points.
And the offense responded with a go-ahead drive of their own,a 27 yard pass from WR Mason Humphrey from QB Dante Perri giving the Mountain Hawks a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
“I’m really proud of the way we handled that,” Cahill said after the game. “We had a mishap [on special teams]. That’s life. Let’s go play the next play.”
On offense, RB Luke Yoder scored his third touchdown in three games with a 10 yard run to open the scoring for Lehigh. He led the team with 94 yards rushing, with the team getting 136 yards on the ground in a balanced attack.
Though the touchdown was a big achievement, it was the grinding out of yards in the 4th quarter that kept Lehigh’s drives alive and burned up critical clock at the end of the game to help seal the win.
“I think even though the defense knows the run’s coming, it’s just big for us to know that we got to have run first mentality and we could just do whatever we want with the ball,” Yoder said after the game. “Even though they know we’re running the ball, just grinding it out and keeping that clock ticking was big for us.”
“When you’re able to run the ball, that’s your best defense,” Cahill said. “You’re trying to keep our guys fresh. We were really concerned about the heat coming into this, we haven’t had this heat in a while. We had it in camp, but not for a few weeks. So we were concerned about it, but we fought all the way through it. So it was good.”
Lehigh played two quarterbacks in the game, Perri and QB Hayden Johnson. Johnson again played very well, leading the Mountain Hawks on a grinding drive that ate up more than 8 minutes in the second quarter to WR Geoffrey Jamiel. Perri and Johnson combining for 139 yards and 2 TDs.
“I think being a run-first offense, it opens up the pass game for sure, whether it’s Geoff or Mason,” Yoder said. “We got talented receivers out there. So just opening it up, getting them to clog the box, and then open up over top. So it’s a good strategy for us.”
“This is why you play football,” Parton said. “This game was so much fun. Winning is fun in general. Putting in the work every week to make sure these Saturdays we come out with the wins, come out with the dubs. That’s what it’s about. It takes you back to when you’re playing young, just having fun, flying around the field with your brothers. That’s what winning is about. It was a great time.”
“Just keep going one to know each week,” Cahill said. “And that’s our goal. That’s what we have to do.”
Lehigh (2-1 , 0-0) -VS- LIU (0-3 , 0-0)
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lehigh | 0 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 20 |
| LIU | 7 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 17 |
LEH: Perri,Dante (113), Yoder,Luke (94), Galletta,Logan (47)
LIU: Stanzani,Luca (154), Greenwood,Ethan (65), Nichols,Cory (54)
Date: 09/14/2024 Site: Brookville, New York Stadium: Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium
Attendance: 1643
| Qtr | Time | Scoring Play | LEH | LIU |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 02:31 | LIU – Love,Michael 13 yd pass from Stanzani,Luca (Coney,Michael kick) 8 plays, 74 yards, TOP 05:09 | 0 | 7 |
| 2nd | 14:49 | LEH – Yoder,Luke 10 yd run (Garrido,Nick kick), 6 plays, 65 yards, TOP 02:33 | 7 | 7 |
| 2nd | 00:12 | LEH – Jamiel,Geoffrey 7 yd pass from Johnson,Hayden ( ) 15 plays, 67 yards, TOP 08:40 | 13 | 7 |
| 3rd | 10:00 | LIU – Love,Michael 3 yd pass from Stanzani,Luca (Coney,Michael kick) 7 plays, 55 yards, TOP 03:16 | 13 | 14 |
| 3rd | 05:42 | LEH – Humphrey,Mason 27 yd pass from Perri,Dante (Garrido,Nick kick) 5 plays, 55 yards, TOP 02:28 | 20 | 14 |
| 3rd | 00:37 | LIU – Coney,Michael 27 yd field goal 10 plays, 65 yards, TOP 05:05 | 20 | 17 |
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.
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