Lehigh’s Magical Season Ends in Idaho, 34-13, In the Second Round of the FCS Playoffs
MOSCOW, ID – An impressive display by the Idaho Vandals in all three phases of the game ended the Lehigh Mountain Hawks’ 2024 football season in a 34-13 defeat at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow, Idaho.
“I was really impressed with Idaho,” head coach Kevin Cahill said after the game. “They’re a really good team. We had a couple things go wrong early, and to come back against a defense like that is tough. Things we haven’t done all year – give up big plays – showed true today. When you move up to the next level, these types of things get exposed, But I’m very very proud of our kids. They did not stop playing. We played the way the Brown and White has played all year long, Overall the effort these kids put on today, we gave tonight and all year long was special. We ended our season in Moscow, Idaho, and there’s not a human being in Bethlehem that expected that except for the guys in our locker room.”
Playing in a loud dome with a raucous crowd and a huge band, the Vandal defense stuffed Lehigh’s offense on their first three drives, yielding only two first downs and 56 total yards of offense.
Against a pass defense that hadn’t let up big plays consistently all season, Idaho WR Jordan Dwyer scored two early touchdown receptions from now-healthy Vandal QB Jack Layne, one which went 64 yards and was the longest scoring play the Mountain Hawks had given up all season up until that time.
“I thought our passing attack was outstanding,” Idaho head coach Jason Eck said, “and I was happy we stopped the run better in the second half.”
Complicating matters was OL George Padezanin getting hurt midway in the second quarter, the fifth-year senior that was a rock on the 2024 offensive line that played an enormous part in the success of the 2024 Mountain Hawks.
“George is one of the smartest football players I’ve ever played with, and having him be my center and be the talker of the offense helped me settle into my role,” QB Hayden Johnson said after the game. “It was unfortunate that George went down, but OL Jackson Wiles came in there and played his butt off.”
A pair of Mountain Hawk field goals by PK Nick Garrido made it 19-6 at halftime – one of which was executed flawlessly at the end of the half, with no timeouts remaining – but Idaho would pull away quickly after a second-half opening drive of 9 plays and 75 yards, punctuated by a 2 yard run by RB DeShaun Buchanan for a touchdown.
“The drive that killed us was the first drive of the second half when they came right down and scored a touchdown,” Cahill said. “That was a difference-maker. We just said ‘let’s keep playing.’ That’s what we’ve done all year long. We don’t pay attention to the scoreboard until we absolutely have to. It’s one play at a time and one drive at a time. We got so far behind. We didn’t waver from what we were trying to do, but give them a lot of credit.”
A pick six by Vandal LB Zach Johnson pretty much made the final result conclusive.
“On the first two series of the second half, we got that touchdown, and Zach ran it back. That gave us control of the game,” Eck said.
Layne would finish with an efficient 16 of 22 passing with 302 yards and three touchdowns, two going to Dwyer (7 catches, 126 yards) and another touchdown on a big play to WR Mark Hamper (5 catches, 97 yards). WR Mason Humphrey led all Lehigh receivers with 6 catches for 98 yards.
Vandal LB Jaxton Eck led all defenders with 11 tackles and had one of Idaho’s seven tackles for loss on the afternoon. Lehigh DL TJ Burke had the Mountain Hawks’ lone sack on the evening.
Lehigh QB Dante Perri would come in and score late on his final offensive drive as a member of the Lehigh Mountain Hawks to show that the 2024 team fought until the very end of the very last drive.
“He is a tremendous mentor, the most selfless guy in our program,” Cahill said. “To have him go out scoring a touchdown meant the world to our roster.”
The Mountain Hawks finish their 2024 football season at 9-4, while the 10-3 Vandals will be headed to Bozeman, Montana for a revenge match vs. Montana State that will be aired Friday night Eastern time on ESPN. Last season, Lehigh finished at 2-9.
“They’re a program we want to emulate,” Cahill said. “They’ve very well coached. They have a very good scheme. They’ve got the depth, they’ve got the skill together and they play very well both offensively and defensively.”
| Lehigh | 0 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 13 |
| Idaho | 6 | 13 | 15 | 0 | 34 |
LEH: Johnson,Hayden (143), Yoder,Luke (74), Humphrey,Mason (98)
IDA: Layne,Jack (318), Buchanan,Deshaun (42), Dwyer,Jordan (166)
Attendance: 7346
| Qtr | Time | Scoring Play | LEH | IDA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 06:05 | IDA – Dwyer,Jordan 5 yd pass from Layne,Jack ( ) 14 plays, 80 yards, TOP 06:57 | 0 | 6 |
| 2nd | 11:50 | IDA – Dwyer,Jordan 62 yd pass from Layne,Jack ( ) 4 plays, 89 yards, TOP 01:04 | 0 | 12 |
| 2nd | 06:26 | LEH – Garrido,Nick 35 yd field goal 11 plays, 57 yards, TOP 05:24 | 3 | 12 |
| 2nd | 01:33 | IDA – Hamper,Mark 42 yd pass from Layne,Jack (Pope,Cameron kick) 1 plays, 42 yards, TOP 00:07 | 3 | 19 |
| 2nd | 00:00 | LEH – Garrido,Nick 39 yd field goal 10 plays, 53 yards, TOP 01:33 | 6 | 19 |
| 3rd | 10:59 | IDA – Buchanan,Deshaun 2 yd run (Dwyer,Jordan pass), 9 plays, 75 yards, TOP 03:55 | 6 | 27 |
| 3rd | 06:30 | IDA – Johnson,Zach 74 yd interception (Pope,Cameron kick) | 6 | 34 |
| 4th | 00:28 | LEH – Perri,Dante 1 yd run (Garrido,Nick kick), 8 plays, 70 yards, TOP 03:46 | 13 | 34 |
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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