Perseverance Keeps Lehigh Perfect As Spectacular One-Handed Interception Seals 24-20 Win Over Dartmouth
BETHLEHEM, PA – It didn’t look good.
The No. 7 rated Mountain Hawks, in front of a packed crowd of 8,902 fans, were clinging to a four point lead on the Dartmouth Big Green, playing in their first game of the year but looking more like a playoff-bound team in midseason form.
And Dartmouth QB Grayson Saunier and the Big Green offense had the ball and were on the move, past midfield, just like they had done on their two other drives in the second half.
Then Lehigh CB DJ Brown made the play of the day.
After getting his hand in to prevent WR Kareem Fisher to catch a potential game-winning touchdown pass, he would leap high in the air and make a highlight-reel one-handed catch to make sure Lehigh (4-0, 3-0 Patriot) would hold on in a thrilling 24-20 win against an extremely game Dartmouth team (0-1, 0-0 Ivy).
“First of all, glory to God, because without him, none of this is possible,” Brown said after the game. “I just see ball in the air, and go get ball… We were talking about it on the sidelines. Big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games, and I just wanted to do something to help the team get this win. I look to the left and right of me and I see players I love and players I can trust. That makes me play free. I was just able to make the play, and I am thankful we got this win.”
The Toughest Mountain Test
From the beginning of the game, very little separated these two teams on the field despite the loud Family Day crowd.
Neither team led by more than one score the entire contest.
At first, the Mountain Hawks started following a familiar script that served them well in their first three games of the year, only with a different starting quarterback. QB Hayden Johnson was unable to go because of a leg injury sustained the prior week vs. William & Mary.
After kicking off to Dartmouth to start the game, the Lehigh defense forced a three-and-out. and the offense, led by QB Derek Morgan in his first-ever start, embarked on a 10 play, 76 yard touchdown drive.
RB Luke Yoder would punch in the score from 1 yard out, but Morgan would also add 20 yards rushing and convert a key third down with a ten yard pass play to Yoder as well.
That was just the appetizer.
Dartmouth PK Owen Zalc created points for the Big Green on two stalled drives, connecting on two booming kicks of 49 and 50 yards, to make 7-6 early in the second quarter.
Morgan then picked up the offense and dialed up a 15 play, 80 yard scoring drive, interspersing Luke Yoder and RB Aaron Crossley runs with a couple of his own to convert first downs, and finishing off the drive with a 13 yard strike to WR Nick Palumbo, who hitched perfectly and caught the touchdown pass while falling, his hip in bounds.
“Obviously, it was an unfortunate injury last week, and it was a big change for me for how I prepared going into this week,” Morgan said. “My teammates and the whole offense made things easy for me. They trusted me and believed in me and no one was worried about the change. My teammates helped me out a lot.”
With 4:09 to play in the half, Saunier picked things up and orchestrated a 9 play 75 yard response drive of his own, with RB Myles Craddock converting one third down and WR Ian Scott converting a long 3rd and 9 in traffic to keep the drive alive. A beautiful touchdown pass by Saunier of 33 yards to WR KyDric Fisher helped make it Lehigh 14, Dartmouth 13 at halftime, making things nervous in the Lehigh stands before the start of the second half.
Back And Forth They Go
The second half featured five straight drives of ten or more plays, both offense converting third down after third down and chunk play after chunk play.
Both teams did a tremendous job converting third downs. Dartmouth was 9 os 14, while Lehigh was 9 of 12.
Morgan and the offense took the second half kickoff and made it all the way to the Dartmouth 10 yard line in 14 plays. A certain touchdown pass was batted down, however, by a great individual play by LB Sean Chester, elevating and knocking the ball down. Critically the Mountain Hawks came away with points on the drive with a 27 yard field goal by PK Connor Poole.
Morgan had an efficient 10-of-13 yards passing for 73 yards and the touchdown, adding 35 yards rushing.
“Unbelievable,” head coach Rich Nagy said after the game about Morgan. “He got us in the right place, didn’t force anything, and did a great job running the ball. I think he showed the type of player he is, and more importantly how his teammates feel about him too, because they did a great job rallying around him.”
Dartmouth would then take the lead after an impressive 10 play, 75 yard drive of their own. A big pass play to WR Nick Lemon set up RB Myles Craddock‘s 2 yard touchdown run to give the Big Green the lead, 20-17.
It was the first time Lehigh had trailed all season, and the Lehigh offense responded with a no-nonsense 11 play, 75 yard drive to take the lead.
Behind the Mountain Hawks’ big offensive line, eight of the first nine plays were runs by Yoder, Morgan, and RB Trey Tremba, with a first down completion to Nick Palumbo to keep the drive going.
“We had some long drives and our O-line got after it,” Lehigh OL Colby Reph said. “We didn’t care. We love doing that. Our O-line is gritty. Honestly, it may be tough at times, but when we look across and see that D-line struggling, it just fuels us more. We pride ourselves on taking it to them on every play. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing or who’s in front of us.”
It seemed like the drive was going to stall in the Dartmouth red zone, but a pass interference penalty set up the Lehigh offense at the 2 yard line, where Yoder bulled his way in for his second touchdown of the afternoon to give Lehigh a 24-20 lead.
Yoder would lead the Mountain Hawks in rishing with 150 yards on 27 carries, scoring two touchdowns.
“I thought our guys played hard,” Daetmouth head coach Larry McCorkle said afterwards. “We talked about it all week. It’s about physicality and effort. I thought across the board, everyone on offense, defense, special teams, they checked that box on every snap. We knew it was going to be a 60 minute game and that’s what it was.”
Sixty Minutes To Decide
Dartmouth got the ball at their 25 and moved the ball in chunks down the field, aided by a pair of Lehigh penalties but also through some gritty play of their own. Saunier was flushed out of the pocket on 4th and 10 and found a way to crash through and get the ten yards to keep the drive alive.
Just outside the Lehigh red zone the defense stood tall, blowing up two run plays and DE Luke Reilly breaking up a near-certain completion to Lemon by baatting down Saunier’s pass.
Then LB Jackson Dowd on fourth down would bring heavy pressure on the edge and Saunier’s pass fell at the feet of Lemon incomplete. The Big Green turned the ball over on downs as the crowd erupted, the defense and the crowd feeding off of each other’s energy.
But that wouldn’t be the end of it.
With two minutes left to play, and the Mountain Hawk offense trying to run out the clock, Yoder ran down the left side of the field for a 34 yard play that seemed to ice the game, but a holding penalty brought the play back, and one play later, Lehigh would need to punt the ball back to Dartmouth with 1:45 left.
A good return could have set up a Dartmouth comeback but Connor Poole’s 56 yard punt would mean Dartmouth would need to drive 80 yards in order to win the game.
Getting yardage in chunks, Saunier expertly ran the Big Green’s two-minute offense into Lehigh territory.
On first and 10 on the Lehigh 26, Saunier tried a corner route to WR Kareem Fisher, his pass right on the money. But CB DJ Brown would get his hand in and the ball would dribble incomplete.
With 18 seconds left, Saunier dropped back to pass, and Brown made the play that sealed Lehigh’s victory.
It was an amazing end to keep Lehigh’s undefeated season alive at 4-0 and their 21st consecutive regular season victory. The Mountain Hawks’ last regular season defeat came on September 28th, 2024 in a 38-35 loss to Bucknell in double overtime.
Lehigh held Dartmouth to 62 yards rushing, but the Big Green outgained the Lehigh offense thanks to Saunier’s 262 yards passing, Nick Lemon had 5 catches for 102 yards while WR Kydric Fisher added 4 catches for 88 yards and the touchdown.
“Hats off to Lehigh, a very good football team,” McCorkle said. “They played hard. But I thought our players came ready to play. We just didn’t make all the plays we need to finish that game off and we’ll learn from it.”
“I don’t know if it’s good to have a game like this, but it was good to be tested,” Nagy said. “There have been points in other games where we had some critical situations that we didn’t handle as well. But we overcame and moved on and created more of a lead. But today we overcame some situations and, in the end, we were able to make plays. It’s a testament to the players and their belief in our culture and what we do. It was a belief in each other and in the coaching staff.”
“At the end of the day, 1-0 in Goodman, that’s all that matters,” Brown said.
.png&width=200&height=200&type=webp) Dartmouth | 3 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 20 |
 Lehigh | 7 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 24 |
DAR: PASS – Saunier,Grayson (262); RUSH – Craddock,Myles (33); REC – Lemon,Nick (102)
LEH: PASS – Morgan, Derek (73); RUSH – Yoder, Luke (150); REC – Palumbo, Nick (52)
Scoring Summary
| 1st | LEH | 08:29 | LEH – Yoder,Luke 1 yd run (Poole,Connor kick), 10 plays, 67 yards, TOP 05:04 | 0 | 7 |
| 1st | DAR | 04:54 | DAR – Zalc,Owen 50 yd field goal 9 plays, 43 yards, TOP 03:35 | 3 | 7 |
| 2nd | DAR | 13:10 | DAR – Zalc,Owen 51 yd field goal 9 plays, 41 yards, TOP 05:21 | 6 | 7 |
| 2nd | LEH | 04:09 | LEH – Palumbo,Nick 13 yd pass from Morgan,Derek (Poole,Connor kick) 15 plays, 80 yards, TOP 08:57 | 6 | 14 |
| 2nd | DAR | 00:35 | DAR – Fisher,KyDric 33 yd pass from Saunier,Grayson (Zalc,Owen kick) 9 plays, 75 yards, TOP 03:34 | 13 | 14 |
| 3rd | LEH | 06:38 | LEH – Poole,Connor 27 yd field goal 16 plays, 65 yards, TOP 08:22 | 13 | 17 |
| 3rd | DAR | 00:02 | DAR – Craddock,Myles 2 yd run (Zalc,Owen kick), 10 plays, 75 yards, TOP 06:36 | 20 | 17 |
| 4th | LEH | 08:41 | LEH – Yoder,Luke 2 yd run (Poole,Connor kick), 11 plays, 75 yards, TOP 06:21 | 20 | 24 |
| 20 | 24 | |||||
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:
