Saturday, November 20
Bethlehem, Pa.
12:00 PM
Lehigh University
vs
Lafayette
Mountain Hawks Riding Momentum Into Rivalry 157 Saturday At Goodman Stadium
11/16/2021 12:44:00 PM | Football
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Winners of their last two games, the Mountain Hawks look to end the 2021 season on a high note as Lehigh welcomes Lafayette to Goodman Stadium Saturday for the 157th meeting of college football's most-played rivalry, presented by Lehigh Valley Health Network and Coordinated Health. Lehigh is coming off a 23-9 home victory over Georgetown last weekend, a game in which the Mountain Hawks once again had strong showings in all three phases. The Mountain Hawks collected two more Patriot League weekly awards with fifth-year linebacker Pete Haffner named Defensive Player of the Week and junior kicker Dylan Van Dusen repeating as Special Teams Player of the Week. Lehigh will look to snap a two game losing streak in the Rivalry, with Lafayette claiming a one point victory at Goodman Stadium in 2019 and a 20-13 win in Easton back on April 10.
For the second straight week, Lehigh put together a strong performance in all three phases as the Mountain Hawks downed Georgetown 23-9 for their second straight win. Sophomore Dante Perri passed for 259 yards and two touchdowns while the defense allowed just 237 yards of total offense, including just 33 on the ground. Junior Dylan Van Dusen booted three field goals in the victory. Junior Jalen Burbage made strong contributions in two of the three phases, catching a team-best eight passes for 86 yards and returning the game's opening kickoff for 62 yards.
Lehigh's defense has been especially tough since the Mountain Hawks returned from their bye week. The Mountain Hawks are allowing just 282 yards of offense per game over their last four games. Lehigh has been especially tough against the rush, allowing just 53 yards per game. The Mountain Hawks have allowed just 47 total rushing yards over their last two games and held the league's top rushing team, Holy Cross, more than 130 yards below its season average on Oct. 30. During this current four game stretch, Lehigh also has had 10 sacks, four interceptions and two fumble recoveries. Lehigh defenders have won the last two Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week awards, with sophomore linebacker Mike DeNucci winning the award following the Bucknell game and fifth-year linebacker Pete Haffner winning it this past week.
Sophomore quarterback has started all four of Lehigh's games since its bye week and in that time is completing 65 percent of his passes, with four touchdowns and two interceptions. Perri is averaging 239 passing yards over those last four starts.
Despite having a statistical standout, the top six wide receivers on Lehigh's depth chart (page 12) have shared the wealth in contributing to the Mountain Hawks' offensive improvement. The sextet consisting of seniors Austin Dambach and De'Shun Mickens, juniors Jalen Burbage and Johnny Foley and sophomores Eric Johnson and Roemello Miner have combined for 115 of Lehigh's 167 receptions and 1151 of its 1562 receiving yards.
Lehigh's 2021 roster includes nine seniors, seven fourth years and a pair of fifth years, who are expected to play their final game in the Brown and White on Saturday. Both fifth year seniors are starting linebackers: Pete Haffner and Nate Norris. All seven of the traditional fourth-year seniors reside on the offensive side of the ball. The offensive seniors include running back RaShawn Allen, wide receivers De'Shun Mickens and Austin Dambach, tight end Alex Snyder and linemen Jack Fris, Justin Gurth and Jan Maciejewski. Gurth saw his first action of the season at Colgate, while Haffner returned to action with five tackles and half a sack against Holy Cross after missing five games due to injury.
Lafayette brings a 3-7 overall record and 2-3 league mark into its season finale. The Leopards have dropped two straight after escaping Georgetown with a one point victory on Oct. 30. Last week, Lafayette let a 13-7 second quarter lead get away in a 20-13 loss to Colgate. Lafayette's strength lies in a defense allowing just 350.5 yards per game. Linebacker Marco Olivas leads the Leopards with 104 tackles and 9.5 tackles for loss. Defensive lineman Malik Hamm is tied with Olivas for the team lead with 4.5 sacks, to go along with 60 tackles. Freshman Ah-Shaun Davis has emerged as Lafayette's quarterback, completing 59 percent of his passes with four touchdowns and five interceptions. Selwyn Simpson and Jaden Sutton are the top rushers, combining for 711 yards and seven touchdowns. Julius Young is Lafayette's top receiver with 40 catches for 613 yards and three touchdowns.
Lehigh and Lafayette meet for the 157th time with the Leopards holding an 80-71 lead. There have also been five ties in the series with the last occurring in 1964. The Mountain Hawks have won 17 of the last 27 meetings in the series. While Lafayette dominated the early years of the Rivalry, Lehigh owns an impressive 44-25-2 record since 1950. This will be the 81st meeting in Bethlehem and the 17th at Goodman Stadium. Lehigh has won 11 of the 16 games played at Goodman Stadium. Lafayette's two game winning streak in the series follows a four-game Lehigh winning streak. Tom Gilmore was 3-1 versus Lafayette as Lehigh's Defensive Coordinator, and was 8-6 against the Leopards in his time as head coach at Holy Cross.
The team that holds onto the ball usually wins in this heated rivalry. Since 2000 the team that wins the turnover battle has won 15 of the 21 games (Lehigh and Lafayette were even in turnovers in 2010 and 2015). Lehigh won the turnover battle but lost the 2007 rivalry game, while Lafayette won the turnover battle but lost games in 2003, 2012 and 2017. Lehigh finished minus-4 in turnover margin in 2019 and was minus-1 in the spring meeting.
There have been 52 shutouts between these longtime rivals, the last one in the series was back in 1980. That season, Lehigh downed the Leopards 32-0. Prior to 1980, the Brown and White had not shut out its archrival since 1951 (32-0).
Saturday's game kicks off just after noon from Goodman Stadium. Tickets are still available and can be purchased at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-7LU-GAME during business hours.
Like Lehigh Football on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
For the second straight week, Lehigh put together a strong performance in all three phases as the Mountain Hawks downed Georgetown 23-9 for their second straight win. Sophomore Dante Perri passed for 259 yards and two touchdowns while the defense allowed just 237 yards of total offense, including just 33 on the ground. Junior Dylan Van Dusen booted three field goals in the victory. Junior Jalen Burbage made strong contributions in two of the three phases, catching a team-best eight passes for 86 yards and returning the game's opening kickoff for 62 yards.
Lehigh's defense has been especially tough since the Mountain Hawks returned from their bye week. The Mountain Hawks are allowing just 282 yards of offense per game over their last four games. Lehigh has been especially tough against the rush, allowing just 53 yards per game. The Mountain Hawks have allowed just 47 total rushing yards over their last two games and held the league's top rushing team, Holy Cross, more than 130 yards below its season average on Oct. 30. During this current four game stretch, Lehigh also has had 10 sacks, four interceptions and two fumble recoveries. Lehigh defenders have won the last two Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week awards, with sophomore linebacker Mike DeNucci winning the award following the Bucknell game and fifth-year linebacker Pete Haffner winning it this past week.
Sophomore quarterback has started all four of Lehigh's games since its bye week and in that time is completing 65 percent of his passes, with four touchdowns and two interceptions. Perri is averaging 239 passing yards over those last four starts.
Despite having a statistical standout, the top six wide receivers on Lehigh's depth chart (page 12) have shared the wealth in contributing to the Mountain Hawks' offensive improvement. The sextet consisting of seniors Austin Dambach and De'Shun Mickens, juniors Jalen Burbage and Johnny Foley and sophomores Eric Johnson and Roemello Miner have combined for 115 of Lehigh's 167 receptions and 1151 of its 1562 receiving yards.
Lehigh's 2021 roster includes nine seniors, seven fourth years and a pair of fifth years, who are expected to play their final game in the Brown and White on Saturday. Both fifth year seniors are starting linebackers: Pete Haffner and Nate Norris. All seven of the traditional fourth-year seniors reside on the offensive side of the ball. The offensive seniors include running back RaShawn Allen, wide receivers De'Shun Mickens and Austin Dambach, tight end Alex Snyder and linemen Jack Fris, Justin Gurth and Jan Maciejewski. Gurth saw his first action of the season at Colgate, while Haffner returned to action with five tackles and half a sack against Holy Cross after missing five games due to injury.
Lafayette brings a 3-7 overall record and 2-3 league mark into its season finale. The Leopards have dropped two straight after escaping Georgetown with a one point victory on Oct. 30. Last week, Lafayette let a 13-7 second quarter lead get away in a 20-13 loss to Colgate. Lafayette's strength lies in a defense allowing just 350.5 yards per game. Linebacker Marco Olivas leads the Leopards with 104 tackles and 9.5 tackles for loss. Defensive lineman Malik Hamm is tied with Olivas for the team lead with 4.5 sacks, to go along with 60 tackles. Freshman Ah-Shaun Davis has emerged as Lafayette's quarterback, completing 59 percent of his passes with four touchdowns and five interceptions. Selwyn Simpson and Jaden Sutton are the top rushers, combining for 711 yards and seven touchdowns. Julius Young is Lafayette's top receiver with 40 catches for 613 yards and three touchdowns.
Lehigh and Lafayette meet for the 157th time with the Leopards holding an 80-71 lead. There have also been five ties in the series with the last occurring in 1964. The Mountain Hawks have won 17 of the last 27 meetings in the series. While Lafayette dominated the early years of the Rivalry, Lehigh owns an impressive 44-25-2 record since 1950. This will be the 81st meeting in Bethlehem and the 17th at Goodman Stadium. Lehigh has won 11 of the 16 games played at Goodman Stadium. Lafayette's two game winning streak in the series follows a four-game Lehigh winning streak. Tom Gilmore was 3-1 versus Lafayette as Lehigh's Defensive Coordinator, and was 8-6 against the Leopards in his time as head coach at Holy Cross.
The team that holds onto the ball usually wins in this heated rivalry. Since 2000 the team that wins the turnover battle has won 15 of the 21 games (Lehigh and Lafayette were even in turnovers in 2010 and 2015). Lehigh won the turnover battle but lost the 2007 rivalry game, while Lafayette won the turnover battle but lost games in 2003, 2012 and 2017. Lehigh finished minus-4 in turnover margin in 2019 and was minus-1 in the spring meeting.
There have been 52 shutouts between these longtime rivals, the last one in the series was back in 1980. That season, Lehigh downed the Leopards 32-0. Prior to 1980, the Brown and White had not shut out its archrival since 1951 (32-0).
Saturday's game kicks off just after noon from Goodman Stadium. Tickets are still available and can be purchased at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-7LU-GAME during business hours.
| Date: | November 20, 2021 |
| Opponent: | Lafayette Leopards |
| Kickoff: | 12:05 p.m. |
| Stadium: | Goodman Stadium |
| Location: | Bethlehem, Pa. |
| Lehigh's record: | 2-8 overall, 2-3 Patriot League |
| Lafayette's record: | 3-7 overall, 2-3 Patriot League |
| Series: | Lafayette leads 80-71-5 |
| Television: | Service Electric Network 2/502 (Lehigh Broadcast) with Steve Degler, Mike Yadush '93 and Doug Heater |
| Video: | ESPN+ (PatriotLeague.TV) |
| Radio: | Fox Sports Radio 1230/1320 AM and 94.7 FM Allentown beginning at 11 a.m. with Matt Kerr, Jim Guzzo and Matt Markus |
| Internet Audio: | LVFoxSports.com |
| Key Stats: | • Lehigh is averaging 229 more yards per game offensively and allowing 160 fewer yards per game defensively in the four games since its bye. •The Mountain Hawks have allowed an average of just 53 rushing yards per game in their last four games after allowing an average of 228 in their first six. • Lehigh has won 35 of the 56 games versus Lafayette since the teams played to a 6-6 tie in the 100th meeting in 1964. • In more recent times, the Mountain Hawks have won 17 of the last 26 games since 1995. |
Like Lehigh Football on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
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