Saturday, November 6
Lewisburg, Pa.
1:00 PM
Lehigh University
1-8 , 1-3
38
at
6
Bucknell
1-8 , 0-5
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Lehigh
0
21
3
14
38
Bucknell
0
6
0
0
6
Total Team Effort Pushes Lehigh Past Bucknell, 38-6
11/6/2021 5:42:00 PM | Football
LEWISBURG, Pa. – After coming close the last two weeks, the Lehigh football team's hard work was paid off with the Mountain Hawks' first victory of the season. Lehigh was strong in all three phases on the way to a 38-6 win at Bucknell Saturday at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. Lehigh rolled up 408 yards of offense and held Bucknell to just 170, while also holding a 37-23 edge in time of possession.
Lehigh's trio of running backs ran 38 times for 164 yards and five touchdowns. Sophomore Jack DiPietro rushed 16 times for 93 yards and two touchdowns and added three receptions for 71 yards. Junior Zaythan Hill added 44 rushing yards and two touchdowns and senior RaShawn Allen ran for 27 and his first touchdown of the season.
Defensively, the Mountain Hawks had three sacks, three interceptions and held the Bison to just 14 rushing yards. Senior Nate Norris had a game-high 10 tackles and a sack, while sophomore Mike DeNucci added two sacks as part of a five tackle effort.
"We knew it would be difficult, but it says a lot about the team that we had a tough start and kept fighting back," Lehigh head coach Tom Gilmore said. "We had our best offensive day of the year even with the slow start. We have a lot of tough, gritty kids and they came back and did a great job just sticking with it and not getting down and chugging away. It would up producing a lot of points and the defense did a great job of shutting them down the rest of the game."
Bucknell took advantage of two Lehigh penalties on a 10-play drive and took a 3-0 lead on a Ryan Schatzel 27 yard field goal.
Lehigh answered immediately with an eight-play, 65-yard drive capped by Allen's one yard touchdown run, giving the Mountain Hawks a 7-3 lead.
The Mountain Hawks then turned defense into offense to build a 21-3 advantage. Bucknell's next drive ended when Ethan Grady was picked off by freshman DJ Lawrence at midfield. Perri converted a 3rd-and-8 with a 44 yard screen pass to DiPietro, which set up a one yard DiPietro run to put Lehigh up 14-3.
"He had an awesome game," Gilmore said of DiPietro's performance. "He is one of the hardest working guys and one of the toughest guys on the team. To see him rewarded with a big day like that was really fun to see. He was really fun to watch today. (RaShawn and Zaythan) were fun to watch too but it was great to see Jack have that kind of success."
On Bucknell's next drive, sophomore Trevor Harris hit Grady and sophomore defensive lineman Ben Murphy came up with the interception at the Bison 12. Two plays later, Hill raced around the left side for a nine yard touchdown.
Schatzel booted a 45 yard field goal late in the half as Lehigh took a 21-6 lead into the locker room.
In the second half, Lehigh's defense continued to play well as the Mountain Hawks held the Bison to just 50 yards of offense after halftime.
"We knew we had to shut down their rush game and we did an outstanding job of that," Gilmore said. "We had to make it a one dimensional game and once we did that it became really difficult for Bucknell to move the ball. They made a couple plays here and there, but we got good pressure on the quarterback. We had some sacks but we also had a lot of hurries.
"We had a really outstanding game," Gilmore continued. "Any time you can hold a team under 200 yards of offense, you're having an awesome day."
Junior Dylan Van Dusen booted a 28 yard field goal to put Lehigh up 24-6 and then the Mountain Hawks closed the quarter with a 14-play, 79-yard drive. Hill scored his second touchdown of the game from a yard out on the opening play of the final quarter.
DiPietro capped the scoring with a 42 yard touchdown run with 1:18 remaining.
Gallery: (11-6-2021) Football at Bucknell, 11/6/21
Perri finished 19-of-31 for 244 yards and an interception. Junior Johnny Foley caught a team-high four passes for 51 yards. Senior Austin Dambach, junior Jalen Burbage and sophomore Eric Johnson all finished with three receptions.
Both teams are now 1-8 overall on the season. The Mountain Hawks are 1-3 in Patriot League play, while the Bison fall to 0-5.
The Mountain Hawks return to Goodman Stadium next Saturday to host Georgetown on Salute to Service Day, presented by Weis Markets. Game time is set for noon. Tickets can be purchased at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-7LU-GAME during business hours.
EXTRA POINTS… The win snaps Lehigh's 15-game losing streak… the Mountain Hawks have now won 20 of the last 24 meetings with Bucknell… Lehigh won the turnover battle (+2) for the second straight week after losing the turnover battle or being even in turnovers for 20 straight games… the Mountain Hawks have now blocked four punts this season… senior Pete Haffner added six tackles while junior TyGee Leach added five and two tackles for loss… sophomore Donovan Lassiter recorded Lehigh's third interception of the day… Lehigh's 38 points were its most since scoring 45 in a win over Bucknell in 2018.
Like Lehigh Football on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
Lehigh's trio of running backs ran 38 times for 164 yards and five touchdowns. Sophomore Jack DiPietro rushed 16 times for 93 yards and two touchdowns and added three receptions for 71 yards. Junior Zaythan Hill added 44 rushing yards and two touchdowns and senior RaShawn Allen ran for 27 and his first touchdown of the season.
Defensively, the Mountain Hawks had three sacks, three interceptions and held the Bison to just 14 rushing yards. Senior Nate Norris had a game-high 10 tackles and a sack, while sophomore Mike DeNucci added two sacks as part of a five tackle effort.
"We knew it would be difficult, but it says a lot about the team that we had a tough start and kept fighting back," Lehigh head coach Tom Gilmore said. "We had our best offensive day of the year even with the slow start. We have a lot of tough, gritty kids and they came back and did a great job just sticking with it and not getting down and chugging away. It would up producing a lot of points and the defense did a great job of shutting them down the rest of the game."
A scoreless first quarter saw junior Tommy Lewis break through to block his second punt in as many weeks, with Lehigh taking over at the Bison nine yard line, but the Mountain Hawks came away empty as sophomore Dante Perri was picked off by Micah Dennis in the end zone.A lot to celebrate from today's 38-6 win at Bucknell 📹 pic.twitter.com/PWdCksujvN
— Lehigh Football (@LehighFootball) November 7, 2021
Bucknell took advantage of two Lehigh penalties on a 10-play drive and took a 3-0 lead on a Ryan Schatzel 27 yard field goal.
Lehigh answered immediately with an eight-play, 65-yard drive capped by Allen's one yard touchdown run, giving the Mountain Hawks a 7-3 lead.
The Mountain Hawks then turned defense into offense to build a 21-3 advantage. Bucknell's next drive ended when Ethan Grady was picked off by freshman DJ Lawrence at midfield. Perri converted a 3rd-and-8 with a 44 yard screen pass to DiPietro, which set up a one yard DiPietro run to put Lehigh up 14-3.
"He had an awesome game," Gilmore said of DiPietro's performance. "He is one of the hardest working guys and one of the toughest guys on the team. To see him rewarded with a big day like that was really fun to see. He was really fun to watch today. (RaShawn and Zaythan) were fun to watch too but it was great to see Jack have that kind of success."
On Bucknell's next drive, sophomore Trevor Harris hit Grady and sophomore defensive lineman Ben Murphy came up with the interception at the Bison 12. Two plays later, Hill raced around the left side for a nine yard touchdown.
Schatzel booted a 45 yard field goal late in the half as Lehigh took a 21-6 lead into the locker room.
In the second half, Lehigh's defense continued to play well as the Mountain Hawks held the Bison to just 50 yards of offense after halftime.
"We knew we had to shut down their rush game and we did an outstanding job of that," Gilmore said. "We had to make it a one dimensional game and once we did that it became really difficult for Bucknell to move the ball. They made a couple plays here and there, but we got good pressure on the quarterback. We had some sacks but we also had a lot of hurries.
"We had a really outstanding game," Gilmore continued. "Any time you can hold a team under 200 yards of offense, you're having an awesome day."
Junior Dylan Van Dusen booted a 28 yard field goal to put Lehigh up 24-6 and then the Mountain Hawks closed the quarter with a 14-play, 79-yard drive. Hill scored his second touchdown of the game from a yard out on the opening play of the final quarter.
DiPietro capped the scoring with a 42 yard touchdown run with 1:18 remaining.
Perri finished 19-of-31 for 244 yards and an interception. Junior Johnny Foley caught a team-high four passes for 51 yards. Senior Austin Dambach, junior Jalen Burbage and sophomore Eric Johnson all finished with three receptions.
Both teams are now 1-8 overall on the season. The Mountain Hawks are 1-3 in Patriot League play, while the Bison fall to 0-5.
The Mountain Hawks return to Goodman Stadium next Saturday to host Georgetown on Salute to Service Day, presented by Weis Markets. Game time is set for noon. Tickets can be purchased at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-7LU-GAME during business hours.
EXTRA POINTS… The win snaps Lehigh's 15-game losing streak… the Mountain Hawks have now won 20 of the last 24 meetings with Bucknell… Lehigh won the turnover battle (+2) for the second straight week after losing the turnover battle or being even in turnovers for 20 straight games… the Mountain Hawks have now blocked four punts this season… senior Pete Haffner added six tackles while junior TyGee Leach added five and two tackles for loss… sophomore Donovan Lassiter recorded Lehigh's third interception of the day… Lehigh's 38 points were its most since scoring 45 in a win over Bucknell in 2018.
Like Lehigh Football on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.
Team Stats
LEH
BUC
Total Yards
408
170
Pass Yards
244
156
Rushing Yards
164
14
Penalty Yards
60
26
1st Downs
22
10
3rd Downs
10
2
4th Downs
0
0
TOP
37:01
22:59
2nd Quarter
LEH 0, BUC 3
BUC - Schatzel,Ryan 27 yd field goal 10 plays, 70 yards, TOP 05:09
LEH 7, BUC 3
LEH - Allen,Rashawn 1 yd run (Van Dusen,Dylan kick), 8 plays, 65 yards, TOP 03:47
LEH 14, BUC 3
LEH - DiPietro,Jack 1 yd run (Van Dusen,Dylan kick), 6 plays, 50 yards, TOP 02:38
LEH 21, BUC 3
LEH - Hill,Zaythan 9 yd run (Van Dusen,Dylan kick), 2 plays, 12 yards, TOP 00:44
LEH 21, BUC 6
BUC - Schatzel,Ryan 45 yd field goal 9 plays, 42 yards, TOP 02:16
3rd Quarter
LEH 24, BUC 6
LEH - Van Dusen,Dylan 28 yd field goal 10 plays, 51 yards, TOP 03:49
4th Quarter
LEH 31, BUC 6
LEH - Hill,Zaythan 1 yd run (Van Dusen,Dylan kick), 14 plays, 79 yards, TOP 07:47
LEH 38, BUC 6
LEH - DiPietro,Jack 42 yd run (Van Dusen,Dylan kick), 6 plays, 60 yards, TOP 03:39
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
19
TD
0
YDS
244
INT
1
Players Mentioned
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K/P
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