Saturday, October 25
Bronx, N.Y.
1:00 PM
Lehigh University
at
Fordham
Photo by: David Russell
Mountain Hawks Back In Action Saturday At Fordham
10/21/2025 1:38:00 PM | Football
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – No. 7 Lehigh comes off its bye week with a return to New York City and the first of five consecutive Patriot League games to close out the regular season on Saturday as the Mountain Hawks battle Fordham at Moglia Stadium. The Mountain Hawks have won all seven of their games in 2025 and own a 12-game regular season winning streak dating back to last season. Lehigh went into its bye week with a dominant 31-7 triumph at Columbia. The Mountain Hawks built a 31--0 lead midway through the third quarter behind a career-high 182 receiving yards by senior Geoffrey Jamiel and a defense that allowed just 228 yards while recording six sacks, nine tackles for loss and two interceptions. Fordham returned from its bye week with a 30-13 home loss to Dartmouth last weekend. The Rams were outscored 24-7 in the second half following a 6-6 tie at halftime. Fordham's lone win was a 26-21 home triumph over Holy Cross on Sept. 27.
Defensive lineman Matt Spatny was a standout on one of the nation's top defensive units in 2024. Spatny made 36 tackles from his defensive end position and contributed a Patriot League-leading 11.5 sacks, ranking third in the FCS in sacks per game and fifth in overall sacks. Along with center George Padezanin, Spatny was named an honorable mention Associated Press All-American last season, the first All-Americans for Lehigh since 2019. A Preseason All-American and the Patriot League's Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, Spatny missed two games due to injury but has five sacks in five games this season. Spatny was named Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week after registering six tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks in the win at Columbia. He now has 21.5 career sacks, putting him 2.5 behind Nick Martucci '99 for Lehigh's career record.
Lehigh has done well to control the ground game on both sides on the way to its 7-0 start. The Mountain Hawks lead the Patriot League and rank in the top six nationally in both rushing offense (236.4 ypg.) and rushing defense (70.1 ypg.). Lehigh hit the 300-yard rushing mark as a team for the second consecutive week with an even 300 against Penn, marking the seventh 300-yard rushing game for the Mountain Hawks since 2001. With junior Luke Yoder leading the way with three straight 100-yard games, including a career-high 174 at Bucknell, the Mountain Hawks rank sixth nationally in rushing offense. Lehigh's rush defense has been equally impressive. The Mountain Hawks now rank second in the FCS against the run after limiting its last three opponents to an average of 57 rushing yards per game. Lehigh allowed just 29 rushing yards against Penn, the fewest since the Mountain Hawks limited Princeton to minus-7 last season.
The elder statesman of Lehigh's wide receiver room, senior Geoffrey Jamiel has established himself as a leader on and off the field for the Mountain Hawks. Jamiel was Lehigh's top receiver in 2024, hauling in 60 receptions for 768 yards and eight touchdowns on the way to earning second team All-Patriot League honors. Jamiel had a huge day in the playoff win at Richmond, setting career highs with 10 catches for 137 yards, with his 54-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter giving the Mountain Hawks the lead for good. He had three 100-yard receiving games last season and had two-touchdown efforts against Bucknell and Colgate. The 2022 Patriot League Rookie of the Year, Jamiel recently had back-to-back 100-yard receiving games against Bucknell and Penn, including a 132-yard effort against the Quakers. He scored two touchdowns against the Quakers, including a 20-yard rush on a fake field goal that gave Lehigh the lead for good in the third quarter, and a 35-yard reception early in the fourth. Jamiel was named Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts against Penn. He established a new career high with 182 receiving yards at Columbia and needs just three catches to become the fifth player in program history to hit the 200-reception mark for his career.
The relationship between Lehigh head coach Kevin Cahill and Fordham head coach Joe Conlin goes back more than a decade. Cahill and Conlin coached together on Tony Reno's offensive staff at Yale from 2013-2017. The last four of those seasons, Cahill was the Bulldogs' assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach, while Conlin was associate head coach and offensive coordinator. When Conlin was named Fordham's head coach in December 2017, Cahill assumed Conlin's associate head coach and offensive coordinator positions, which he held until getting the Lehigh job in December 2022.
Fordham looks to snap a two-game losing streak as the Rams host Lehigh. The Rams are coming off a 30-13 home loss to Dartmouth last Saturday where the Big Green broke a 6-6 halftime tie by outscoring Fordham 24-7 after halftime. Fordham's lone victory came by a 26-21 score over Holy Cross in the Ram-Crusader Cup game on Sept. 27. Graduate student linebacker James Conway is the reigning Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week and is 12 tackles away from breaking the FCS career record of 550. He has 103 tackles and two sacks this season. Gunnar Smith has taken every snap at quarterback this season and has thrown for 1756 yards with 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Ricky Parks is the top rusher for Fordham with 275 yards and a touchdown. Jack Freeburg has been Smith's top target in the passing game with 29 receptions for 409 yards and three scores.
Lehigh has played Fordham 36 previous times with the Mountain Hawks winning 26 of those meetings. Fordham has won eight of the last 11 meetings after winning just two of the first 25 games in the series.
Saturday's game kicks off just after 1 p.m. from Moglia Stadium in the Bronx, N.Y. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with audio coverage on FOX Sports Radio 94.7 FM and 1230 AM and LVFOXSports.com beginning at noon.
The Mountain Hawks return to Goodman Stadium for back-to-back home games, beginning Nov. 1 when Lehigh hosts Georgetown on Hawk-O-Ween: A Spooky Saturday at Goodman Stadium. Game time is set for noon. Lehigh will then host Holy Cross Nov. 8 on Community Heroes Day/Youth Football Day to close out the regular season home schedule.
Follow Lehigh Football on X/Twitter and Instagram and like on Facebook for exclusive updates throughout the season.
Defensive lineman Matt Spatny was a standout on one of the nation's top defensive units in 2024. Spatny made 36 tackles from his defensive end position and contributed a Patriot League-leading 11.5 sacks, ranking third in the FCS in sacks per game and fifth in overall sacks. Along with center George Padezanin, Spatny was named an honorable mention Associated Press All-American last season, the first All-Americans for Lehigh since 2019. A Preseason All-American and the Patriot League's Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, Spatny missed two games due to injury but has five sacks in five games this season. Spatny was named Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week after registering six tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks in the win at Columbia. He now has 21.5 career sacks, putting him 2.5 behind Nick Martucci '99 for Lehigh's career record.
Lehigh has done well to control the ground game on both sides on the way to its 7-0 start. The Mountain Hawks lead the Patriot League and rank in the top six nationally in both rushing offense (236.4 ypg.) and rushing defense (70.1 ypg.). Lehigh hit the 300-yard rushing mark as a team for the second consecutive week with an even 300 against Penn, marking the seventh 300-yard rushing game for the Mountain Hawks since 2001. With junior Luke Yoder leading the way with three straight 100-yard games, including a career-high 174 at Bucknell, the Mountain Hawks rank sixth nationally in rushing offense. Lehigh's rush defense has been equally impressive. The Mountain Hawks now rank second in the FCS against the run after limiting its last three opponents to an average of 57 rushing yards per game. Lehigh allowed just 29 rushing yards against Penn, the fewest since the Mountain Hawks limited Princeton to minus-7 last season.
The elder statesman of Lehigh's wide receiver room, senior Geoffrey Jamiel has established himself as a leader on and off the field for the Mountain Hawks. Jamiel was Lehigh's top receiver in 2024, hauling in 60 receptions for 768 yards and eight touchdowns on the way to earning second team All-Patriot League honors. Jamiel had a huge day in the playoff win at Richmond, setting career highs with 10 catches for 137 yards, with his 54-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter giving the Mountain Hawks the lead for good. He had three 100-yard receiving games last season and had two-touchdown efforts against Bucknell and Colgate. The 2022 Patriot League Rookie of the Year, Jamiel recently had back-to-back 100-yard receiving games against Bucknell and Penn, including a 132-yard effort against the Quakers. He scored two touchdowns against the Quakers, including a 20-yard rush on a fake field goal that gave Lehigh the lead for good in the third quarter, and a 35-yard reception early in the fourth. Jamiel was named Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts against Penn. He established a new career high with 182 receiving yards at Columbia and needs just three catches to become the fifth player in program history to hit the 200-reception mark for his career.
The relationship between Lehigh head coach Kevin Cahill and Fordham head coach Joe Conlin goes back more than a decade. Cahill and Conlin coached together on Tony Reno's offensive staff at Yale from 2013-2017. The last four of those seasons, Cahill was the Bulldogs' assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach, while Conlin was associate head coach and offensive coordinator. When Conlin was named Fordham's head coach in December 2017, Cahill assumed Conlin's associate head coach and offensive coordinator positions, which he held until getting the Lehigh job in December 2022.
Fordham looks to snap a two-game losing streak as the Rams host Lehigh. The Rams are coming off a 30-13 home loss to Dartmouth last Saturday where the Big Green broke a 6-6 halftime tie by outscoring Fordham 24-7 after halftime. Fordham's lone victory came by a 26-21 score over Holy Cross in the Ram-Crusader Cup game on Sept. 27. Graduate student linebacker James Conway is the reigning Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week and is 12 tackles away from breaking the FCS career record of 550. He has 103 tackles and two sacks this season. Gunnar Smith has taken every snap at quarterback this season and has thrown for 1756 yards with 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Ricky Parks is the top rusher for Fordham with 275 yards and a touchdown. Jack Freeburg has been Smith's top target in the passing game with 29 receptions for 409 yards and three scores.
Lehigh has played Fordham 36 previous times with the Mountain Hawks winning 26 of those meetings. Fordham has won eight of the last 11 meetings after winning just two of the first 25 games in the series.
Saturday's game kicks off just after 1 p.m. from Moglia Stadium in the Bronx, N.Y. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with audio coverage on FOX Sports Radio 94.7 FM and 1230 AM and LVFOXSports.com beginning at noon.
The Mountain Hawks return to Goodman Stadium for back-to-back home games, beginning Nov. 1 when Lehigh hosts Georgetown on Hawk-O-Ween: A Spooky Saturday at Goodman Stadium. Game time is set for noon. Lehigh will then host Holy Cross Nov. 8 on Community Heroes Day/Youth Football Day to close out the regular season home schedule.
| Date: | October 25, 2025 |
| Opponent: | Fordham Rams |
| Kickoff: | 1:02 p.m. |
| Stadium: | Moglia Stadium/7,000/FieldTurf |
| Location: | Bronx, N.Y. |
| Lehigh's record: | 7-0 overall, 2-0 Patriot League |
| Fordham's record: | 1-6 overall, 1-2 Patriot League |
| Series: | Lehigh leads 26-10 |
| Video: | ESPN+ and SNY |
| Radio: | Fox Sports Radio 94.7 FM and 1230 AM and LVFoxSports.com with Matt Kerr, Steve Lomangino and Connor Brown beginning at 12 p.m. |
| Key Stats: | •Lehigh's defense ranks in the top 10 in the FCS in the following categories: rush defense (2nd, 70.1), total defense (6th, 281.4), sacks (6th, 3.0), scoring defense (9th, 17.0) and interceptions (10th, 8) •Junior Luke Yoder (761) and senior Geoffrey Jamiel (639) rank seventh in the FCS in rushing and receiving yards, respectively. •Lehigh has six quarterback sacks in each of its last two road games. |
Follow Lehigh Football on X/Twitter and Instagram and like on Facebook for exclusive updates throughout the season.
Players Mentioned
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