Most football coaches preach a one-game-at-a-time mentality, and whether they win or lose, they act as if it were just another game.
But Lehigh football coach Kevin Cahill had to admit that Saturday’s 31-13 win over Yale at Goodman Stadium was a little more special than most victories.
That’s because Cahill spent 10 years at Yale, including eight years as assistant head coach and five as offensive coordinator, before leaving to come to Lehigh in December of 2022. The Ivy League school will always be special to him.
And that’s why Cahill was especially pleased with his team’s all-around effort, which proved arguably its most impressive victory of the season.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t say this was special,” Cahill said. “I felt it was a great opportunity to play. There are so many similarities between our program and theirs. Tony [Reno, Yale’s coach] was such a tremendous mentor to me and an even better friend. It felt good to see him and see a lot of the coaches. But it also felt good to win.”
Lehigh was able to collect its sixth win without a defeat and solidify its best start since beginning 2012 with a 9-0 mark behind its not standard powerful running game and stout defense.
The Mountain Hawks ran for 234 yards and got another 174 in the air in outgaining Yale 399-350. Luke Yoder ran for 108 yards and a touchdown and Hayden Johnson threw for 174 yards and two scores, including one to Yoder.
Perhaps most importantly, Lehigh won the turnover battle 3-0 with Tyler Ochojski recovering a fumble and Davis Rice and Aidan Singleton getting interceptions. Rice’s pick came on Yale’s first possession of the second half after Yale drove to the Lehigh 35. Singleton’s pick came in the end zone and ended an 11-play, 62-yard drive by Yale that carried the Bulldogs to the Mountain Hawks 13.
“We have a saying, ‘Just win anyway’ and that means just find a way to win,” Cahill said. “Today the defense did a great job ot taking away the ball and giving it back to the offense, and the offense did a good job of hitting some big plays, but also putting the game away in the fourth quarter.”
Lehigh scored the first 14 points of the game and the last 10. The defense started strong by forcing Yale to punt on its first three possessions.
Yale’s Nico Brown caught a pair of touchdown passes from Dante Reno, including a 44-yarder that made it 21-13 with 6:18 left in the third quarter, but the 2-1 team wouldn’t get closer.
“That’s why I couldn’t be more prouder of Aidan Singleton because [Brown] made a nice play over his head for a touchdown and Aidan bounced back and made the next play with the interception,” Cahill said. “That, right there, is a prime example of what our program is all about. You’re going to give up plays. It’s a life you live as a cornerback. and Aidan bounced back and took the ball back.”
So far, Lehigh has won them all and looks the part of being a top-10 nationally in the FCS polls. The Mountain Hawks came in No. 8 in one poll and No. 9 in the other.
However, the regular season is only half over, and Cahill can find lots of things to work on. He didn’t like how the second quarter played out after his team quickly seized a 14-0 lead.
“I would have liked to see a much better second quarter, and that’s where that killer instinct has to be,” Cahill said. “We could have put that game away at halftime if we chose to, but we didn’t choose to do that.”
But as they have done each of the last two seasons in going 15-4 and putting together an 11-game regular-season win streak since losing at Yale 38-23 last Oct. 19, the Mountain Hawks are finding ways to respond to adversity.
Lehigh has upcoming road games at Columbia and Fordham, which will sandwich a bye week and won’t be home again until Nov. 1 when Georgetown visits. Cahill said he has put an emphasis on winning home games, and so far this season, Lehigh is 4-0 in the home brown uniforms.
“Whether we play at home or away, we just have to bring that energy, and if the sideline is there to support us, that’s always good,” Yoder said. “We’ve just got to take care of business.”
Scoring summary
Yale 0 – 7 – 6 – 0 – 13
Lehigh 14 – 0 – 10 – 7 – 31
FIRST QUARTER
L; Mason Humphey 27 pass fom Hayden Johnson (Nick Garrido kick), 11:!4
L: Luke Yoder 24 pass from Johnson (Garrido kick), 2:59
SECOND QUARTER
Y: Nico Brown 27 pass from Dante Reno (Nick Conforti kick), 0:43
THIRD QUARTER
L: Yoder 25 run (Garrido kick), 9:47
Y: Nico Brown 44 pass from Reno (kick failed), 6:18
L: Garrdo 24 field goal 1:50
FOURTH QUARTER
L: Hayden Johnson 9 run (Garrido kick), 2:07
Lafayette also wins
(AP) Dean DeNobile threw for 314 yards with two short touchdowns as the Leopards bounced back from a loss to Princeton to defeat Fordham 24-10 on Saturday at Fisher Stadium
Lafayette took a 14-0 halftime lead on DeNobile’s touchdown passes of 6 yards to Phillipsburg product Matthew Scerbo and 3 yards to Carson Persing. The pass to Persing capped off a 94-yard drive.
In the third quarter, Lafayette’s Dylan Aguilera returned a punt 18 yards for a touchdown and the Leopards (4-2, 2-0 Patriot League) took a 21-0 lead to the fourth quarter.
Gunnar Smith had 354 yards passing for the Rams and Fordham had the advantage in total yards, 405-402. Smith hit Troy Worrell for 4 yards and the Rams’ only touchdown. Jack Freeburg had 113 yards receiving for the Rams (1-5, 1-2).
Lafayette coach John Troxell, who is in his fourth season with the Leopards, coached his 200th career game. He has a career record of 115-85, having previously spent 16 seasons at Division II Franklin & Marshall before coming to his alma mater in 2022.
