After much uncertainty, Lehigh football can finally take a deep breath as they are finally set to travel 15 minutes to Easton, Pennsylvania where they will play archrival Lafayette.
Lehigh-Lafayette is the most-played rivalry in college football. No matter the record, no matter the circumstances, this is the game that teams circle on their calendar every year.
Usually, the game is in November, but due to the cancelation of fall sports, it was postponed until the teams’ condensed spring season. The initial postponement wasn’t the last, however. The teams were supposed to play each other on April 3, but several players on Lafayette tested positive for COVID-19, which delayed the game.
This year will be a revenge opportunity for Mountain Hawks, which fell short in the 155th meeting by a score of 17-16. The Leopards converted a field goal to take a one-point lead with under a minute remaining, and Lehigh didn’t have enough time on the clock to make a comeback.
“I think there’s going to be a little bit of a chip on our shoulder, especially after the last meeting,” said junior running back Rashawn Allen. “I know a lot of our veteran players have had that on their minds for over a year now. Finally, being able to satisfy or make worth of what we came short of last year is going to have a good feeling.”
The Mountain Hawks have struggled this season. They are 0-2 and have yet to score a touchdown this season. They lost 20-3 to Holy Cross on March 13. Because of COVID-19, the next three games were either postponed or canceled.
They were able to take the field once again against Bucknell on April 3, where they struggled to get their offense going, losing to the Bison 3-0.
“We want to finish out our year strong—no matter the record,” said sophomore defensive back TyGee Leach. “We know it’s a short season, but we just have to finish out strong and fix the little things that we’ve been messing up. We have to make sure we have some type of momentum going into the fall, so it’s really more about us fixing what we have to do, so in the fall we’re ready, and we won’t make the same small mistakes.”
With the new post-COVID format, the Patriot League created two divisions: north and south. The south divisions consist of Lehigh, Lafayette and Bucknell, and the north includes Fordham, Holy Cross and Colgate. Although the Mountain Hawks are only 0-2, they do not have a chance at making the league title game since this Saturday is their third and final game.
Lafayette sits at 1-1. They defeated Colgate 24-10 on March 13 before their next two games were postponed. They last took the field against Bucknell on March 27 and lost 23-13.
“We have to make sure we do a good job of controlling their defensive front, and then from an offensive standpoint, they’ve done a really nice job of mixing their run and pass,” said head coach Tom Gilmore. They’re a definite threat if you look at their first and fourth quarters against Colgate. They really pounded the football….Once you start concentrating on stopping the run, then they’re going to go over the top with their play-action game and their RPO (run-pass option) game, which has been very, very effective.”
The 156th Rivalry will be played at 12:30 p.m and will be broadcasted on ESPN+.
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