Colgate kept their hopes of securing the Patriot League title alive as their 485 offensive yards allowed them to blow past Lehigh 37-21 this afternoon in Hamilton, New York.
The offensive attack for Colgate (5-5, 3-2 PL) was led by the efforts of first-year quarterback Jake Steaney, who completed 28 of his 34 passes for 360 yards on the afternoon. Steaney broke the school record for the most passing yards by a first-year quarterback during the game and had the 10th-best performance by passing yards in team history.
Colgate scored the first 30 points of the game unanswered. After scoreless drives from Colgate and Lehigh (2-8, 1-4 Patriot) throughout the first quarter, senior kicker Jacob Jaworski made a 24-yard field goal to give the Raiders the lead.
The Raiders built on the lead with a rushing touchdown midway through the second quarter with a 1-yard direct snap to junior running back Brendan Cassamajor. He ran up the middle and pushed the lead up 10-0.
Colgate also added one more touchdown before the half through another one-yard rush. This time, senior Jaedon Henry got involved in the scoring as Colgate led 16-0 at the end of the first half following a missed extra point.
The two teams had a sizable discrepancy in passing by the end of the half. While Colgate had completed 18 passes for 189 yards, Lehigh only completed seven passes for 71 yards.
Lehigh’s sophomore quarterback Brayten Silbor left the game early in the second quarter after a 1-yard rush and did not return. Senior quarterback Dante Perri played the remainder of the game.
Colgate began the second half with a 55-yard dagger up the middle when Steaney found sophomore wide receiver Treyvohn Sanders to grow the Colgate lead to 23-0. After a Lehigh three-and-out, Steaney completed another touchdown pass to senior running back Max Herleman for a 25-yard touchdown. Colgate led 30-0 over Lehigh with seven minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Lehigh began scoring in the third quarter when first-year running back Luke Yoder found an open hole in the Colgate defensive line and ran 46 yards for Lehigh’s first points of the game to cut the lead to 30-7. The score was Yoder’s fourth touchdown in the past three games.
On the next drive, Colgate used eight plays and 75 yards to drive down the field as Steaney found sophomore wide receiver Brady Hutchison to extend the lead back to 30 points.
Lehigh scored two touchdowns through the air in the fourth quarter to close out the game. Perri threw to senior wide receiver Connor Kennedy and first-year wide receiver Mason Humphrey for two passing touchdowns to reach a final score of 37-21.
Colgate will now need a win against Fordham, a Holy Cross loss to Georgetown and a Lafayette loss to Lehigh next week to become champions.
Lehigh will now prepare for the rivalry game against Lafayette, which will be played at Goodman Stadium on Nov. 18.
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