Lehigh earned back to back wins for the first time in three seasons in a close game 20-17 game against Long Island University.
LIU played its home opener with sunny 79 degree weather on Saturday at Bethpage FCU Stadium in Brookville, New York.
Lehigh paid its first-ever visit to the Long Island campus after coming off a 49-13 win against Wagner last Saturday. The Sharks are coming off a 45-0 loss to Albany.
At the start of the first quarter, redshirt sophomore quarterback Luca Stanzani passed 30 yards for LIU to sophomore wide receiver Aviyon Smith-Mack, earning a first down.
With incomplete passes and an uneventful first quarter, Stanzani found senior wide receiver Michael Love from 13 yards out to score the Sharks’ first touchdown and the first points of the game.
The Mountain hawks were down 7-0 at the start of the second quarter.
At the start of the second quarter, sophomore running back Luke Yoder found the endzone to score the Mountain Hawks’ first touchdown. Junior kicker Nick Garrido completes the point-after-attempt, tying the game up 7-7.
Yoder has scored in all three games for the Mountain Hawks so far this season, and has scored 7 touchdowns in his last eight games.
After a promising drive, Yoder stretched for another first down for Lehigh at the 10-yard line with only 50 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
First-year quarterback Hayden Johnson then passed right for 8 yards, earning his first career touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Geoffrey Jamiel at the back of the endzone.
Johnson had 14 carries and 14 yards in the first half.
The Mountain Hawks had a 13-7 lead going into the third quarter, with majority control of the ball in the second quarter. Lehigh had 11 first downs, with LIU only having 6.
The Sharks opened up the second half scoring after Stanzani rushed down the middle at the start of the third, and threw to Love for a 3-yard touchdown, giving the Sharks the lead by 1.
A 27-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Mason Humphrey, brings the Mountain Hawks to score another point, bringing the game to 19-14. The pass came from graduate quarterback Dante Perri, his first touchdown pass of the day.
The kick attempt from junior Nick Garrido is good, bringing the game to 20-14.
The Sharks have never won a non-conference game at the Division I level. The rivalry goes back to the 1970s, when the Mountain Hawks won all six previous games.
With 37 seconds left in the third, Michael Coney kicked a clear field goal attempt, bringing the Sharks up to only trail behind by 3 points.
The Mountain Hawks needed 10 yards on a third down with 2:50 left in the game. The Sharks call their second time out, needing 4 points to lead and win.
LIU at the 3rd and 5 yards from the 25, Lehigh needs one first down to win the game. Two minutes remain in the fourth quarter.
Johnson throws a touch pass to first-year Jaden Green, but Green fumbled the ball.
With the clock running out, LIU was unable to score, finishing the game with a 20-17 score and bringing Lehigh to a 2-1 record for the season.
The Mountain Hawks will return home next weekend to play Princeton for Family Weekend at Goodman Stadium.
Comment Policy
Comments posted to The Brown and White website are reviewed by a moderator before being approved. Incendiary speech or harassing language, including comments targeted at individuals, may be deemed unacceptable and not published. Spam and other soliciting will also be declined.
The Brown and White also reserves the right to refuse the publication of entirely anonymous comments.