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2024 Lehigh Mountain Hawks football
Patriot League co-champion
NCAA Division I Second Round, L 13–34 at Idaho
Conference	Patriot League
Ranking
STATS	No. 20
FCS Coaches	No. 21
Record	9–4 (5–1 Patriot)
Head coach	Kevin Cahill (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Dan Hunt (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Rich Nagy (2nd season)
Home stadium	Goodman Stadium
Uniform
Seasons← 20232025 →

The 2024 Lehigh Mountain Hawks football team represented Lehigh University as a member of the Patriot League during the 2024 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Mountain Hawks were led by second-year head coach Kevin Cahill and played home games at Goodman Stadium in Lower Saucon, Pennsylvania.

Preseason

In Lehigh's previous season, the Mountain Hawks' roster was very senior heavy, with most of the team's starting players graduating. As such there is an equally large oncoming group of Freshmen, including two quarterbacks Matt Machalik of Palmerton and Hayden Johnson of Manheim Township, as well as senior QB Matt Rauscher and fifth-year QB Dante Perri. Additionally, coach Cahill has highlighted the new freshmen defenders, including Broc Bender, second-team all-state linebacker from Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia.

Schedule

Game summaries

at Army (FBS)

at Michie Stadium • West Point, New York

• Date: August 30
• Game time: 6:00 p.m. EST/3:00 p.m. PST
• Game weather: Clear • Temperature: 69 °F (21 °C) • Wind: N at 2 miles per hour (3.2 km/h)
• Game attendance: 23,760
• Referee: Dan Scanlan
• TV announcers (CBSSN): Dave Ryan (play-by-play), Adam Breneman (analyst), Tina Cervasio (sideline reporter)

The season opener are the first time that the teams have met since 1995 and the first time Lehigh has played an FBS team since 2018. In the opening drive the Black Knights performed a 35-yard fake punt followed by a 1-yard touchdown by Bryson Daily. The Mountain Hawks responded the next drive by scoring in a seven-play drive off an 18-yard rushing touchdown by Luke Yoder. However, Army then scored on back to back drives with rushing touchdowns from Daily and Kanye Udoh and hold Lehigh scoreless, making it 21–7 at the half. Army scored early in the third with a 3-yard run from Noah Short, and scored twice in the fourth quarter to finish the game 42–7. Army held Lehigh scoreless in the second half, mostly due to two interceptions by Lehigh quarterback Hayden Johnson deep in Army territory. Lehigh had three quarterbacks take snaps in an effort to confuse Army, with Dante Perri, Matt Machalik and Hayden Johnson all being used in different packages.

Wagner

at Goodman Stadium • Lower Saucon Township, Pennsylvania

• Date: September 7
• Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST/9:00 a.m. PST
• Game weather: Sunny
• Game attendance: 2,920
• Referee: Henry Wimberg
• TV announcers (ESPN+): TBD

Seeking to bounce back from their defeat by Army, Lehigh started their home opener by scoring first off a 16-yard pass from Dante Perri to wide receiver Geoffrey Jamiel, following with two more touchdowns to take a 21–0 lead only 5 minutes into the game. The Mountain Hawks continued their strong start with first-year Hayden Johnson scoring his first collegiate touchdown for a 28–0 lead, followed by two more touchdowns by Lehigh to make it 42–0 at the half. This is the first time that Lehigh scored 42 points before halftime since their 2016 season against Yale. Lehigh scored again to start the third quarter to make the lead 49–0 before the Seahawks scored two late touchdowns to finish the game. Wagner had three turnovers, including a pick-six, finishing the game with 249 yards of total offense. This was Lehigh's largest margin of victory in 17 years, since its 2007 45–0 win against Georgetown, and the most points scored since its 2018 season against Bucknell. Junior receiver Geoffrey Jamiel put him over 100 career receptions and 1,000 receiving yards during the game, while juniors Tyler Ochojski and Matt Spatny secured Lehigh's first two sacks of the season. Junior defensive back Nick Peltekian said “This should be the standard for this team every week.” The game was also head coach Kevin Cahill's first ever home win.

at LIU

at Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium • Brookville, New York

• Date: September 14
• Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST/9:00 a.m. PST
• Game weather: Sunny • Temperature: 80 °F (27 °C)
• Game attendance: 1,643
• Referee: Travis Barta
• TV announcers (NEC Front Row): TBD

LIU was looking to come back from two losses with a home-opener against Lehigh, with this being the first time Lehigh traveled to LIU. The LIU sharks opened scoring with a 13-yard pass from Luca Stanzani to Michael Love before the Mountain Hawks tied with a Luke Yoder rushing touchdown. First-year quarterback Hayden Johnson then had his first career touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Geoffrey Jamiel. The Sharks opened up the second half with a Stanzani 3-yard passing touchdown to Michael Love then with 37 seconds left in the third LIU's kicker Michael Coney made a field goal. Lehigh held the game scoreless in the fourth quarter, with the game coming down to the Mountain Hawks' Will Parton stopping a fourth-and-2 attempt with 57 seconds left to preserve the win. This was the first time that Lehigh won back-to-back games since 2021, and are now 7-0 all time against the Sharks.

Princeton

at Goodman Stadium • Lower Saucon Township, Pennsylvania

• Date: September 21
• Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST/9:00 a.m. PST
• Game attendance: 6,217
• TV announcers (ESPN+): TBD

Lehigh hosted Princeton for its "Parents Weekend" homecoming game. This was Princeton's first game of the season. Both teams' marching bands put on special halftime performances, and food-trucks provided food to the homecoming crowd. Lehigh opened up the scoring with a 20-yard run up the middle by sophomore running back Luke Yoder six minutes into the game. Princeton responded tying the game to end the first quarter. The Mountain Hawks would outscore Princeton by 14 points in the 2nd quarter to make it 21-7 going into the second half. The Tigers scored on their opening possession of the second half and cut the lead to just 7 points. The fourth quarter started off with Johnson finding an open Geoffrey Jamiel on a 17-yard passing touchdown to put Lehigh's lead back to 14 points with 14:10 remaining in the game. Princeton got the ball back with 1:54 remaining with a chance to have a game-winning drive, however, Brycen Edwards intercepted Blaine Hipa to secure the win for Lehigh. The Tigers responded six minutes later with a touchdown of their own, but failed to convert the two-point conversion. This was the first time that Lehigh beat an ivy league school since 2016. Hayden Johnson had the best day of his career to date, going 12-of-13 while throwing for 165 yards with one touchdown. Lehigh also started Dante Perri who was 4-of-9 and finished with 28 yards.

Bucknell

at Goodman Stadium • Lower Saucon Township, Pennsylvania

• Date: September 28
• Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST/9:00 a.m. PST
• Game attendance: 4,003
• TV announcers (ESPN+): TBD

The game was branded as "Tackle Cancer Day" sponsored by Red Robin in partnership with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Lehigh entered the game atop the Patriot league. Lehigh climbed to a 14-0 lead with 4:11 remaining in the first half. Bucknell's TJ Cadden, who had a 73 yard punt return in the previous game, returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown to get the Bison on the board. Over the next 62 seconds Bucknell would force a fumble, and score off a 31-yard pass to tie the game 14-14. Lehigh would regain it's lead in the third quater to make the game 21-14. Bucknell's Aaron Davis reutrned a 79-yard interception to give Bucknell its only lead of regulation, 28-21 with 6 minutes left before Lehigh responded with a short Yoder touchdown run with 1:30 remaining. Bucknell was able to get the ball into field-goal range, however, Bison kicker Matt Schearer bounced the 52-yard attempt off the upright. After exchanging touchdowns, Bucknell's opening drive of the second overtime stalled, resulting in a 42-yard Schearer field goal. Lehigh's response was short lived, as they fumbled the ball which was recovered by Bucknell's Gavin Willis to end the game 38-35. The game put Bucknell at the top of the Patriot League, and was their best start to a season since 2015. Lehigh Junior WR Geoffrey Jamiel had a career day with nine catches for 136 yards and two touchdowns, while Sophomore WR Mason Humphrey also had 109 yards. Lehigh's RB Luke Yoder also carried the ball 22 times for 137 yards and 3 touchdowns, while Lehigh's QBs, Johnson and Perri, went 17-of-23 for 200 years, and 4-of-10 for 98 yards respectively. Despite the loss, the Mountain Hawks led in total yards, 500 to just 270.

at Yale (Yank Townsend Trophy)

at Yale Bowl • New Haven, Connecticut

• Date: October 19
• Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST/9:00 a.m. PST
• Game attendance: 4,107
• TV announcers (ESPN+): TBD

Lehigh opened scoring with a field goal on the game-opening drive. Yale's opening drive started when Aidan Singleton picked off the Bulldog's Grant Jordan, however, Lehigh was unable to capitalize on the turnover. Grant responded with a 20-yard pass to Joey Felton on his second ever pass attempt, before Yale scored, which was quickly followed by a Yale intercepting Lehigh QB Dante Perri, and returning the interception for 53 yards and a touchdown making it 14-3 at the end of the quater. The Mountain Hawk's Luke Yoder scored on a 38 yard run, making it 14-10, the closest the game would be. Yale's Grant then scored on a 10 yard run with the Bulldogs scoring again with a fourth and 1 plunge by Josh Pitsenberger with 5 seconds left in the half after another Lehigh interception. Yale's Nick Conforti extended the lead with a 40 yard field goal after a Lehigh fumble, with Lehigh responding with a 10-play 68 yard drive capped with a 10 yard Rushing touchdown by Jaden Green. With the win Yale retained the Yank Townsend Trophy, which has been awarded to the winner of each Lehigh-Yale game since 2006. Yoder ran for 143 yards and a touchdown.

Fordham

at Goodman Stadium • Lower Saucon Township, Pennsylvania

• Date: October 26
• Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST/9:00 a.m. PST
• Game attendance: 3,428
• TV: ESPN+

Lehigh's "Pride Day", presented by the Pride Center and Office of Diversity, equity, and inclusion. The game started with Fordham taking a 3-0 lead off a field goal. Lehigh would then score on five-straight possessions to led 31-3 at halftime including a 44-yard Green rushing touchdown, a field goal, a pair of 2-yard rushing touchdowns by Matt Machalik, and a 33-yard receiving touchdown by Matt D'Avina. All four of Lehigh's touchdowns were scored by first-years, and this was the third straight game where Lehigh eclipsed 200-yards rushing. This was the first time Lehigh beat Fordham since 2019, and Lehigh honored it's 1979 Division I-AA national runner-up squad and 1980 Lambert Cup Championship team during halftime.

at Georgetown

at Cooper Field • Washington, D.C.

• Date: November 2
• Game time: 12:30 p.m. EST/9:30 a.m. PST
• Game attendance: 3,799
• TV announcers (ESPN+): TBD

Riding off the momentum from their win against Fordham, Lehigh would route Georgetown. However, the first quater saw Lehigh punt and throw an interception, while Georgetown would turn it over on downs twice. The second quarter would open with Junior defensive back Nick Peltekian catching an interception for Lehigh, resulting in a go-ahead one-yard rushing touchdown by Hayden Johnson. In the two ensuing drives Lehigh's Jaden Green would score rushing touchdowns, while Georgetown missed a 29 yard field goal, making it 24-0 at halftime. Georgetown's Danny Lauter was called for international grounding while throwing in the end-zone, resulting in a Lehigh safety. The Hoyas' only points came from a 5-yard pass to Max Mcormick. The Mountain Hawk's Jordan Adderley returned an interception for a touchdown extending the lead to 31-0. Lehigh rushed for 310 yards, including 88 from Jordan Green, and 83 yards from quarterback Hayden Johnson. This was the biggest Lehigh victory against a conference opponent since 2007, when Lehigh beat Georgetown 45-0. The game saw Lehigh replace Georgetown as the second-place team in the Patriot league behind just Holy Cross.

at Holy Cross

at Fitton Field • Worcester, Massachusetts

• Date: November 9
• Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST/9:00 a.m. PST
• Game attendance: 12,910
• TV announcers (ESPN+): TBD

Due to the results the week prior, this game was a match-up between the Patriot league's Number 1, Holy Cross, and Number 2, Lehigh. In the second quarter the two teams traded passing touchdowns, with the Mountain Hawk's Dante Perri throwing a 12-yard touchdown to Mason Humphrey, while the Crusaders Joe Pesansky threw a 10-yard touchdown to Jacob Petersen to tie the game at 7-7 at halftime. Lehigh's Nick Garrido kicked a go-ahead field goal with 8 minutes left in the third quarter to win the game. Holy Cross' Daniel Porto attempted a 52-yard game tying field-goal with 2:24 left in the game that was blocked. The game was played 100 years and 1 day to the day the teams first played each other in 1924. This was also the first Lehigh win against Holy Cross since 2017. The win gave Lehigh the lead in the overall series, 20-19-1. With the loss there was a three-way tie for first place in the Patriot league between Lehigh, Holy Cross, and Bucknell. The outcome of the game would be the tie-breaker which would see Lehigh advance to the FCS playoffs when Lehigh and Holy Cross tied for Patriot league co-champions at the end of the season.

Colgate

at Goodman Stadium • Lower Saucon Township, Pennsylvania

• Date: November 16
• Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST/9:00 a.m. PST
• Game attendance: 3,321
• TV: ESPN+

Returning home for the "Salute to Service" game sponsored by Weis Markets, Lehigh gained 475 total yards of offense with 271 from rushing. Lehigh scored after just four plays on its opening drive with a 1-yard rushing touchdown from Luke Yoder. The Raiders responded with a 25-yard field goal. In their second possession the Mountain Hawks put together a 15-play 8:07 drive to milk the clock resulting in a 37 yard field goal, quickly followed by a scoring pass from Hayden Johnson to Geoffrey Jamiel and a Nick Garrido field goal to lead 17-3. On the first drive of the second half Lehigh would score again with Johnson hitting sophomore Mason Humphrey for 19-yards, quickly followed by a 330 yard rushing touchdown from Jaden Green to put the Mountain Hawks up 31-3. Colgate would broke Lehigh's scoring run with a 33-yard pass from Jake stearney to Treyvhon Saunders, but lehigh answered with a 78-yard drive resulting in a 51-yard bubble screen touchdown. Late in the fourth quarter true freshman Aaron Crossley scored again for Lehigh with an 84 yard run. Lehigh remained tied with Holy Cross for first place in the patriot league.

Lafayette (The Rivalry)

at Goodman Stadium • Lower Saucon Township, Pennsylvania

• Date: November 23
• Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST/9:00 a.m. PST
• Game attendance: 15,097
• TV: ESPN+

Lehigh went into the 160th edition of The Rivalry tied for first in the Patriot league with a win guaranteeing a championship season. Lehigh sold the game out, the first time since 2013, admist slumping attendance, with 2022 seeing the lowest average attendance since 1952. Scoring opened with Lehigh's Jaden Green rushing for 19-yards on the opening drive, with Lafayette matching the score with a Jamar Curtis rushing touchdown. The following drive saw the Mountain Hawk's Matt Machalik punch in a one-yard touchdown to regain the lead. In the second quarter Lehigh scored 21 unanswered points for a 28-7 halftime lead. Lehigh also scored on their opening drive of the second half with Lehigh's defense shutting down Lafayette for the rest of the game. The win gave the Mountain Hawks their 13th Patriot League championship, and with the tie-breaker against Holy Cross, a ticket to the FCS playoffs. First-year quarterback Hayden Johnnson was voted game MVP for his passing and rushing touchdowns. After the game Lehigh students rushed the field and tore down the goal posts, the first time this had happened since 1989 when Lehigh phased out wooden goalposts. Before then it had been an annual tradition to tear town the wooden posts after the rivalry game. The students then carried the goal-posts over 5 miles and over South Mountain to throw it into the Lehigh River at Fahy bridge. Northampton County district attorney Stephen Baratta, a proud Lafayette alumni, stated that the act constituted "criminal code violations" and that " this is not behavior that we can really sanction." Bethlehem police attempted to stop the procession, but where stopped by Lehigh campus police who gave the students an escort. Baratta stated that he intends to identify and charge the 300+ students who carried the goalpost.

at No. 9 Richmond—NCAA Division I First Round

at E. Claiborne Robins Stadium • Richmond, Virginia

• Date: November 30
• Game time: 2:00 p.m. EST/11:00 p.m. PST
• Game attendance: 3,220
• TV announcers (ESPN+): Jason Ross Jr. (play-by-play) and Tyoka Jackson (analyst)

Lehigh's first playoff appearance since 2017 would be as underdogs against the Number 9 ranked and top-ranked conference scoring defense of the Richmond Spiders. Lehigh's opening drive ended in a Matt Machalik interception with the Spiders then driving to Lehigh's one-yard line before being backed up by two false-starts resulting in a 25-yard field goal to open scoring. Richmond would kick another field goal before Lehigh's Hayden Johnson made a 41-yard pass to Matt D'Avino to set up a 7-yard pass to Logan Galletta for a touchdown to take a short-lived 7-6 lead. The Spiders would respond by entering the red-zone with 15 seconds left on the clock, being forced to settle for a field goal and a 9-7 halftime lead. Early in the third quarter Lehigh attempted a fake field-goal at the 6-yard line which Richmond stopped. Following a Johnson interception, Richmond would score on a short pass. Lehigh trailed 16-7 early into the fourth quarter before Jaden Green dashed 65-yards on their first play of the drive to cut the lead to just 16-14. Lehigh would force a 3-and-out and on the next drive Hayden Johnson connected on a 56-yard pass to Geoffrey Jamiel to take the lead. The Spider's response would be stopped short of midfield and then muffed the punt for Lehigh to preserve the win. This was the first Lehigh playoff win since 2011 when Lehigh beat the Towson Tigers. The Mountain Hawks and Spiders will have a rematch for the 2025 season opener as Richmond becomes a member of the Patriot League.

at No. 8 Idaho—NCAA Division I Second Round

at Kibbie Dome • Moscow, Idaho

• Date: December 7
• Game time: 2:00 p.m. EST/11:00 p.m. PST
• TV: ESPN+

The second ever meeting between the Vandals and Mountain Hawks, with the last meeting being a 77-14 blowout in Idaho's favor in 1993 when Lehigh played Idaho as a late-season non-conference opponent which was also the first time Lehigh ever played an indoors game.

References

1. ^ Groller, Keith (April 7, 2024). "Lehigh football: Early-morning spring practices hope to give the Mountain Hawks the jump on foes this fall". The Morning Call. Retrieved May 5, 2024.
2. "2024 Football Schedule". lehighsports.com. Retrieved May 5, 2024.
3. "Lehigh Mountain Hawks Schedule 2024". ESPN. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
4. "Lehigh To Open 141st Season Friday Night At Army West Point". lehighsports.com. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
5. ^ Kaiser, Luke. "Lehigh football drops to Army in season opener". the Brown and White. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
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8. ^ "Lehigh rolls to huge halftime lead, defeats Wagner 49-13". ESPN. AP. Retrieved September 7, 2024.
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17. ^ "Bucknell Downs Lehigh 38-35 in Double-Overtime Thriller to Open PL Play". bucknellbison.com. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
18. ^ "Defense, special teams power Bucknell in 38-35 2OT win over Lehigh". ESPN. AP. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
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21. ^ "Jaden Green runs for career high 147 yards to help Lehigh keep Fordham winless, 33-19". ESPN. Associated Press. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
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25. ^ "Nick Garrido field goal lifts Lehigh over Holy Cross 10-7 for 3-way tie for first in Patriot League". ESPN. AP. Retrieved December 1, 2024.
26. ^ "Mountain Hawks Tough Out 10-7 Win At Holy Cross". lehighsports. Retrieved December 1, 2024.
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29. ^ Rowan, Amanda. "Lehigh football dominates Colgate 45-17". The Brown and White. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
30. "Lehigh blasts Colgate 45-17, remains tied for lead in Patriot League with one game to go". ESPN. AP. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
31. ^ "Lehigh wraps up Patriot League title with 38-14 win over most-frequent rival Lafayette". ESPN. AP. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
32. Lambridis, Constantine. "Lehigh Lafayette attendance soars for 2024 game". The Brown and White. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
33. ^ Kaiser, Luke. "Lehigh defeats Lafayette 38-14, secures FCS playoff berth". The Brown and White. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
34. Groller, Keith. "Lehigh football pounds Lafayette; wins first Patriot League title since 2017". The Morning Call. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
35. ^ "WATCH: Lehigh fans tear down goalpost after win over Lafayette. See where it ended up". The Morning Call. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
36. ^ Deegan, Jim. "Bad news for Lehigh goalpost revelers: The county prosecutor is a Lafayette alum". Lehigh Valley News. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
37. ^ Kaiser, Luke. "Lehigh defeats Richmond 20-16, earns first playoff win since 2011". The Brown and White. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
38. ^ "Green and Jamiel score long TDs and Lehigh rallies to defeat Richmond 20-16 in FCS playoff opener". ESPN. Associated Press. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
39. "Lehigh Heads To Idaho To Face No. 8 Vandals In FCS Second Round". lehighsports. Retrieved December 4, 2024.

• 2024 Patriot League football season
• Lehigh Mountain Hawks football seasons
• Patriot League football champion seasons
• 2024 NCAA Division I FCS playoff participants
• 2024 in sports in Pennsylvania