2025 Lehigh Mountain Hawks football team

The 2025 Lehigh Mountain Hawks football team represented Lehigh University as a member of the Patriot League during the 2025 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Mountain Hawks were led by third-year head coach Kevin Cahill and played at the Goodman Stadium in Lower Saucon Township, Pennsylvania.

Last season Lehigh had defied all expectations and improved from their 2–9 record in 2023 to finish 9–4 and winning the Patriot League title as well as an FCS playoff berth.^[1] Due to this, in the offseason, Lehigh was able to use the transfer portal to sign five new highly ranked student athletes on signing day, joining another six high level recruits recruited earlier.^[2] Additionally, senior defensive lineman Matt Spatny was added to the preseason watch list for the Buck Buchanan Award, which is awarded to the top defensive player in FCS football, having earned an honorable mention to the first-team all-Patriot league all-American team last season.^[3]

^[4][5]

Lehigh's season opener was a rematch of the first round of the FCS playoffs against the Richmond Spiders, their first game as a member of the Patriot League.^[6] Both Lehigh and Richmond went into the game ranked, at No. 15 and No. 22 respectively with uncharacteristically high turnout for the Lehigh home-game as Lehigh also introduced a ceremonial bell ringing at the start of the game.^[7] Lehigh would win the coin toss but defer to the second half, with the Spiders scoring on their first drive with just nine seconds left in the first quarter, a one-yard rush up the middle on the goal-line.^[7] With just one minute to go in the second quarter the Mountain Hawks would answer and tie the game with a 13-yard touchdown pass from sophomores Hayden Johnson to Jaden Green.^[7] Lehigh would gain the lead with four minutes left in the third quarter with a 29-yard touchdown pass from Johnson to senior WR Geoffrey Jamiel.^[7] Richmond answered immediately with a 99-yard kick return, tying the game 14–14.^[7] Halfway into the fourth quarter Green would score on a four-yard rush, with the Mountain Hawks taking the lead again 21–14.^[7] A big three-and-out and interception in the fourth quarter by Lehigh's defense put the game away.^[6][7]

As part of the University Day celebrations at Lehigh, Softball player Jenny Bender, ‘03, soccer player Andrew Mittendorf, ‘99, and former Dean of Athletics Joe Sterrett were honored on the field as the school's newest inductees into their hall of fame during halftime.^[8] The Sacred Heart University Pioneers started the game by returning the opening kick for a touchdown.^[9][8] However, after getting the ball back, Lehigh would answer with a Luke Yoder rushing touchdown of their own.^[8][10] Halfway through the first quarter the Mountain Hawk's Hayden Johnson threw an interception to SHU safety Daimon Jacobs, who then fumbled the ball which was recovered by Lehigh lineman Charles Soska, allowing Lehigh's drive to continue.^[8][10] The Pioneer's offense would only score a single field goal, while Lehigh put up four rushing touchdowns by four different players for a final score of 28–10.^[9][8][10] This would be the first time Lehigh would go 2–0 since 2013.^[10] This was just the second time Lehigh and Sacred Heart had played each other, and with the Lehigh win the series record stands at 1–1.^[10]

The first ever meeting between the Mountain Hawks and the Duquesne Dukes and a back-and-forth affair, the teams traded a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter including a ricocheted pass TD from Johnson intended for Jamiel that was hauled in by Garrett Guess after deflecting off a Duke defender with the Dukes then scoring following a 35-yard pass from Tyler Riddell to Joey Isabella on the next drive.^[11][12][13] With just 54 seconds left in the first half Johnson found Jamiel for a 54-yard pass in the end zone to put Lehigh up 14–7.^[11][12] After forcing a three-and-out, Lehigh would score on their opening drive of the second half before Riddle found Isabella again, this time for a 66-yard touchdown pass.^[11][12] Lehigh answered with a 16-yard TD from Johnson to Mason Humphrey but so would Duquesne with a thirteen play drive capped off by a 1-yard Logan Kushner rushing touchdown.^[11][12] After a good kickoff return, Lehigh mounted a 59-yard drive to take the final lead late in the third quarter.^[11][12] Duquesne would have a chance to answer, however, a key strip-sack by senior LB Tyler Ochojski ended the game.^[11][12] With the win head coach Kevin Cahill moved above .500 on his win percentage at Lehigh for the first time, especially important for the school as their last head coach, Tom Gilmore, went 9–27 during the four years prior to Cahill.^[11][12][13]

Bucknell's parent weekend game, and a revenge game for Lehigh as Bucknell handed the Mountain Hawks their only conference loss last season.^[14][15] On the first play of scrimmage Lehigh's Mekhai Smith intercepted Bucknell's Ralph Rucker IV but only capatalized with a field goal.^[14][16][15] Bucknell's second possession was a three-and-out, while Lehigh went 55 yards to score taking a 10–0 lead.^[14][16] Bucknell responded with a field goal of their own, while Lehigh put together a 98 yard drive scoring on a one-yard run.^[14][16][15] Bucknell would finally score to close out the half, making it 24–10 in Lehigh's favor.^[14] Lehigh would then score twice, to extend the lead 38–10 before Bucknell mounted a comeback attempt, with Rucker throwing a pair of touchdown passes to cut the lead to 38–24.^[14][16][15] The Bison attempted an onside kick to set up a potential game-tying drive, however, Lehigh recovered the kick and scored a final field goal to make it 41–24.^[14][16][15] This was the first time Lehigh has gone 4–0 to start a season since 2013.^[14] Lehigh has won 22 of the last 28 games against Bucknell.^[16][15] In this game Lehigh also experimented with a new uniform combination, white jerseys and pants with gold helmets.^[16]

Going into the game Penn had not won a match-up against a top 10 ranked team in 72 years while this was also the first time the Mountain Hawks and Quakers would play since 2021 where Penn shut out Lehigh 20–0.^[17] Lehigh's opening drive would stall, resulting in a field goal to take an early 3–0 lead.^[18][19] After a Penn three-and-out Lehigh would get the ball back to score before Penn would get on the board with a field goal to make it 10–3.^[18][17][19] Lehigh's next two drives would both end in field goals, while the Quakers would score on both of theirs, putting them up 20–16, but missing an extra point.^[18][17][19] On their next drive the Mountian Hawks executed a fake field goal, with Geoffrey Jamiel taking a direct snap on 4th-and-7 to score.^[18][17][19] Lehigh and Penn then exchanged a pair of passing touchdowns before Lehigh's Tyler Ochojski tipped a pass from Penn's Liam O'Brien setting up an interception with Lehigh scoring 5 plays later to make it 37–27.^{[18][17][19][20]} The Quakers responded with a field goal to make it a one score game, but Lehigh responded by scoring another touchdown, putting the game away late in the fourth quarter.^{[18][17][19][20]} Garrido's 13 points and three made field goals were both career highs while the 539 total yards of offensive was the most in a single game in coach Cahill's career.^[18][19] Lehigh is now 5–0 for the first time since they went 9–0 in 2012.^[18][19]

Due to their mutual history of being early adopters of football in America, the Lehigh Mountain Hawks and Yale Bulldogs maintain a rivalry series with the winner receiving the Yank Townsend Trophy, although this rivalry prior to the game was lop-sided in Yale's favor, going 8–2 in the series.^[21] Lehigh's Hayden Johnson would struggle to connect with his receivers in the first half, however, was still able to score off two medium touchdown passes, as Yale would only score with 59 seconds left in the second quarter.^[22] In their first drive of the third quarter Lehigh would score in just three plays, driving for 86 yards in 1 minute and 30 seconds.^[22] Yale would respond, rushing 75 yards in 8 plays, but would miss the extra-point bringing the score to 21–13 with Lehigh responding in turn with a field goal.^[22] Yale would attempt to drive to cut the lead to 24–20, however, Yale's Dante Reno would throw an interception to Lehigh's Aiden Singleton which killed an otherwise promising drive, in their next two drives Yale would punt, and then Reno would fumble the ball which was recovered by Lehigh's Tyler Ochjski setting up short field position for Johnson to score a rushing touchdown of his own.^[22][23] This was Lehigh's first win against Yale since 2016, and their first home win against Yale since 2011.^[22] After the game Yale's head coach, Tony Reno, praised the Lehigh team, stating: "Credit to a strong Lehigh team. There were opportunities we did not capitalize on and that comes down to discipline and execution."^[24] Lehigh's head coach Kevin Cahill worked under Reno as a positional coach from 2012–2018 and as Offensive Coordinator from 2020–2022.

Going into the match-up, Lehigh had beaten the Columbia Lions in their last 11 meetings.^[25] On Lehigh's first drive they went 77-yards primarily on the ground, highlighted by a 35 yard rush from Quarterback Hayden Johnson.^[26] This would be followed by another Lehigh touchdown and a field goal in the final moments of the second quarter to make it 17–0 at halftime.^[26] Lehigh started with the ball in the second half with Geoffrey Jamiel scoring on a 63-yard pass from Johnson, followed by another rushing touchdown on their next drive, extending their lead to 31–0.^[26] Columbia would finally answer with a 74-yard touchdown pass from Xander Menapace to Titus Evans which was Menapace's first passing touchdown and Evans' first receiving touchdown to make the final score 31–7.^[26] Lehigh would go into their bye week 7–0, their best record since 2012, having beaten three Ivy League opponents in a row.^[26] Senior defensive lineman Matt Spatny won Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week after making six tackles, including three for loss and two sacks putting him just 2.5 sacks behind the Lehigh all time record of 24 from Nick Martucci from the class of 1999.^[27]

Coming out of the bye Lehigh would return to New York City to play the Fordham Rams.^[27] The Mountian Hawk's head coach Kevin Cahill had worked with Fordham's head coach Joe Conlin when the two where positional coaches at Yale from 2013 to 2017.^[27] Going into the matchup the Rams had beaten Lehigh in eight of their last eleven games.^[27] The game was also Fordham's parent weekend.^[28] Lehigh would score first with a field goal, followed by a short stalled Fordham drive, and a 1-yard rushing touchdown for QB Hayden Johnson to make it 10–0 at halftime.^[28] Within the first three minutes of the third quarter Lehigh recorded four sacks while also scoring two more times to make it 24–0.^[28] With 18 seconds left in the quarter the Rams would finally score, and would fail a two-point conversion as Lehigh would kick another field goal to make the final 27–6.^[28] Despite the loss Fordham's linebacker James Conway recorded his 14th tackle for a loss, making him the record holder for not only the franchise, but also the Patriot League and the FCS.^[28] Lehigh would have 429 total yards, and keep Fordham to just 74 yards on the ground.^[29]

Lehigh's faced the Georgetown Hoyas for the annual 'Hawk-O-Ween' game where fans where encouraged to dress up in their Halloween costumes to the game.^[30][31] Lehigh opened scoring with a 15 yard rush from Jayden Green to take an early lead and never let go, they expanded their lead with a six-yard running touchdown from Luke Yoder.^[30][31] After Georgetown's offense failed to score on their next drive Lehigh would return the ensuing punt for 33 yards to score yet again off a one-play 41-yard rushing drive from Yoder to make it 20–0 at halftime after their extra-point was blocked and their kicker, Nich Garrido, was injured.^[30][31] Early in the third quarter Lehigh junior defensive-back Aidan Singleton intercepted a pass for a touchdown as a new kicker was brought in, Connor Poole, to make the extra point.^[30][31][32] Georgetown almost scored off a 24-yard pass lay, however, as Georgetown's Hassan Mahasin was about to cross the end zone the ball was punched out of his hands and out of the end zone, resulting in a touch-back.^[30][31] Lehigh would score one more time with first-year Quarterback Derek Morgan rushing for a nine-yard score.^[30][31] This was the first time that Lehigh had shut out an opponent since October 10, 2009, when they also beat the Hoyas 27–0.^[33][32][30] Lehigh is now 22–2 against Georgetown, and since the Hoyas joined the Patriot League in 2001 Lehigh has recorded four shutouts against them in 2002, 2007, 2009 and now 2025. ^[31] The 41–0 final score was also the largest Lehigh margin of victory since their 2007 45–0 game against the Hoyas.^[31] At halftime Lehigh honored four members of their women's wrestling team who competed at the U20 World Wrestling Championships winning two silver medals.^[31]

At the start of the season the Lehigh-Holy Cross match-up was billed as a marquee event, as the Mountain Hawks where favorites to repeat their Patriot League championship, while the Crusaders, who'd won six in a row, where picked to finish third after the two where crowned co-champions in 2024.^[34][35] On Lehigh's opening drive Hayden Johnson went 63-yard to score, topped off by a 29 yard receiving touchdown by Mason Humphrey.^[34] On their second drive the Mountain Hawks would throw an interception, which Holy Cross used to kick a field goal to cut the lead 7–3.^[34][35] This was his first interception in four weeks.^[35] Lehigh went three-and-out on their next three drives before Luke Yoder broke through the secondary to rush for a 42-yard score.^[34] After forcing a three-and-out on the Crusaders the Mountain Hawks orchestrated a two-minute drill getting into the redzone however, Johnson would throw a second interception.^[34] Lehigh opened both their drives of the second half off scores, kicking a field foal and a 45-yard receiving touchdown from Geoffrey Jamiel.^[34] Holy Cross would be held to just 46 yards of total offense in the second half, as Lehigh scored again early in the fourth quarter for a final score of 38–3.^[34] This was the first time Lehigh has gone on a 10-game winning streak since 2011.^[34] Lehigh players began to attribute their winning streak to their 'victory dogs' post-game celebrations, where the team are served hot-dogs by Lehigh alumni, averaging around 200 hotdogs per-game.^[36]

Going to the game at Colgate, one of Lehigh's busses would break down on I-81.^[37] Despite this, on their first drive sophomore running back Aaron Crossley would score on a two-yard rush followed by two field goals from punter/kicker Connor Poole while point-after attempts where made by John Zipf.^[38] After the second field goal Colgate put up a long drive of their own, ending with a 45-yard field goal attempted which kicker Luke Vogeler missed, as Lehigh scored yet again on a 64-yard touchdown pass to Geoffrey Jamiel to make it 20-0.^[38] The Raiders finally scored with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Jake Stearney to Matt Fogler, this would be their only points on the board as on their next and final promising drive where Stearney completed a 47-yard pass, the longest of his career, he would be picked off in the end-zone by Lehigh's Jackson Dowd.^[38] Lehigh would score one more time with a 31-yard pass to Mason Humphrey, while Colgate was able to get into range for another long 48 yard field-foal, which Vogeler also missed.^[38] After an hour long rain delay the game would be called off with 3:54 in the fourth quarter due to lightning.^[39][37] With the win Lehigh is one win away from winning the Patriot League for the second straight year in a row as Lafayette has also remained undefeated in conference games.^[37]

Rivalry week, with the long-standing tradition of students at both schools putting up white bedsheets with disparaging messages painted on them targeting the other school, such as "LAF Sunk the Edmund Fitzgerald" or "LAF makes me drink alone" or "LAF has soft hands."^[40] The Morning Call also published an op-ed calling for the 161st meeting of The Rivalry to be on College GameDay noting the long-running history of the game, and celebrating the goal-post tear down of last season.^[41] Since both Lehigh and Lafyatte are undefeated in conference games, the outcome of the rivalry meeting determined who would be the Patriot League champions and advance to the FCS playoffs.^[41] This was also the first game rivalry game that Lehigh went into undefeated since 2001.^[42] Both teams scored on their opening possession, while the Leopards scored on their second drive while forcing a Lehigh punt, however, Hayden Johnson would connect with Mason Humphrey for a 77-yard touchdown pass to tie the game 14-14 before Lafayette kicked a field goal on a two-minute drill, giving Lehigh their first point deficit heading into halftime this season as their attempt to answer ended in an interception by Lafayette's Avery Jones.^[43] On the opening play of the second half the Mountain Hawk's Luke Yoder rushed 80-yards to reverse this lead, while the two teams running backs would exchange touchdowns to make it 28-24.^[43] Lafayette would attempt to go for it on 4th down but Lehigh's defense would get a crucial stop setting up good field position for another Yoder touchdown extending the lead 35-24.^[43] Lafayette would score, and complete a two-point conversion to get them within a field-goal, however, Johnson would score on a 1-yard QB sneak to ice the game 42-32.^[43] Lehigh's running back Luke Yoder would win the game's MVP award, for rushing for 234 yards and 4 touchdowns.^[44] With their win Lehigh would be seeded #5 in the FCS playoffs and will have a first-round bye, hosting the winner of the Villanova-Harvard game at Goodman stadium.^[45]