In the 2023 season, his first as the Lehigh University football coach, Kevin Cahill would have been thrilled with a victory like the Mountain Hawks had on Saturday.
Lehigh outgained Sacred Heart 423-177, outrushed the Pioneers 286-70, had 21 first downs to Sacred Heart’s 14, held a 33:37 to 26:23 advantage in time of possession, and, most importantly, won the nonleague game 28-10 before 3,600 at Goodman Stadium.
But this is not 2023.
Lehigh is coming off a Patriot League championship and a win over perennial power Richmond and is ranked No. 11 in one national FCS poll and 13th in the other.
So, the standards have changed, and even though the Mountain Hawks are 2-0 to start a season for the first time since 2013, Cahill wasn’t singing his team’s praises after the game was over.
Giving up a kickoff return for a touchdown after the opening whistle, the second kickoff return for a score in as many games, and nine penalties for 75 yards made things more difficult than they should have been for Lehigh.
“As I told the team, you always have to celebrate your victories and these guys found a way to win a game,” Cahill said. “Two years ago, we’d be begging for a win like this year. But the standards have changed in our program. It’s a good win, but we’re really not satisfied with the way we played and how we got the win.”
Lehigh had four different players score touchdowns — Luke Yoder, Jaden Green, Hayden Johnson and Matt Machalik, a sophomore from Palmerton.
The Mountain Hawks answered Sacred Heart’s 91-yard kickoff return touchdown to start the game with a 6-play, 75-yard scoring drive to tie it, and then went ahead on a short, 3-play, 43-yard drive early in the second quarter.
“We tried to play like that the kickoff return to start the game never happened,” said Yoder, who led the ground attack with 127 yards on 12 carries. “We just had to flush it and move on to the next drive. We moved the ball pretty well today, but I don’t know what was going on with the procedural penalties.”
Machalik, who was Mr. Everything during his athletic career as a Blue Bomber, played in all 13 games last season as a freshman at Lehigh.
He completed just one pass in 2024 for no gain, so his 8-yard completion to Yoder in Saturday’s game represented a career best. He also carried four times for 16 yards and collected his fourth career touchdown to close the scoring.
“At the end of the day, you have to make the most of your opportunities; everybody preaches that,” Machalik said. “We have a bunch of playmakers on our offense. Any guy who gets the ball is going to make a play. It could be Green, Yoder, Hayden [Johnson]. All of these guys can make plays.”
For the second week in a row, Lehigh’s defense was outstanding. The Mountain Hawks allowed just one drive of over 50 yards, and that resulted in a third-quarter field goal, which represented Sacred Heart’s lone points after the kickoff return.
Brycen Edwards led the way with nine tackles, while William Parton and Tyler Ochojski combined for 15 stops.
“When something like the kickoff return happens, there’s a sense of ‘OK, that happened,’ but all we can worry about is the next play and come together,” Ochojski said. “This team is going to be measured by how well we respond in moments of adversity, and there’s a sense of camaraderie and brotherhood with this team.”
Lehigh isn’t home again until Sept. 27 when it plays Penn. The Mountain Hawks visit Duquesne at noon Saturday.
Scoring summary
Sacred Heart 7 – 0 – 3 – 0 — 7
Lehigh 7 – 14 – 0 – 7 — 28
FIRST QUARTER
SH: Dean Hangey 91 kickoff return (Matt Kling kick), 14:47
LE: Luke Yoder 28 run (Nick Garrido kick), 11:38
SECOND QUARTER
LE: Jaden Green 10 run (Garrido kick), 14:12
LE: Hayden Johnson 20 run (Garrido kick), 1:06
THIRD QUARTER
SH: Matt Kling 32 FG, 8:13
FOURTH QUARTER
LE: Matt Machalik 2 run (Garrido kick), 14:55
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Sacred Heart (32 for 70): Jack Snyder 9-30; Chuck Webb 10-27; Curtis Whiting 5-10; John Michalski 4-8; Mitchell Summers 2-3; Kevin McGuire 1-3; Team 1-(-11).
Lehigh (39 for 286): Luke Yoder 12-127, TD; Jaden Green 11-79, TD; Hayden Johnson 6-43, TD; Aaron Crossley 5-18; Matt Machalik 4-16, TD; Connor Hiling 1-3.
PASSING
Sacred Heart: Jack Snyder 14-20-0, 94 yards; John Michalski 2-6-0, 13 yards.
Lehigh: Hayden Johnson 10-17-1, 129 yards; Matt Machalik 1-1-0, 8 yards.
RECEIVING
Sacred Heart: Payton Rhoades 4-26; Jason Palmieri 3-20; Kevin McGuire 2-16; Curtis Whiting 2-16; Logan Lyson 1-9; Myles Hamilton 1-7; Tyler Picinic 1-6; Dean Hangey 1-4; Teagan Brown 1-(-3).
Lehigh: Geoffrey Jamiel 5-60; Mason Humphrey 3-50; Luke Yoder 2-11; Matt D’Avino 1-16.
Lafayette 42, Stonehill 26
Kente Edwards ran for 127 yards and three touchdowns as the Leopards got their first win of the season in Easton, Massachusetts, and evened their record at 1-1.
Edwards, a junior, scored on runs of 4 yards and 2 yards within the first 16 minutes of play for a 14-0 Lafayette lead. He would add a 78-yard scoring run later to go with a 29-yard TD by Jason Penza and a 36-yard run by Ethan Weber.
Lafayette’s Kente Edwards (with ball) ran for 127 yards and three touchdowns in the Leopards’ 42-26 win over Stonehill Saturday in Easton, Massachusetts.
Quarterback Dean DeNobile’s 1-yard run was the sixth rushing touchdown and made it 42-6. The Leopards had 319 yards rushing and DeNobile passed for 132 yards.
Lafayette opens Patriot League play at Georgetown on Saturday at noon before playing its home opener Sept. 19 against Columbia.
