Sean Wilson will remember this weekend for a long time.
The former Easton Area High star was inducted into the school’s Wall of Fame in a pregame ceremony Friday night before the Red Rovers’ 23-20 win over Liberty, a hard-fought victory that kept the state-ranked Red Rovers unbeaten at 8-0.
A few miles away on Saturday, Wilson was part of an offensive effort that will go down in the Lafayette record books.
Wilson was the starting left tackle of a unit that produced the most points a Leopards team has scored in 81 years.
Lafayette was nearly unstoppable in a 62-24 Patriot League rout of Bucknell at Fisher Stadium.
It was the most points the Leopards have scored in a game since a 64-0 win over Lehigh in 1944.
Senior quarterback Dean DeNobile completed 26 of 34 passes for 316 yards and a career-best five touchdowns. Elijah Steward had two of the TD receptions, while Jakyre Henley, Phillipsburg product Matthew Scerbo and Allentown Central Catholic graduate Ethan Hosak had one apiece.
Junior Ethan Weber ran for 139 yards and two scores, Jason Penza had a 79-yard TD run, and Henley and a 70-yard touchdown run to go with his TD reception.
Lafayette had 670 yards in total offense, a school record, and much of it began up front with Wilson and Sean Kinney, the starting center from Nazareth.
“It was definitely a great weekend to be able to go back to my high school and see them get a win and then come out here today and get a blowout win over a good Bucknell team,” said Wilson, a junior who was all-conference and all-state on both sides of the ball at Easton. “We definitely came out with a different mentality, and we’ve had a different mentality all week since this was a team that beat us last year. It’s definitely a get-back year and sort of a revenge tour we’re on right now. Everyone comes in with a different mentality for a Patriot League game, and we just want to keep dominating.”
Wilson said he and Kinney bonded right away, but everyone on the O-line has a great connection.
“All of the guys are connected and we’re always hanging out and we’re always talking about football,” Wilson said. “We talk to each other a lot and we feed off each other when it comes to energy. It’s a good environment on this offensive line.”
It was good to be involved with the Lafayette offense at any position on Saturday had three rushing TDs covering 67 yards or more.
Weber, who has filled in nicely for the injured Kente Edwards, who missed his third straight game with an injury, said the running back room is also loaded with talent.
“We were firing on all cylinders and everyone was putting in their part,” said Weber, who is from Bedford in western Pennsylvania. “Our running backs room is very deep and you haven’t even seen everyone. We’ve got a lot of good football. And it all starts with our offensive line. They did a great job today. I had as much time as I needed to make some moves and make people miss. I felt really comfortable back there.”
Hosak, another fixture on the offensive front, enjoyed Lafayette’s last home game until Nov. 8 against Colgate.
“A performance like this starts at practice on Tuesday,” Hosak said. “I think we had a great week of practice and everybody stepped up, including the young guys, and did their job. The goal was to go 1-0 and i think we played really well. It was great seeing Scerbo get into the end zone, and all of the Valley guys contributed. Everybody’s just working hard. The energy today was awesome from the first minute to the last. It’s great to see how we’re coming together as a team.”
And now they will travel as a team across the country to play FBS member Oregon State in a game that will start a 10 p.m. Eastern on Saturday night.
“That will be a great trip out there and we just want to go 1-0 again and keep it rolling.
Scoring summary
Bucknell 0 – 10 – 14 – 0 — 24
Lafayette 7 – 27 – 14 – 14 — 62
FIRST QUARTER
L: Ethan Weber 32 run (Jack Simonetta kick), 11:04
SECOND QUARTER
B: TJ Cadden 35 pass from Chris Dietrich (Matt Schearer kick)m 11:58
L: Jakyre Henley 20 pass from DeNobile (Simonetta kick), 10:00
L- Jason Penza 80 run (Simonetta kick), 7:06
B: Schearer 59 field goal, 1:48
L: Elijah Steward 34 pass from DeNobile (Simonetta kick), 1:21
L: Steward 10 pass from DeNobile (kick failed), 0:25
THIRD QUARTER
L: Ethan Hosak 19 pass from DeNobile (Simonetta kick), 11:50
L: Weber 67 run (Simonetta kick), 9:29
B: Cadden 16 pass from Dietrich (Schearer kick), 7:32
B: Sam Milligan 11 blocked punt return (Schearer kick), 3:29
FOURTH QUARTER
L: Matt Scerbo 4 pass from DeNobile (Simonetta kick), 12:15
L: Henley 70 run (Smonetta kick), 10:05
Lehigh stays unbeaten
(From Lehigh Sports Information)
Behind a balanced offensive attack and a dominant defensive performance, Lehigh, ranked No. 7 in one FCS national poll and No. 8 in the other, rolled to its seventh straight win as the Mountain Hawks downed Columbia 31-7 Saturday at Robert K. Kraft Field in New York City. The Mountain Hawks built a 31-0 lead midway through the third quarter as they picked up their 12th consecutive regular-season win dating back to last season.
Lehigh’s defense allowed 228 total yards, including just 39 on the ground. The Mountain Hawks (7-0) outgained the Lions (1-3) 264-42 in the first half, with most of Columbia’s yardage coming after Lehigh built its 31-point lead.
The Mountain Hawks registered six sacks, including nine stops for loss, and two interceptions. Seniors Brycen Edwards and Matt Spatny both registered two sacks. Edwards led Lehigh with seven tackles, while Spatny added six.
Sophomore quarterback Hayden Johnson completed 17-of-23 passes for a career-high 240 yards and a touchdown and also led the Mountain Hawks with 68 rushing yards on eight attempts.
Senior Geoffrey Jamiel had a career-high 182 receiving yards on nine catches, including a highlight-reel 45-yard one-handed reception and a career-long 63-yard touchdown catch from Johnson.
As a team, Lehigh rushed 46 times for 193 yards. Junior Luke Yoder carried 13 times for 67 yards and a touchdown, and sophomore Matt Machalik had nine carries for 38 yards and two scores.
Senior placekicker Nick Garrido, a Notre Dame-Green Pond product, added a season-long 38-yard field goal to help Lehigh built a 17-0 halftime lead.
Columbia’s only score was a 74-yard touchdown pass from Xander Menapace to Titus Evans. Menapace completed 11-of-21 for 178 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He was also sacked five times.
Lehigh is off next week before returning to New York on Oct. 25 to face Fordham in a Patriot League game at 1 p.m. on Oct. 25.
Columbia’s only score was a 74-yard touchdown pass from Xander Menapace to Titus Evans. Menapace completed 11-of-21 for 178 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He was also sacked five times.
