Hope springs eternal after solid scrimmage
After difficult 2021 season, Lehigh offense shows signs of promise
Trevor Harris was a little frustrated.
Lehigh’s junior defensive lineman from Liberty High School didn’t like his unit’s performance in the Brown and White Game that closed out the team’s spring practice session.
While no score was kept, the Mountain Hawks registered four touchdowns during the down-and-distance portion of the intrasquad scrimmage at Goodman Stadium.
Regardless of the conditions, giving up touchdowns wasn’t something Harris enjoyed.
“As a defensive unit, we definitely made a great stride from this past season,” Harris said “It just stinks we weren’t able to display that today.
“What we’ve done this whole spring wasn’t shown on this field, which isn’t OK. But we’ve definitely made big strides.”
Harris lamented the defense’s lack of communication and its making too many mental errors.
“I don’t think the offense beat us; we beat ourselves,” he said.
Normally, the defense’s performance would be a disappointment to the fan base in the overall scheme if it had come against Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette or anybody else on Lehigh’s schedule. Since it came against a Mountain Hawks offense that struggled mightily in 2021 during a 3-8 season, the Lehigh football fan probably wasn’t too upset.
Three different quarterbacks threw TD passes and the running game showed some spark as Lehigh hoped to build on the momentum generated at the end of last season when it won three straight.
It was the first time Lehigh had a game to cap spring practice period since 2019. The entire 2020 spring was wiped out by COVID-19, and last March and April the team was trying to prepare to play league games to make up for what was lost from the previous fall.
That’s why Harris couldn’t have been totally upset by what transpired in the last of 15 spring sessions.
“Definitely, the offense also made a big stride and it was good to see them display what they’ve been working on these past 15 practices,” Harris said. “I mean it stinks as a defense letting them score on us, but at the same time we have to
remember we’re on the same team. I’m hoping they can do the same thing to other teams.”
Senior running back Zaythan Hill, who had some big gains in the ground game, believes the coming season will be nothing like a year ago, when Lehigh didn’t score a touchdown in its first six games and managed just nine points in those first 360 minutes of football.
“I think we executed really well and the guys were in the right spots,” Hill said. “We’ve worked hard this spring to get rid of the bad taste in our mouths from last season. The biggest thing is trusting each other.
“Last year we were a young team with a lot of freshmen and sophomores. A lot of guys didn’t get time to jell or mesh together. So this spring was really beneficial to come together.”
Lehigh coach Tom Gilmore was smiling after huddling with his team one last time on the field until preseason camp begins in August.
“We had a really good day offensively overall,” he said. “You saw these improvements with some of our position groups, and just to see it starting to click on a higher level was really nice to see.
“We lighted up in practice at the end of the week with our practices, but I had a feeling we were getting there. We were getting closer. We made a lot of plays. The defense did a great job too, but I was pleased we were able to sustain some drives and put it in the end zone.”
Dante Perri, Nigel Summerville and Allentown Central Catholic graduate Matt Rauscher all threw touchdown passes.
In a down-and-distrance situation designed to simulate an overtime possession, Raucher was 4-for-4 and found Tommy Lewis for the score.
It was the only possession of the session for Rauscher, a rising sophomore who led ACCHS to a District 11 4A title as a senior in 2020. He is currently fourth on the depth chart at Lehigh with another quarterback expected in the incoming freshman class that will arrive this summer.
“It was good to see him get out there and get some productive reps, and he had a pretty good drive there,” Gilmore said. “He’s a quality guy and we’re looking for some big things from him in the future.”
Jim Gum Award
Part of the tradition of Lehigh’s spring game is the presentation of the Jim Gum Award given to a player who impressed with his work ethic and commitment throughout the course of the spring practice period.
This year’s award went to Ben Murphy, a junior defensive lineman from the Haverford School in Delaware County.
“Murphy has done a great job and has improved each year,” Gilmore said. “He has had an excellent spring. You know within the program the connotation of that award is improvement, and he has improved since Day 1.
“He made a lot of plays this spring and has really been productive. He gave our offensive line a lot of headaches throughout the spring.”
The Jim Gum scholarship is given in honor of Gum, a Pen Argyl and Lehigh football standout who died in May 2006 at age 43 after a battle with ALS.
“It feels awesome,” Murphy said. “I’ve done a lot of hard work with my teammates and it feels nice to be rewarded. It’s nice to get this in honor of someone who meant so much in the community.
“I thought I made some strides this spring. I got my weight up and started to move better with that weight. It’s all about putting it all together for the fall. I think we made a lot of strides as a team this spring.”
Time will tell whether those strides will result in more victories this fall. The season opens Sept. 2 at Villanova, with the league opener Sept. 10 at Georgetown.
The home opener is set for Sept. 17 against Richmond.