Mountain Hawks look for fresh start
Lehigh hoping to rebound from its tough 0-2 start against Merrimack
A heartbreaking loss in the home opener, games against two nationally ranked teams, and a bye week are all behind the Lehigh football team.
The winless Mountain Hawks return to Goodman Stadium Saturday seeking a fresh start to the season against a new opponent, Merrimack.
The Warriors from North Andover, Massachusetts, are transitioning from Division II to the FCS level of Divison I, with several scholarship players.
It’s a difficult opponent to gauge and one that shouldn’t be underestimated.
“They’ve had scholarship players before and they have even more now,” Lehigh coach Tom Gilmore said. “The program itself has been making a steady rise in the last couple of years. They play in the highest division of ice hockey in the NCAA and in a way, it has been an easy transition for them. They just had to upgrade facilities and offer more scholarships. They have some very good players.”
Gilmore said Merrimack’s offense has numerous playmakers, and a defense with talented corners and quality down linemen.
“The problem is you don’t know what to make of them,” Gilmore said. “You don’t how good they are. They’ve played two NCAA teams. They led Central Connecticut State for 3½ quarters and lost a close one, and then lost bigger to Saint Francis. Their other two games were against NAIA schools. So, I’m not really sure how you really assess them, but the fact they beat those NAIA teams by a large margin shows they’re doing some things right. This is not a ‘gimme’ by any stretch.”
After going 3-8 in 2018 and losing its first three games this season, Lehigh can’t take any opponent for granted.
Gilmore said the team’s bye week following the Sept. 14 game at UC-Davis in northern California was a positive, as the staff got back to basics and worked on a lot of fundamentals.
“We really switched gears and changed how we were practicing,” he said. “We addressed the issues we were having and took a lot of time in the individual periods to work on fundamentals a lot more than we have been. We even changed practice this week as far as doing more Lehigh versus Lehigh, rather than us going against a scout team replicating an opponent.”
Rather than a victory, Gilmore’s focus against Merrimack is on making legitimate improvements, with the start of the Patriot League schedule next week at Colgate.
“We need to see those improvements, because that not only improves your chances this week, but also in subsequent weeks,” he said. “Some of the issues are not a quick fix. We need to play better on a more consistent basis. We need to see consistency in the run game, in the pass protection and in the blitz scheme, not allowing open gaps to give up big plays. It’s the consistent improvement I am looking for.”
Junior defensive back Jaylen Floyd said a defensive emphasis has been on eliminating big plays.
In a 38-10 loss at Villanova Sept. 7, Lehigh gave up four quick scoring drives of six plays or less. UC-Davis had longer drives, but still converted six times on nine fourth-down attempts.
“Those big plays have been stopping us,” Floyd said. “To prevent that, we need complete, absolute focus every play, and we know our assignment and we execute.”
5 things to know about Merrimack-Lehigh
Merrimack will become full members of the Northeast Conference in 2023-24 after a four-year reclassification period. Originally, Lehigh was supposed to host Wagner in this spot on the schedule, but the Northeast Conference requested the change on behalf of Merrimack.
Merrimack was 5-5 last year in its final year playing a Division II schedule.
Merrimack’s coach Dan Curran played eight years of professional football, including stints with the Saints and Seahawks.
Lehigh’s starting offensive line Saturday is likely to feature two freshmen — right tackle Damon Stewart and left guard Brendon Passarelli — as well as sophomore center Justin Furth. The defense also will start two freshmen in defensive end Mikhari Sibblis and cornerback Brandon Spencer.
Lehigh has 33 freshmen on its roster;16 are listed on the two-deep chart and 17 have appeared in at least one game. Eleven freshmen have appeared in all three games. Keith Groller can be reached at 610-820-6740 or at kgroller@mcall.com