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Lehigh Survives Halloween Scare Against Bucknell in 31-30 Win

 
Tagged under: Gameday Hub, News, Pennsylvania Colleges, pfn

| November 1, 2026

Entering the game on a 2 game losing streak, Lehigh desperately needed to get back in the win column against a struggling Bucknell team that lost 5 straight and was 1-7 on the season. In a back and forth affair, the Mountain Hawks did just that, with Luke Yoder breaking Lehigh’s career rushing record with 4,338 yards in the process. The Mountain Hawks also saw starting QB Derek Morgan replaced shortly after halftime, by freshman Patrick Coan to give the team the spark they needed to reignite a struggling offense.

Bucknell threw the game’s opening punch when Sam Milligan threw a 28 yard TD pass to Jackson Nowinski. However, Lehigh struck back when Luke Yoder scored on a 1 yard TD run early in the 2nd quarter to tie the game 7-7. The Bison led 14-7 at half following a 2 yard TD run by Jack Sullivan.

Lehigh punted to start the 2nd half, but their defense finally came through with a turnover when TJ Hill deflected a pass from Bucknell QB Emmett Dowling, with Josh Lenart intercepting the pass that set Lehigh up on Bucknell’s 29.

Coach Rich Nagy then made the surprising decision to replace QB Derek Morgan with Patrick Coan, which led to a 7 play drive that ended with an Aidan Mayfield 4 yard TD run to tie the score at 14-14. A Bison FG made the score 17-14 after 3 quarters of play.

Lehigh took its 1st lead when Coan hit Matt D’Avino for the 30 yard TD on their 1st drive of the 4th quarter.

Bucknell responded with a backwards pass of 19 yards to Milligan putting the Bison back in front 24-21. Lehigh responded with a 62 yard, 8 play drive with runs from Yoder and Mayfield. Yoder finished the drive with an 11 yard TD, putting Lehigh up 28-24.

 

Bucknell’s next drive resulted in a turnover on downs, as Lehigh senior Jadin Nelson’s sack led to a Connor Poole 33 yard FG with 1:47 left to play, making the score 31-24 Lehigh.

With 2 seconds left in the game, Dowling hit Milligan in the back of the end zone to make the score 31-30, but Luke Denny swatted away the 2 pt conversion attempt, preserving the 31-30 Lehigh win.

Patrick Coan finished the game 3/3 for 46 yards and a TD. Derek Morgan was 6/10 for 33 yards. The Mountain Hawks rushed for 239 yards on the day, with 183 of them from Yoder, as well as his 2 TDs. Anthony Feaster led WRs with 4 catches for 24 yards. On defense, Jackson Dowd and William Parton had 8 tackles each. Parton had 2 TFLs and Nelson had Lehigh’s only sack, as well as 1.5 TFLs.

In addition to the Lehigh rushing record, Yoder is tied for most rushing TDs in Lehigh history with 46. Lehigh also won 23 of their last 29 against Bucknell and earned their first home win against them since 2018.

Lehigh remains home to take on Colgate on Saturday at noon. Bucknell returns home on Saturday to battle Fordham at 1 PM

 

 
 
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