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#Rivalry154 Awaits on Saturday at Fisher Stadium

Lafayette hosts Lehigh in college football's most-played rivalry

The Match-Up: The 2018 season concludes with the 154th meeting of College Football's Most-Played Rivalry. Kickoff vs. Lehigh on Saturday is set for 12:40 p.m. The Lafayette Sports Network broadcast of the game can be seen across the nation on MASN and regionally on RCN 4 and WBPH 60 and streamed on GoLeopards.com

The Series: College football's most-played rivalry dates to 1884 (one year after standardized football rules were instituted in the U.S.) when Lafayette beat Lehigh 56-0 in Easton. The two teams met twice a year from 1884-1901 (three times in 1891) and once a year (for the most part) since then, with the exception of 1896 when a player eligibility dispute between the schools canceled the game. The Leopards lead the series 78-70-5. The rivalry has been played every year since 1897 without interruption, reaching 122 consecutive years in 2018, the longest streak of consecutive years in the nation.

Series MVP: Media members vote on the Lafayette-Lehigh game's MVP, an award established in 1960. Ross Scheuerman '15 was the last Leopard to win the award in 2014, running for a school-record 304 yards to lead the Maroon and White to a 27-7 win at Yankee Stadium in Rivalry 150. There have been nine two-time winners: Jon Hurt (2005, 06) Brad Maurer (2004, 06), Tom Costello (1988, 89) and Erik Marsh (1992, 94) from Lafayette and Kim McQuilken (1972, 73), Marty Horn (1983, 85), Ron Jean (1998, 99), J.B. Clark (2008, 09) and Nick Shafnisky (2015, 16) from Lehigh. In the series, there have been co-MVP's only twice (1976 and 2006).

Kordenbrock's FGs: Sophomore K Jeffrey Kordenbrock had one of the best games of his career at Army. He converted a 42-yard field goal to tie the game in the first quarter and then added a career-long 43-yarder as time expired at halftime. He is 4-of-7 from 40-plus yards in 2018 and 2-for-2 on kicks shorter than 40 yards. 

Hammin' It Up: Freshman DE Malik Hamm continues to play at a high level in his rookie season. He is coming off a seven-tackle performance against the second best rushing team in the FBS ranks, Army. Hamm leads the team with 13 tackles for loss which includes a team-best 7.5 sacks. He has started eight games. 

2013 Remembered: On Saturday, Lafayette will welcome back members of the 2013 Patriot League title squad for a five-year anniversary. Led by TB Ross Scheuerman, MVP Mark Ross and a freshman quarterback Drew Reed, that team went 4-1 in conference play, including a 50-28 win over Lehigh in the 149th meeting. Those Leopards intercepted 16 passes, led by five picks at the hands of Matt Smalley and three from Jared Roberts. 

All-American Honored: On Friday night, Maurice Bennett '06 will be inducted into the Maroon Club Hall of Fame along with Ronald Owen '55, Carrie Strong '99 and the 1998-99 and 1999-00 men's basketball teams. Bennett was an Associated Press All-American in his senior season and led the Leopards to consecutive Patriot League title and FCS Playoff appearances. 

On the Line: The offensive line under assistant coach Gordie Sammis leads the Patriot League in sacks allowed (1.4 per game) and tackles for loss allowed (5.7 per game). The group is headed by senior captain Kevin Zataveski from his center position while Gavin Barclay, Jake Marotti and John Burk have started all 10 games. 

Flags on the Field: Lafayette has shown discipline when it comes to penalties. The Leopards are averaging just 3.9 penalties per game (second in the nation) for 33.9 yards per game (second in the nation). Lafayette was not whistled for a penalty against Monmouth, the first time it was flag free since Nov. 18, 2006 vs. Lehigh. 

Moving Up: With 23 completions against Holy Cross, soph. QB Sean O'Malley took over eighth place in school history for career pass completions. He now has 415, needing 14 completions to take over seventh place occupied by Rob Curley '10 (429 in 2007-09). In terms of career passing yards, O'Malley has 3,546, ranking 10th all-time at Lafayette. He needs 159 yards to take over ninth place held by Andrew Shoop '13 (3,705 in 2010-12).

Veterans Day: In honor of Veterans Day (Nov. 11) and Lafayette's matchup with Army the day prior, Lafayette wore special decals on its helmets. Members of the team were asked to choose someone close to them who had served in the military. Players supplied a photo of that person and the photos were incorporated into the L's on the team helmets to honor their military service. 

Kick-off Returns: Lafayette is ranked 28th nationally and second in the Patriot League for kick-off returns, averaging 22.5 yards per try. J.J. Younger averages 27.7 yards per return to lead the Patriot League, but has missed the last three games due to injury. CJ Amill checks in at 20.8 yards per return and was an All-Patriot League First-Team selection at return specialist in 2017 when he racked up 558 kick return yards (the eighth most in a season in Lafayette history). 

Fresh Faces On the Depth Chart: There have been 12 freshmen listed on the depth chart on offense, defense and special teams. Of that dozen players, four (DT Ian Grayson, DE Malik Hamm, OL Joe Grundhoffer, FS Romeo Wykle) have started at least one game.

The Garrett Era: John Garrett is in his second season as the head coach of the Lafayette Leopards. Garrett took over the coaching reins on Dec. 21, 2016 and saw Lafayette register a third-place finish in the conference in 2017. Garrett has more than 25 years of coaching experience at the NFL, NCAA FBS and NCAA FCS levels. Offensive coordinator stints at Richmond and Oregon State preceded his arrival on College Hill.

Family Familiarity: John Garrett has known about the Lafayette-Lehigh rivalry his entire life, as his father's first coaching job came with the Engineers in 1958.

We Don't Hold It Against Him: Leopards' linebackers coach Rich Yahner once coached on the other side of the valley, serving a two-year sentence as the assistant linebackers coach and assistant video coordinator from 2000-02, coaching under Kevin Higgins and Pete Lembo. 

Major Contributions: Soph. LB Major Jordan hasn't needed much time to adjust to his starting role at WILL linebacker. After playing primarily on special teams and starting one game at linebacker last season, Jordan leads the team in tackles with 65, including 3.5 tackles for loss. He is coming off a seven-tackle performance at West Point. 

Time Of Possession: In the first four games of 2018, Lafayette opponents held time of possession differentials of 7, 17, 4 and 15 minutes. In the following four games, Lafayette held margins of 4, 4, 11 and 17 minutes before a one-minute deficit against Holy Cross and a 16-minute deficit at Army. 

Opponent: Lehigh comes in with a 2-8 mark. The Mountain Hawks won their season opener over St. Francis before dropping their next seven games. A 45-17 win over Bucknell in week nine snapped the skid. Colgate  topped Lehigh 48-6 last week to wrap up the Patriot League title. 
    The Lehigh offense has gone to the air for much of its yardage, averaging nearly 200 yards per game behind the arm of senior QB Brad Mayes. Mayes has completed 154-of-300 for 1,918 yards with 10 TDs and 12 INTs. More than a third of those throws have gone to soph. WR Jorge Portorreal who has 50 catches for 733 yards and three scores. 
    On the ground, senior Dom Bragalone has done the bulk of the work. The 2017 All-American has carried 185 times for 662 yards and four scores. 
    Defensively, junior LB Keith Woetzel leads Lehigh with 80 tackles while senior DB Sam McCloskey has 73 stops. 
    Lehigh is coached by Andy Coen who is in his 13th season at the school. 



 
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Players Mentioned

Sean O

#10 Sean O'Malley

QB
6' 2"
Sophomore
Romeo Wykle

#23 Romeo Wykle

DB
6' 1"
Freshman
J.J. Younger

#28 J.J. Younger

RB
5' 8"
Sophomore
Jeffrey Kordenbrock

#38 Jeffrey Kordenbrock

K/P
5' 10"
Sophomore
Major Jordan

#42 Major Jordan

LB
6' 1"
Sophomore
Ian Grayson

#52 Ian Grayson

DL
6' 0"
Freshman
John Burk

#60 John Burk

OL
6' 4"
Sophomore
Kevin Zataveski

#62 Kevin Zataveski

OL
6' 4"
Senior
Gavin Barclay

#70 Gavin Barclay

OL
6' 6"
Sophomore
Joe Grundhoffer

#74 Joe Grundhoffer

OL
6' 6"
Freshman
Jake Marotti

#75 Jake Marotti

OL
6' 6"
Junior
Malik Hamm

#99 Malik Hamm

DL
6' 3"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Sean O

#10 Sean O'Malley

6' 2"
Sophomore
QB
Romeo Wykle

#23 Romeo Wykle

6' 1"
Freshman
DB
J.J. Younger

#28 J.J. Younger

5' 8"
Sophomore
RB
Jeffrey Kordenbrock

#38 Jeffrey Kordenbrock

5' 10"
Sophomore
K/P
Major Jordan

#42 Major Jordan

6' 1"
Sophomore
LB
Ian Grayson

#52 Ian Grayson

6' 0"
Freshman
DL
John Burk

#60 John Burk

6' 4"
Sophomore
OL
Kevin Zataveski

#62 Kevin Zataveski

6' 4"
Senior
OL
Gavin Barclay

#70 Gavin Barclay

6' 6"
Sophomore
OL
Joe Grundhoffer

#74 Joe Grundhoffer

6' 6"
Freshman
OL
Jake Marotti

#75 Jake Marotti

6' 6"
Junior
OL
Malik Hamm

#99 Malik Hamm

6' 3"
Freshman
DL