EASTON, Pa. – Lafayette led wire to wire in the 158^th meeting of college football's most-played rivalry on Saturday, notching a 14-11 victory in front of nearly 12,000 fans at Fisher Stadium.
 
The Leopards scored twice in the first seven minutes of the game and that proved to be enough for the 81^st win in the series, which Lafayette leads 81-72-5.
 
After a stop on the opening drive, the Lafayette offense set the tone. The Leopards picked up a 3^rd-and-6 at their own 12-yard line on a seven-yard connection from soph. quarterback Ah-Shaun Davis to Elijah Steward. Another 10-yard Davis to Steward completion set up the Leopards' first score.
 
Freshman running back Jamar Curtis burst through a big hole up the middle and broke it to the sideline, and had one man to beat, and he did. The 71-yard score was the longest of his career and the Leopards' longest play from scrimmage of the season. Curtis finished the game with 108 rushing yards on 10 carries, his first career 100-yard rushing game.
 
On the next possession, the defense stepped up with a momentum-maintaining play. Senior LB Billy Shaeffer picked off Dante Perri and returned it 50 yards. He eluded two defenders just before the goal line and a final burst sent him into the end zone. Jakob Trestik added the PAT as Lafayette led 14-0 just eight minutes into the game. Shaeffer was voted the game MVP, the first defensive MVP since 2010.
 
Lehigh (2-9, 2-4) added a 27-yard Dylan Van Dusen field goal with five minutes to go in the first half to get on the board. Lafayette led 14-3 at halftime.
 
Nine minutes into the second half, Lafayette special teams came up with a fumble recovery on a muffed punt. Shaeffer was there to recover near midfield. The offense could not take advantage, but the play changed the field. Lafayette's punt went deep into Lehigh territory, downed at the at the six.  
 
Lehigh put together a long drive, despite the field position. A 42-yard pass to from Perri to Eric Johnson took the Mountain Hawks deep into Leopard territory, saved by Saiku White's tackle. White finished with a game-high 10 tackles, all solo stops.
 
The Lafayette defense continued its stellar play, limiting Lehigh to a 29-yard field goal that Van Dusen pulled left. The score remained 14-3.
 
Early in the fourth quarter, Lehigh cut Lafayette's to 14-9. Perri found Johnson who made an acrobatic grab just across the goal line to cap a 50-yard drive. The Mountain Hawks went for two, but the pass went incomplete.  
 
The game came down to Lehigh's drive with five and a half minutes left in the game. Lehigh picked up three third-downs conversions, moving the ball to the Leopard 15-yard line with 1:31 left. The Leopards brought pressure and forced four incomplete passes to end the threat.
 
The offense took over on downs and Lehigh started using its timeouts. The Leopards tried to run time off the clock and settled for a team safety with 18 seconds left. The succeeding punt gave the ball back to Lehigh with 14 seconds left. Perri completed one pass for 19 yards to near midfield. The next throw was incomplete and the teams lined up for a final play.
 
Perry dropped back and Malik Hamm, the Leopards' all-time sacks leader, ended the game with a 17-yard sack of Perri, leaving Hamm with 32 for his career.  
 
Lafayette finishes the season 4-7 overall, 3-3 in conference play.

NOTES: Leopard head coach John Troxell is the first Leopard coach since Bill Russo (1981) to win his initial matchup with Lehigh. Russo's daughter, Liz, handled the pre-game coin toss on Saturday. Her father passed away in Sept. 2021 and the current team and coaching staff honored him by wearing decals on their helmets on Saturday.

Troxell secured four wins in his first season, the most for a first-year coach at Lafayette since Russo won nine games in 1981. It also equaled the highest single-season win total of Troxell's predecessor, John Garrett, who served five seasons (2017-21) as head coach.

The last time Lafayette beat Lehigh by three points, was 1992, when Troxell was the starting free safety and the Leopards captured a 32-29 victory.