Lafayette, Lehigh football need to bounce back from disappointing losses

The Lafayette and Lehigh football teams are coming off tough losses albeit a couple of weeks apart.

When we last saw the Mountain Hawks they were coming off a 38-35 double-overtime loss to Bucknell at Goodman Stadium that snapped a three-game winning streak and soured the start to the Patriot League portion of their schedule.

That defeat came on Sept. 28 and because of rare back-to-back bye weeks Lehigh has had a lot of time to think to about what happened and learn from it.

For Lafayette, the wounds are a bit more fresh. The Leopards are coming off a somewhat stunning 17-0 home loss to Georgetown on Saturday.

When Lafayette kicks off at 12:30 p.m. Saturday against Sacred Heart in a nonleague game, the second half of the season will officially begin.

And when Lehigh gets to the second half of its nonleague game at Yale, the second half of its season will also begin. The Mountain Hawks (3-2, 0-1) are playing an 11-game schedule this season and the Leopards (3-3, 1-1) have a 12-game schedule.

So, at their weekly press gatherings this week, Lehigh coach Kevin Cahill and Lafayette leader John Troxell wanted to look forward and not back.

"I'll be honest with you and say that we may have needed that," Cahill said referring to the Bucknell loss. "There's a great level of confidence you need to play this game, but when that confidence turns into being a little bit too overconfidence and cocky, you need something to make you conscious of it. I don't think we were there, but we were flirting with it and what happened brought us back to speed and it was very motivating to practice these last two weeks and get ready for the rest of the season."

Lehigh has already surpassed its win total of the last two seasons and the end of the Bucknell game shouldn't diminish the strides the team has made according to Cahill. He said he likes where his team is at heading into the final six games.

"I'm proud of the progress we've made," he said. "All of us want to be further along than we are, but in reality, I think we're a step ahead of where I thought we would be. And you know that needs to continue. We've got to continue to play the right way, and if we do, the results will come. When you don't turn the ball over and you tackle well and you're taking the ball away from the other team ... that's playing hard, that's playing fast and that's creating mistakes for the other team. If we do those things I like our chances on Saturday and the rest of the season."

The game at Yale is a homecoming for Cahill , who spent 10 seasons on the Bulldogs staff. He helped to oversee a team that won three Ivy League titles and one of the nation's top offensive units. He has nothing but respect and admiration for Yale head coach Tony Reno.

"It's exciting to be going back there because I have a lot of close ties in the area," he said. "Personally, my kids grew up there. My daughter was born there. We have a lot of friends and I remain very close to the coaching staff so it'll be fun to compete against those guys. It's pretty cool on a personal note and on a professional note it will just be fun to get back on the field again after two weeks. We're going to be excited to compete again."

Cahill knows the Yale Bowl well, but said he has never been inside the visitors locker room.

"I think I am the only one on our staff who hasn't been in that locker room," Cahill said. "I hear it's a dump, but I am looking forward to seeing it and enjoying that place again."

Yale is 2-2 and coming off an overtime loss to Dartmouth. The Bulldogs defeated Patriot League member Holy Cross, 38-31, in their opener.

Leopards back home again

Like Lehigh, Lafayette can't wait to get back on the field and get the taste of frustration out of its collective mouth. Troxell indicated there is no magic formula to turn things around for a team that has struggled with injuries, lack of experience and consistency. A turnaround won't be easy against a Sacred Heart roster filled with seniors and grad students. The Pioneers are 3-4, but beat the same Georgetown team that Lafayette lost to, 40-14.

"When things don't go well, the only thing you can do is work harder," he said. "You prepare harder and make sure you have the kids ready to go this week. I don't think there's anyone in the building who is not disappointed with a loss and that's a good thing. I mean you walk through a locker room after a game and you see guys crying because it means a lot to them. They put a lot into it. So, I don't see what happened last week as being a step backward. You can learn a lot from some of your failures in life, right? So we have to learn from it and make sure it doesn't happen again."

Troxell found positives in the defense's performance against Georgetown.

"They were on the field for about 40 minutes and they only gave up 289 yards," he said. "They did a good job. You've got to give Georgetown credit. They played well. They had a good game plan and they made us drive the field. We didn't get any short fields, and they used the clock. We just to have to rebound and get ready for this week. We don't have any other choice."

Freshman Sean Kinney , the state wrestling champ and star lineman from Nazareth, continues to be a fixture in the starting lineup on the O-line and has been a stalwart up front.

Even though he's new to college football and is new to losing a few games after a great career at Nazareth, Kinney offers a measured approach to Lafayette's situation.

"We just got beat man-to-man last week," he said. "That's on us. We want the game put on our shoulders on those short yardage situations. There's not going to be too many times when we get stopped there. It won't happen again."

Kinney said he is enjoying the opportunity to play with his Nazareth teammate and fellow freshman Mason Kuehner. He is also happy to be surrounded by local kids he played against in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, players such as Allentown Central Catholic grad Ethan Hosak, Easton grads Sean Wilson and Nahjee Adams and ex-Liberty standout Dallas Holmes.

"It's great to keep a lot of the local guys home and to now get to play with them after playing against them in high school," Kinney said. "Being on the same with those guys is really cool."