FOOTBALL: Bulldogs land Mountain Hawks

The Yale football team returned to the win column with a convincing 38-21 victory over the Lehigh Mountain Hawks on Saturday.

Spencer King and Sienna Tejpaul

22:35, October 20, 2024

Staff reporter and correspondent

Yale Athletics

While the Ivy League season got off to a rocky start for the Yale football team (3-2, 0-2 Ivy), the team closed out its non-conference schedule with an undefeated 38-21 win over the Lehigh Mountain Hawks (3-3, 0-1 Patriot) on the weekend.

The victory was a team effort, with the Bulldogs performing well in all three phases of the game.

After a pass-fueled loss in last week’s loss to Dartmouth, the offense’s biggest culprit this time around was the Yale game. Starting running back, Josh Pittsenberger ’26 gained 68 yards on 12 carries on the day, while Tre Peterson ’25 also gained 12 carries for 98 yards. Much of Peterson’s scoring came with an explosive 57-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter. Even cornerback Grant Jordan ’25 bailed out the ball, going 55 yards on the ground. All three scored touchdowns against the Mountain Hawks.

While Bulldog fans enjoyed watching the game play out, Yale’s biggest question mark all season was defense. Saturday marked the fifth time this season the Bulldogs have scored more than 21 points, but the game showed a possible plan for the rest of the season.

Despite giving up 372 yards to the Mountain Hawks, the Bulldogs’ defense forced four turnovers in tight situations. Leading the way was Joshua Tarver ’26, who had two interceptions on the day to bring his season total to three in a four-way tie for the Ivy League lead.

Safety Abu Kamara ’27, the Ivies’ leading tackler, also continued his successful season by forcing a fumble early in the third quarter.

The play of the day also came on defense. Da’Quan Gonzalez ’26 recorded his first career touchdown on a 53-yard pick-six in the first quarter to put Yale up 14-3.

Another bright spot for the Bulldogs was the success and consistency of Nick Conforti ’26, the starting kicker who struggled in the last game against Dartmouth. Conforti received several opportunities against the Big Green and was unable to score, but this Saturday was a different story. He made six successful kicks, five for an extra point after a touchdown and one field goal from 31 yards out.

Next Friday, the Bulldogs travel to Penn State to face the Quakers in their third Ivy League game of the season. The Bulldogs are currently 0-2 in the Ivy League, so this is an important game for them to turn things around and start coming home with some conference wins.

Kickoff will take place at 7:00 pm at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.