Mountain Hawks’ RB Luke Yoder earns MVP honors after rushing for 234 yards and four TDs
 
BOX SCORE | LEHIGH RECAP | LAFAYETTE RECAP
 
EASTON, Pa. – No. 4 Lehigh (12-0, 7-0 PL) outlasted No. 24 Lafayette (8-4, 6-1 PL), 42-32, at Fisher Stadium to earn its second straight Patriot League title and the League’s automatic berth in the 2025 NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Playoffs.
 
The fourth-ranked Mountain Hawks were led by a career day from junior running back Luke Yoder, who claimed Rivalry 161 MVP honors, finishing with career-highs of 234 rushing yards and four touchdowns. The junior running back scored three times in the second half, including a career-long 80-yard touchdown run.
 
The Leopards were led by junior running back Kente Edwards, who rushed for 157 yards and three touchdowns on a career-high 41 carries. Edwards rushed for 125 and a touchdown in the first half to help Lafayette take a 17-14 lead into the break. He answered Yoder’s half-opening touchdown with a one-yard score to help Lafayette regain the lead, at 23-21, with 2:46 remaining in the third quarter.
 
Yoder scored two straight touchdowns, and Lehigh sophomore quarterback Hayden Johnson answered Edwards’ final touchdown of the day with a one-yard touchdown with less than two minutes remaining in the game to seal Lehigh’s 14th Patriot League crown.
 
Lehigh’s Johnson, last season’s Rivalry game MVP, completed 11-of-16 passes for 159 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also rushed for 64 yards and a touchdown for a Mountain Hawks offense that totaled 320 yards on the ground.
 
Lafayette senior quarterback Dean DeNobile completed 26-of-37 passes for 275 yards for a Leopards’ squad that recorded 424 total yards.
 
Head coach Kevin Cahill and the Mountain Hawks will learn their postseason fate on Sunday, Nov. 23, during the 2025 NCAA Division I FCS Championship Selection Show. Live coverage begins on ESPNU at noon.
  
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The Patriot League is in its fourth decade of academic and athletic achievement, continually demonstrating that student-athletes can excel at both academics and athletics without sacrificing high standards. The Patriot League’s athletic success is achieved while its member institutions remain committed to its founding principle of admitting and graduating student-athletes who are academically representative of their class. Participation in athletics at Patriot League institutions is viewed as an important component of a well-rounded education.