FOOTBALL: Bulldogs ground Mountain Hawks
The Yale football team returned to the win column with a strong 38–21 victory over the Lehigh Mountain Hawks on Saturday.
Yale Athletics
While the Ivy League season has gotten off to a difficult start for the Yale football team (3–2, 0–2 Ivy), the team finished their non-conference schedule undefeated with a 38–21 win over the Lehigh Mountain Hawks (3–3, 0–1 Patriot) over the weekend.
The win was a full team effort with the Bulldogs performing well in all three game phases.
After being driven by the passing game in the loss last week against Dartmouth, the Yale running game was the story for the offense this time around. Starting running back Josh Pitsenberger ’26 gained 68 yards on 12 carries on the day while Tre Peterson ’25 also got 12 carries but for 98 yards. Much of Peterson’s total came from an explosive 57-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter. Even the quarterback, Grant Jordan ’25, helped out, with 55 yards on the ground. All three scored a touchdown against the Mountain Hawks.
While it was good for Bulldog fans to see the running game going, Yale’s biggest question all season has been the defense. Saturday marked the fifth time this season that the Bulldogs have allowed more than 21 points, but the game did show a possible blueprint for the rest of the season.
Despite yielding 372 yards to the Mountain Hawks, the Bulldogs defense forced four turnovers to get off the field in tough spots. 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 top of the Ivy League.
Safety Abu Kamara ’27, the leading tackler in the Ivies, also continued his strong season with a forced fumble early in the third quarter.
The play of the day also came from the defense. Da’Quan Gonzales ’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 Bulldogs was the success and consistency of Nick Conforti ’26, the starting kicker, who struggled last game against Dartmouth. Conforti was given some long opportunities against the Big Green and couldn’t put up the points, but this Saturday was a different story. He made six successful kicks, five for the extra point after a touchdown and one field goal from 31 yards.
Next Friday, the Bulldogs will head to the University of Pennsylvania to face the Quakers in their third Ivy League matchup of the season. The Bulldogs are currently 0–2 in Ivy League play, so this is an important game for them to shift the momentum and start coming home with some conference wins.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.