Football: No. 19 Mountain Hawks to pose test in opener

For the second consecutive year and the fourth time in the past six seasons, the football team will open its season against Lehigh, playing Saturday at 6 p.m. at Princeton Stadium. The Tigers and Mountain Hawks (1-1) have faced off each of the past five seasons, with Princeton owning the 3-2 lead. This time around, however, the Mountain Hawks pose a much larger threat to the Tigers.

Lehigh is coming off one of its most successful seasons in program history, in which it swept the Patriot League and won eight consecutive games before losing to then-No. 5 Delaware in the second round of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. The Mountain Hawks are returning a majority of their starters and, thanks to their strong finish last season, have garnered national recognition. Lehigh is currently ranked No. 19 in the FCS Coaches Poll despite a shoot-out loss to New Hampshire in overtime last weekend.

On paper, the Tigers appear to be polar opposites of the Mountain Hawks. They closed last year’s disappointing season with an eight-game losing streak, and other than senior quarterback Tommy Wornham, all of the starting skill position players on offense graduated.

Fortunately for fans of the Orange and Black, Princeton has posted stellar performances in some home openers, including a thrilling double-overtime victory against Lafayette last year, which turned out to be the Tigers’ only win of the fall. The squad feels that this weekend’s game should be no different.

“In just about every practice, we’ve focused a little bit on Lehigh,” head coach Bob Surace ’90 said. “We’re playing a team that made the playoffs last year and is going to be one of the best in the country ... But we feel like, having played them before, we know a little bit of their personnel and what to expect.”

While the Tigers have been practicing, most other teams in the nation have already played multiple games, including the Mountain Hawks. Lehigh’s offense has been red-hot, putting up a combined 90 points already in two games this season. In comparison, Princeton didn’t break that mark last year until its fifth game against Brown.

Lehigh is already in mid-season form, and getting acclimated quickly will be one of the keys to the game for the Tigers.

“It’s tough, these first two weeks, knowing that everybody else has gotten started while we’re watching college football on TV in the locker room together, just getting ready to go,” junior linebacker Andrew Starks said. “I think everybody wishes we could have a couple games under our belt already.”

One Tiger who is probably most eager to step back onto the field is senior linebacker Steve Cody. Cody broke his leg late in last season’s opener — a 35-22 loss at Lehigh — and was forced to stay on the sidelines for the rest of the 2010 season. Saturday will be only his second live game in nearly two full years.

“You can do all the preparation you want in practice,” Cody said. “But you don’t really learn how you’re actually going to do until you get back into the game, so I’m definitely looking forward to getting back into a real game.”

When Cody makes his return to Princeton Stadium this weekend, the game will have that familiar high-school feel to it. The Tigers have traditionally played only one night game a year; this year, however, the team will play its first three games of the season under the lights at home.

“I think everybody loves playing under the lights — I don’t know a football player that doesn’t,” Starks said. “It kind of reminds everybody of the days back in high school, playing at 7 p.m. under the lights in front of your friends. Everybody’s excited about the three night games. It should be a lot of fun.”

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Starks, Cody and the rest of the football team will seek to recapture the magic of last year’s home opener, when the Tigers beat a different Patriot League team from Pennsylvania — which also took place under the lights.