Lehigh Football Nation

One of the more interesting aspects of covering Lehigh football for so long is the fact that you end up seeing future NFL players on their rise to the big show. In fact, two players who squared off against the Mountain Hawks in particular have an excellent chance of being drafted on Day 2 or Day 3 of the NFL draft. But those not the only Lehigh football opponents that will be hoping to get a phone call from an NFL team this Friday or Saturday. Though few Patriot League, Ivy League or even CAA players enter their football programs with the NFL as their main goal, every football player that matriculates to these schools still harbor the dream of dominating their league and as a result get an opportunity to pursue their NFL dream. And it is true that NFL scouts come to FCS football games to look for talent that might have been overlooked.  Many years ago I was in Hofstra's press box, watching the Pride take on New Hampshire, with NFL scouts from the Colts and Saints there to

"Don't take anything for granted, just keep pushing." Those are the words of QB Nick Shafnisky , told to The Whitehall-Coplay Press all the way back in 2013, about his preparation as a high school athlete. And they seem to summarize the Whitehall, PA native perfectly, then as now. Dubbed the "Male Athlete of the Year" by that publication, the article goes on about Shaf's many exploits at Whitehall high school - leading the Zephyr football team to a co-Lehigh Valley Conference title, becoming the first player ever in that conference to rush and pass for over 1,000 yards, and earning the league's co-MVP award as well. He also was a member of the Zephyrs playoff basketball team, and for good measure also helped set a record for the 4x100 relay team as well. At Whitehall, and at Lehigh, coaches pushed him, but it was his own hard work that helped make him the best athlete he could be. This weekend, Shaf, like every eligible colleg

Some spring games are loaded with drama as to who might be rising into starting positions. On Lehigh's offense, which boasts a backup quarterback-turned-starter that threw for 1,000 yards last year, a 1,000 yard rusher, and two of the Top 10 receivers in all of FCS, drama for starting positions was, shall we way, lacking. Instead, the scrimmage became a show as to what Lehigh fans might be able to hope to see in Setpember, a reminder of all the good things that may be in store. In that sense, even though they started out slow, junior QB Brad Mayes, junior RB Dominick Bragalone, senior WR Troy Pelletier and senior WR Gatlin Casey showed that they indeed still knew how to play some football. They all came to play, and in the process gave Lehigh fans a taste of an offense that has the potential to be special yet again.

Many will look at the spring game final results and stats and see that the offense "won" this Saturday's Brown/White game, 48-34. They'll see a stat sheet they might expect from a Mountain Hawk team: 121 yards passing from junior QB Brad Mayes , touchdown receptions from senior WR Troy Pelletier and senior WR Gatlin Casey , as well as a touchdown run by junior RB Dominick Bragalone . But that doesn't tell the full story of the game, played on a wet Saturday morning under mostly overcast skies. In the early portion of the scrimmage, the Brown defense racked up sacks, tipped passes and shut out the White offense for nearly an hour before Mayes would finally find Casey in the end zone. If there was any question how the new four-man defensive front might work out for the Mountain Hawks, they were answered today with a solid performance early.