Sammy Ayache says he keeps close tabs on how his alma mater, Bethlehem Catholic, is doing and his brother Jonathon in particular.
The Golden Hawks have a big game Saturday afternoon, hosting Allentown Central Catholic in a District 11 4A semifinal.
But Ayache will have his own playoff game of sorts as the Lehigh junior offensive lineman will be at Richmond for the Mountain Hawks’ Patriot League game against the Spiders.
Lehigh, ranked as high as 15th in one FCS national poll, is 8-2 overall, 6-1 in the league, and in position to secure its third straight league title and trip to the FCS playoffs.
Win this one and the stakes grow higher next week when the Mountain Hawks visit Lafayette for meeting No. 162 in college football’s most-played rivalry.
But first things first and that’s taking care of business in Lehigh’s first trip to Richmond since beating the Spiders in the 2024 FCS playoffs.
Lehigh has won two in a row after a two-game losing streak and never looked better than they did in last week’s 33-7 win over Colgate.
“Obviously, we opened up the season with six wins and then dropped two and we could have folded up the season at that point, but we didn’t want that to happen,” Ayache said. “We love our team. We have a great brotherhood. We just fight to play day with each other.”
Against Colgate, Lehigh rushed for 305 yards with record-breaking senior Luke Yoder going for 181 yards and two touchdowns. Defensively, the Mountain Hawks tightened things up considerably after a 31-30 win over Bucknell and held Colgate to 230 total yards and 11 first downs.
“I just think guys got a little complacent,” Ayache said. “When you’re 6-0 you start looking ahead. You’re thinking you’re going to win the conference and we have a shot at the national championship and we’re ranked No. 3 in the country. It gets in your head. A loss or two wipes out that complacency, especially with the players and the coaching staff we have. They make sure that doesn’t happen. We made sure we got back to the basics and just game-planned more for the other team.”
Ayache said the team is going to Richmond thinking it’s a playoff game.
“If we drop one, our season will most likely be done without going to the playoffs,” he said. “If we run the table, we win the conference and we’re going back to the playoffs.”
Ayache said he loves playing in his hometown and in front of 20 to 30 family and friends every home game. It’s also great that one of his Becahi teammates, first-year player Cayden Vassa, is on the team and seeing action at safety after an injury to first-team all-league selection Nick Peltekian in the game at Cornell.
“Obviously, that injury opened the door for him to play and he has been out there and getting after it,” Ayache said. “He’s a smart kid. He just puts his head down and goes to work. He’s going to be great. He has already shown flashes of that already.”
As for Jonathon, Lehigh has already made him an offer.
“I’d love for him to come and join me here,” Ayache said. “We have great football in the Valley and why not keep it here? When you do want to go home, you can go home, but we’re pretty busy.”
No matter what happens, Ayache is proud of his family. Another brother, Emile, is a freshman defensive lineman at the University of New Haven.
“I am just so proud of my brothers; they are the hardest-working people I know,” Ayache said. “I’ll see Emile home from school on a Sunday and he’ll be working hard in the gym. Jonathon’s the same way. He’ll play a game on Saturday and will be working out on Sunday. They just get after it. Our dad, who also played at Becahi, calls all of us champ. I know how proud of us he is.”
Lehigh football coach Rich Nagy said he is proud of Ayache.
“He’s doing a great job and is an unbelievable football player,” Nagy said. “I love all of our positions and all of our guys and I love watching our offensive line and how well they play together. They can stay loose, but when it’s time to work, they work had. Sammy is a big part of that. I’m just glad he’s on our team and he is from a great family.”
Lehigh (8-2, 6-1 Patriot) at Richmond (6-4, 4-3)
When/where: 2 p.m. Saturday at Robins Stadium, Richmond, Va.
The storylines: Lehigh has won two in a row after losing two straight and still controls its own destiny in regard to winning another league title and returning to the FCS playoffs. A win at Richmond would secure at least a share of the league title. The Spiders have lost their last two games against Lehigh, including a 2024 playoffs loss. Richmond has struggled against the upper echelon of the Patriot League, losing to Holy Cross 33-14 and Villanova 30-0 the past two weeks.
Players to watch: In his first career start, first-year quarterback Patrick Coan threw for 221 yards and a touchdown and wasn’t intercepted in 24 attempts. Anthony Feaster had five catches for 82 yards and Bryce Werner caught a TD pass against Colgate. Connor Poole tied a single-game school record with four field goals vs. Colgate. Yoder, however, has been the story. He now has 4,519 rushing yards and 48 TD runs, both the most in school history. He has 1,409 yards on the ground this season. Richmond is led on defense by the league’s preseason defensive player of the year, Camden Byrd, who has 10 sacks. Linebacker Blake Houser has 82 tackles, 5.5 sacks and an interception and Aziz Foster-Powell leads the ground game with 694 yards and seven TDs.
Keith Groller’s pick: Lehigh 33-20
Lafayette (4-5, 3-3 Patriot) at Colgate (5-5, 4-3)
When/where: 1 p.m. Saturday at Andy Kerr Stadiym, Hamilton, N.Y.
The storylines: The Leopards have won three of their last four, including a come-from-behind 19-14 win at William and Mary last week, and would like to keep the momentum going ahead of next week’s Lehigh game. Colgate was thoroughly dominated by Lehigh last week and will look to bounce back in a series the Raiders have dominated over the years. Colgate is 48-17-4 against Lafayette and 24-8-3 in upstate New York. The Leopards won 59-42 last year in Easton.
Players to watch: Lafayette’s third starting quarterback this season, junior Jason Penza, has proven to be a dual threat at the position. After two rushing TDs against Villanova, Penza ran for 140 yards on 21 carries against William and Mary, including a 50-yard TD run. He also threw his first career TD pass, a 12-yard strike to Nazareth graduate Mason Kuehner, for what proved to be the game-winning points. Also in last week’s win, junior linebacker Callahan Blair helped the team record its fourth second-half shutout of the season. He made seven tackles, including two sacks and three total tackles for loss. He has 4.5 sacks and 10.5 TFLs this season.
Coach’s comment: Lafayette coach John Troxell said, “We’ve gotten better as a football team. When you look at our special teams, our kickoff return has been outstanding. They are explosive and they present problems for anyone. We’ve worked hard at our special teams and we’ve gotten them to help us. When you look at areas where we can improve, I think third-down offense and we need to stay on the field a little more. Defensively, we need to be a little more consistent and be better tacklers. When you look at the mistakes being made that are critical, you see they are being made by young players doing it for the first time. When they are juniors and seniors, you don’t expect them to make the same mistakes.”
Keith Groller’s pick: Colgate 24-19