NEW YORK (Interstat) — In a stunning reversal of pregame expectations, the unbeaten Lehigh Mountain Hawks delivered a commanding performance to dismantle the Columbia Lions 31 to 7 on Saturday afternoon at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium.

Entering the contest as a 10-point underdog against a Lions squad projected by Interstat to win 57.6 percent of the time, Lehigh left no doubt, improving its perfect record to six wins and no losses. Columbia fell to one win and two losses.

The game was a tale of two offenses and one dominant quarterback. Lehigh’s Hayden Johnson, a junior from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, orchestrated the victory with surgical precision. He completed 17 of 23 passes for 240 yards and a touchdown, while also proving to be a dynamic threat on the ground, rushing eight times for 68 yards. His primary target was Geoffrey Jamiel, who torched the Columbia secondary with nine receptions for 182 yards and a 63-yard touchdown.

Columbia’s offense, conversely, sputtered for much of the afternoon. Quarterback Xander Menapace of Hamburg, Pennsylvania, finished 11 of 21 for 178 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He was also sacked four times. His leading receiver was Titus Evans, who caught six passes for 111 yards and the Lions’ lone score.

The Mountain Hawks set the tone immediately, embarking on a methodical 11-play, 77-yard opening drive that consumed over seven minutes of clock. The drive was capped by a 4-yard touchdown run from quarterback Matt Machalik, giving Lehigh a 7 to 0 lead.

Lehigh extended its lead early in the second quarter. After a 45-yard connection from Johnson to Jamiel positioned the Mountain Hawks deep in Columbia territory, running back Luke Yoder of Palm Harbor, Florida, punched it in from 7 yards out for a 14 to 0 advantage.

The Lions’ offensive struggles were compounded by a relentless Lehigh defense and a series of punts. Columbia’s Tommy Sleeman was a busy man, punting eight times for 343 yards. Just before the half, Lehigh capitalized on its final possession of the second quarter. A drive that started at their own 19-yard line was fueled by another long Johnson-to-Jamiel pass, this one for 28 yards, setting up a 38-yard field goal by Nick Garrido as time expired, sending the Mountain Hawks into the locker room with a 17 to 0 lead.

Any hopes of a Columbia comeback were extinguished in a decisive third quarter. On Lehigh’s first offensive play of the second half, Johnson found Jamiel on a deep post route for a 63-yard touchdown strike, pushing the lead to 24 to 0.

The Mountain Hawks were not finished. After forcing another Columbia three-and-out, Lehigh engineered another scoring drive. This one was finished by Machalik, who scored his second rushing touchdown of the day from 2 yards out, making the score 31 to 0.

Columbia finally found the scoreboard on its ensuing possession. On the first play from scrimmage following the kickoff, Menapace connected with Evans on a 74-yard touchdown pass to avoid the shutout and make it 31 to 7.

From that point forward, the Lehigh defense reasserted its dominance. The Mountain Hawks intercepted Menapace twice in the fourth quarter, with Mason Moore and Luke Denny each securing a pick to snuff out any lingering Columbia drives. The Lions’ final, desperate attempt in the last two minutes, led by backup quarterback James McCauley, ended with a series of incomplete passes and another Sleeman punt, allowing Lehigh to run out the clock.

The victory extends Lehigh’s strong start to the season, with previous wins over Yale, Penn, Bucknell, Duquesne, Sacred Heart and Richmond. The loss is a significant setback for Columbia, which was coming off a win over Georgetown after opening the season with a loss to Lafayette.

Lehigh will look to continue its perfect season when it travels to face Fordham on October 25. Columbia will seek to regroup next Saturday when it hosts Penn. The game’s total points of 38 fell well under the pregame over/under line of 47.5, a testament to the defensive control exerted by the visiting Mountain Hawks.