Central Catholic product adds to local flavor for Lehigh

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/ FROM KEITH GROLLER Lehigh football has definitely carved its niche around here, especialy in its latest three-year run of success that has seen the team earn national rankings, win Patriot League titles and advance at least two rounds into the NCAA playoffs the past two years and start this season at 6-0. But Lehigh football becomes that much more attractive, and creates a bigger buzz when local kids are involved in the team's success. That was what made the program's great run in the late 1990s and early 2000s more exciting and it's why more people are paying attention to what's going on in south Bethlehem right now. With Central Catholic graduate Noah Robb seeing his first action on Saturday against Columbia -- he was involved on two tackles -- Lehigh now has five local kids making regular contributions. Three of them are on the defensive side of the ball with Matt Laub (Parkland) and Billy Boyko (Northampton) also seeing a fair amount of time on Saturday. Laub had one tackle and Boyko still leads the team in stops after adding six on Saturday. It was good to see Robb out there because he was really impressive early in training camp before being sidelined with a broken thumb. The fact that Robb and Laub are getting on the field as freshmen and making an impact is a very good sign. Offensively, junior Matt Lippincott from Wilson Area returned to a starting spot at left guard and was part of a unit that paved the way for 415 yards of total offense and allowed just one sack of quarterback Mike Colvin. Palisades product Josh Parris didn't make any catches on Saturday, but also got involved in the offense for a couple of plays and continues to be listed as the backup "Z" receiver behind Lee Kurfis. On the season, Parris has four catches for 86 yards. DID YOU KNOW? Since starting the 2009 season at 2-7, Lehigh has gone 29-5 and has lost just two home games -- to Villanova in Week 2 of 2010 and to New Hampshire in overtime in Week 2 of 2011. ... By securing the sixth win of the season on Saturday, Lehigh has assured itself of its 12th winning season in the last 15 years and now Andy Coen is just three victories shy of getting his 50th win in just his seventh season in charge. Coen is currently 47-29. His predecessor, Pete Lembo, was 44-14 in five seasons. Before that, Kevin Higgins was 56-25-1 in seven seasons.