BETHLEHEM, Pa.—Senior quarterback Zach Bednarczyk (Wallington, N.J.) threw three touchdown passes for the second straight game and No. 12 Villanova (2-0) powered past Lehigh (1-1) for a 31-9 victory at Goodman Stadium on Saturday afternoon.  A pair of touchdowns that came less than three minutes apart in the first half provided the spark to a fast start by the Wildcats, who led 20-3 at halftime and scored all 31 of their points unanswered in between scores by the Mountain Hawks in the first and fourth quarters. 
 
Bednarczyk finished the day 16-of-29 for 215 yards, with senior slot receiver Jarrett McClenton (Bensalem, Pa.) his top target.  McClenton caught touchdown passes in the first and third quarters, surpassed 100 receiving yards in a game for the first time and finished the day with six receptions for a career-high 114 yards.  Senior tight end Ryan Bell (Basking Ridge, N.J.) scored his second touchdown of the season and sophomore running back Justin Covington (Bronx, N.Y.) recorded the first touchdown of his career.
 
"We are obviously excited about a victory to get our record to 2-0," Villanova head coach Mark Ferrante said.  "I thought defensively we played really consistently throughout the game and gave ourselves some nice short fields and things like that.  We definitely have some things to clean up in the kicking game.  That was a little obvious unfortunately.  Offensively we just kind of got behind the sticks and shot ourselves in the foot a few too many times and had too negative yards plays.  Hopefully we can clean all that stuff up and get a little more consistent play in all three phases.  If we put all three phases together I think we can be pretty good moving forward, so that will be our focus getting into practice this week."
 
The defensive effort that Ferrante spoke of held Lehigh to just 176 yards of total offense on the day, including only 32 net rushing yards on 24 attempts.  It marked the 27^th time in 62 games since the start of the 2013 season that the Wildcats defense has held an opponent to fewer than 100 rushing yards in a contest, and the 12^th time in that span that Villanova has allowed fewer than 50 yards on the ground.  Sophomore linebacker Amin Black (Philadelphia, Pa.) and freshman Owen Thomas (Lansdale, Pa.) each recorded their first career sacks in the game, while three other players all had solo tackles for loss. 
 
It took just 2:47 of clock time for the Wildcats to turn a 3-0 deficit into a 14-3 lead during a short stretch that spanned the end of the first quarter and the start of the second.  Covington's three-yard touchdown run got Villanova on the board with 1:34 left in the opening period and Bednarczyk connected with McClenton for a 62-yard touchdown at the 13:47 mark of the second quarter. 
 
The first two Wildcats drives of the game consisted of just six plays totaling 11 yards, and an interception thrown by Bednarczyk on the latter drive eventually resulted in the Mountain Hawks making a 21-yard field goal with 6:17 left in the opening quarter.  Freshman running back Jalen Jackson (Richmond, Va.) returned the ensuing kickoff 29 yards and gave Villanova good field position at its own 37-yard line. 
 
Fifth-year senior running back Matt Gudzak (Toms River, N.J.) broke away for 15 yards on the first play of the drive to get the Wildcats across midfield and Bell caught a 12-yard pass which moved the ball to Lehigh's 36-yard line.  Sophomore wide receiver Changa Hodge (East Stroudsburg, Pa.) also caught a 12-yard pass and Bell hauled in a 16-yard catch to set up first-and-goal at the eight.  Covington ran once for five yards and then a second time for a three-yard touchdown. 
 
The defense stifled the Mountain Hawks after the Wildcats took the lead, and Lehigh was called for intentional grounding on a third-and-nine play which began at its own 26-yard line.  It was third-and-25 after the penalty, with the next play a five-yard loss that ended the first quarter and had the Mountain Hawks staring at fourth-and-30 from their own five to open the second period.  Villanova got the ball back at its own 44-yard line even after a 51-yard punt by Lehigh senior Ed Mish. 
 
Bednarczyk was well-protected on a third-and-16 play and dropped back to the Wildcats 30-yard line before looking far downfield and targeting McClenton, who caught the ball at the Mountain Hawks 35-yard line and ran the rest of the way for a career-best 62-yard score.  Villanova led 14-3 after McClenton's first touchdown of the day and pushed the margin to 20-3 on Bell's four-yard catch for a score with 6:04 to play before halftime. 
 
Sophomore kicker Drew Kresge (Douglassville, Pa.) made a 35-yard field goal with 9:04 to play in the third quarter and McClenton scored on a 28-yard touchdown with 2:56 to play in the period.  Lehigh had been pinned at its own nine-yard line to start the possession prior to McClenton's second touchdown. A rush for a loss of a yard and a sack by Thomas which resulted in a loss of seven yards led to third-and-18 from the one-yard line, and a 24-yard punt one play later set the Wildcats up at the Mountain Hawks 31-yard line with 3:39 remaining in the third quarter. 
 
Villanova was led defensively by freshman cornerback Christian Benford (Randallstown, Md.) who had a team-best six tackles and also his first career interception during the second quarter.  Senior linebacker Jeff Steeb (Sweetwater, N.J.), junior defensive lineman Jafonta Johnson (Syracuse, N.Y.) and sophomore defensive end Malik Fisher (New York, N.Y.) all had a solo tackle for loss in the game. 
 
Five different ball carriers rushed for at least 20 yards for the Wildcats, with Jackson going for 69 yards on 12 carries in his second collegiate game.  Senior running back Aaron Forbes (Newburgh, N.Y.) ran for 57 yards, Covington finished with 29 yards on seven carries, senior wide receiver Adeyemi DaSilva (Edgewater, N.J.) rushed three times for 28 yards and Gudzak picked up 21 yards on five carries. 
 
Villanova played its first two games of the season on the road and is now 2-0 for the first time since its national championship season in 2009.  Next up for the Wildcats is their home opener against Towson next Saturday at 3:30 p.m.