LANCASTER, Pa. --- Moravian College freshman running back/kick returner Eli Redmond has been selected as the Centennial Conference Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance in the Greyhounds' 28-7 win over McDaniel College at Rocco Calvo Field Saturday.
Redmond returned the opening kickoff a school-record 100 yards with his feet on the goal line to start for a touchdown just 13 seconds into the game. He had another return in the final two minutes of 13 yards, going down untouched as the Greyhounds looked to run out the clock to improve to 2-0 for the first time since 2008.
"We really couldn't tell from the sidelines where Eli's feet were at when he caught the opening kickoff, but with his speed and the return scheme that assistant coach Bob McClairn has put into place, Eli has a chance to break almost any return," stated fourth-year Head Coach Jeff Pukszyn. "Having a return like that to start the game really gets the team off on the right foot and breathes some confidence into our sideline right away."
Redmond moved from wide receiver to running back this week and also led the Greyhounds with 109 yards on the ground while carrying the ball 19 times. He had a long run of 32 yards and another carry of 25 yards in the contest.
"When we unfortunately lost senior Luke Gotzon to an injury in the opener, we decided to move Eli to running back this week," Pukszyn said. "He played the position at Parkland High School when our offensive coordinator Tim McGorry coached there so we knew he could do it. It was just a matter of getting the reads down and getting back to taking a handoff, something he really hadn't done in the last two years. As the game went along, I think Eli got stronger in the position, and to have him as a back-up giving Chris Negron a series off, is a tremendous benefit to the program since they both have breakaway speed and can be rested when they enter the game."
Moravian will return to action on Saturday, September 20 in the squad's first road game of the year as the Greyhounds travel to No. 13 Johns Hopkins University for a Centennial Conference game kicking off at 12:00 p.m. at Homewood Field in Baltimore.
