BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Junior wide receiver Kyle Ferryman caught a pair of touchdown passes while sophomore linebacker Steve Ewald made 12 tackles and was named Moravian College's Most Valuable Player of the game but it wasn't enough as the Greyhounds fell to rival Muhlenberg College, 31-12, in Centennial Conference action on the final day of the regular season at Rocco Calvo Field.
The Greyhounds fall to 5-5 overall and finish the Centennial Conference slate at 4-5. There is a possibility that the Greyhounds could play next Saturday. If Muhlenberg receives an at-large berth to the NCAA Division III playoffs (announced at 6 p.m. on Sunday), then the Greyhounds move into the second team from the Centennial Conference in the Second Annual Centennial-MAC Bowl Series and will travel to Albright College next Saturday, November 19 for a game at a time to be determined. If Muhlenberg does not receive an NCAA berth, then the Greyhounds season is over.
Moravian senior quarterback Mike Hayes completed 37-of-64 passes, both school record totals, for 337 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. Hayes completes the season 2,745 yards (second all-time) on 239-of-378 passes (both single season records) with 18 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, and he completes his career at 569-of-957 for 6,643 yards (all school records) with 47 touchdowns (2nd all-time). Hayes also ran for six yards on 10 carries.
"It was a tough start at the end of the first drive and then we had a good first and second down on defense during their first possession before giving up a screen for a long touchdown. That is two big plays and points that you can't get back, and in the end, they hurt us," commented Head Coach Jeff Pukszyn. "The guys battled really hard. It shows Mike's moxie, leadership and intangibles that you need to have a good quarterback to have. He came back and did a lot of good things. We missed some tackles in the second half, and when you give a good team like Muhlenberg in short yards, it is tough on any defense."
Senior running back Chris Negron ran for 97 yards on 17 carries as he finished the season with 1,020 yards, his third 1,000-yard season, on 208 carries with eight touchdowns. Negron's career comes to a close with a school record 4,355 yards on 855 carries with 39 rushing touchdowns, 43 total touchdowns and 258 points, all school records. Negron also caught seven passes against Muhlenberg for 55 yards.
Junior wide receiver Aaron Hudson caught nine passes for 65 yards to break the Moravian single season school record with 65 receptions on the season, passing Jeff Roy's mark of 62 set in 1994, and he also became the 19th player in school history to reach 1,000 career receiving yards, now with 1,022. Senior wide receiver Liam Nolan also caught nine passes for 63 yards to complete his career with 128 receptions (tied for fourth in the Moravian record books) for 1,639 yards (sixth in school history) while senior wide receiver Jalen Snyder-Scipio had four catches for 49 yards to finish his career with a school record 159 receptions and 1,803 yards (fourth all-time).
"Aaron is a strong player and plays a lot bigger than his height and weight show," stated Pukszyn. "He is a phenomenal leader and really embraced his role this year. He is high motor, high character kid that I think the world of. We're excited that we get to see him the offseason and again next season."
Ferryman contributed four receptions for 59 yards including his touchdown receptions while junior tight end Aaron Brown had three catches for 43 yards and punted five times for an average of 33.0 yards.
Ewald paced the defense with his 12 tackles that included one sack while senior defensive back Noah Miller and senior linebacker Edward Delia each had 10 tackles. Delia finishes the season with 124 tackles in his first year as a starter, tied for the tenth best season in school history. Freshman defensive back Alkiohn Dunkins and senior defensive lineman John Snyder each had six tackles with Snyder adding a sack and one and a half tackles for loss to finish his career fourth in tackles for loss with 27.5 and ninth in sacks with 10.
"Steve did a great job. He has embraced his switch from an inside guy to an outside guy," noted Pukszyn. "The best thing about Steve is that we have him for two more years in the program. He did a phenomenal job empting the tank for the seniors."
Moravian received the opening kickoff and began at its own six-yard line. The Greyhounds would drive inside the five-yard line before Hayes was intercepted and had it returned 94-yards for a touchdown. The Hounds second drive ended with sophomore Kenny Kane's 25-yard field goal hitting the left upright. The Mules added another long touchdown pass to lead 14-0 at the end of the first quarter despite Moravian holding the ball for 12:07 of the opening quarter.
Three plays into the second quarter, Hayes found Ferryman down the right seam for a 33-yard touchdown. Kane's extra-point was blocked to set the score at 14-6 with 14:05 left in the first half.
Moravian's defense would make a stop on a fake field goal attempt on its next drive with a tackle by senior defensive back Chris Lott on the pass play. Moravian turned the defensive stop into a 94-yard, 12-play touchdown drive with Hayes finding Ferryman again with a 12-yard touchdown pass to the back right corner of the end zone. Moravian went for two but freshman running back Roberto Diez was stopped to keep the Muhlenberg lead at 14-12 with 5:21 left in the second quarter.
Muhlenberg looked to add points before the intermission but the Moravian defense made another fourth down stop in the red zone with Miller making the tackle on the one-yard line to send the team's to the locker room with the Mules leading 14-12.
Muhlenberg added a field goal and a touchdown in the third quarter including turning another interception into points four plays later to lead 24-12 after 45 minutes of action, and the Mules scored three plays into the fourth quarter for the 31-12 advantage.
"We said goodbye to 13 outstanding men that are going to lot of future successes," Pukszyn finished. "As I said this those guys, the body of work has been unbelievable. They have put Moravian back on the map. They have left better than when they arrived. It is not where we wanted to be at the end of the year but it is sure better than where we used to be. Hopefully the rest of the underclassmen learned some things from them."
