BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian University football team hosts McDaniel College for a Centennial Conference contest on Saturday, October 29. Kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m. for the Greyhounds' annual Homecoming contest at Rocco Calvo Field in Bethlehem.
THE COACHES: Jeff Pukszyn (Moravian '98) is entering his 12th season as Moravian's head coach after ten years as an assistant coach with the program. Pukszyn joined the Moravian staff as a part-time coach in 1997 after a three-year playing career that saw him named to the All-Middle Atlantic Conference First Team in 1994 and 1996. He was inducted into Moravian's Hall of Fame in 2019. He was also a two-time captain. Pukszyn became part of the coaching staff full-time in 1999 as defensive coordinator and added the titles of assistant head coach in 2001 and special teams coordinator in 2007. In 2015, Pukszyn led the Greyhounds to an 8-3 record and a berth in the inaugural Centennial-MAC Bowl Series while being named both the Centennial Conference and American Football Coaches Association Division III Region 2 Coach of the Year. He has been a part of 281 games for Moravian since 1994 with a 132-149-1 record.
McDaniel coach Demarcus White (Iona '08) is in his fourth year as head coach with a 7-20 mark.
THE SERIES: Saturday's meeting will be the 26th in the series with Moravian holding a 15-10 advantage. The Greyhounds earned a 37-31 double overtime victory in Westminster last fall while the Green Terror won 13-10 in the final minute when the squads last met in 2019 at Rocco Calvo Field. McDaniel was formerly known as Western Maryland College but the name changed in 2002.
GREYHOUNDS IN THE CENTENNIAL CONFERENCE: Moravian joined the Centennial Conference as an associate member in the sport of football in 2007. The Greyhounds were selected seventh in the Centennial Conference preseason coaches poll. McDaniel was eighth in the poll. Moravian is playing its final season in the Centennial Conference in 2022 with the Landmark Conference scheduled to begin football in the fall of 2023 as Lycoming College and Wilkes University become full Landmark Conference members.
WEEKLY GAME CAPTAINS: The Hounds will be selecting captains on a weekly basis in 2022 with graduate student defensive back Romello Walters, senior defensive lineman Jack Gawlik, sophomore offensive lineman Paul DeFalco and sophomore wide receiver Nick Weston serving as captains for this weekend's game versus McDaniel College.
THE QUARTERBACKS: Sophomore Jared Jenkins has completed 41-of-73 passes for 592 yards to go with five touchdown and three interceptions in 2022. He has also carried the ball 42 times for 36 yards and a score before an injury. Sophomore Carter Hallgren is 47-for-90 for 372 yards with three touchdowns and five interceptions after making starts against No. 9 Johns Hopkins University, Dickinson College and Juniata College to garner his first career victory. Freshman Sean Murphy is 6-for-11 for 60 yards to go with 13 rushing yards on five carries while junior wide receiver Brad Bryan started at Ursinus College and is 5-for-11 for 37 yards. Senior Nick Reardon is 2-for-3 for 68 yards and a touchdown while sophomore wide receiver Jordan Lewis is 1-for-1 with a 17-yard touchdown pass at Ursinus.
IN THE BACKFIELD: Junior Nate Boyle leads the Moravian rushing attack with 683 yards and six touchdowns on 169 carries this season while senior Angelo Macera has contributed 129 yards on 32 rushing attempts. Freshman Camron Tinajero has run the ball four times for 66 yards.
THE OFFENSIVE LINE: Moravian has one returner with game experience on the offensive line in junior Javal Reyes at right guard. The Greyhounds add four other new starters to the starting offensive line sophomore Reins Leedy at left tackle, sophomore Riley Craft at left guard, sophomore Brandon Guffy at center and freshman Tyler Herring at right tackle. The Greyhounds' front five has an average size of 6-2, 287. Sophomore Paul DeFalco has also seen time as a reserve at several positions on the offensive line, and he has started at four games as well while sophomore Jai Fentress and freshman Danny Smith have seen reserve action this season, and Smith has recorded one tackle.
THE WIDE RECEIVERS: The Greyhounds have had 11 different players catch a pass this year led by junior wide receiver Tim Garlick, who has 32 catches for 334 yards and three touchdowns. Junior wide receiver Brad Bryan has 24 catches for 327 yards with a long of 77 yards and two touchdowns in his first year at the position while sophomore wide receiver Jordan Lewis has 18 receptions for 214 yards and two scores. Sophomore wide receiver Brandon Grace has seven receptions for 33 yards while junior running back Nate Boyle has caught seven passes for 106 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore wide receiver Bryan Monge has added four receptions for 39 yards while senior tight end Chris Carpini has three catches for 15 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore wide receiver Nick Weston has two receptions for 70 yards and a score while sophomore wide receiver Will Castel has two catches for seven yards. Junior tight end Sean Foley has one catch for four yards, and senior running back Angelo Macera has two receptions. Garlick has seven yards rushing this fall as well while Bryan has rushed for four yards.
DEFENSIVE FRONT: Senior Javi Espinal-Katz leads the Moravian defensive front with 22 tackles, three tackle for loss and one and a half a sacks while senior Jack Gawlik has 21 tackles with five and a half tackles for loss, three sacks and a pass break-up after missing the season opener. Freshman Drew Bailey has contributed 20 tackles with one and a half quarterback sacks and one and a half tackles for loss while sophomore Jeremy McGuigan has 15 stops with two tackles for loss, two quarterback sacks, two quarterback hurries, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble. Sophomore Prince Sokpo has added 12 tackles, a half tackle for loss and a pass break-up while freshman EJ Harvey has seven tackles. Senior Bryan Bendig has added three tackles while sophomore Mason Zimmerman and freshman Drew Brizan both have one stop.
THE LINEBACKER CORPS: Junior Nick Levinski leads the linebackers and the entire Moravian defense with 56 tackles, three tackles for loss, a sack, a forced fumble, a pass break-up and a quarterback hurry while freshman Clay Basile has 29 tackles, one tackle for loss and a pass break-up. Junior Chris Ortalano has contributed 24 tackles with a half a tackle for loss while junior Colin Conway has added 22 stops with two tackles for loss, five pass break-ups and a forced fumble. Sophomore Jeremiah Espinosa has 21 tackles with two and a half tackles for loss and a pass break-up. while freshman Jashon Teller has 12 stops and one and a half a tackles for loss. freshman Joshua Ruela has eight tackles while junior Anthony Mosley has made seven stops. Freshman James Wells has six tackles while freshman Damere Rooker has added two tackles in his first year with the Hounds.
THE DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD: Graduate student Romello Walters leads the defensive backs with 55 tackles including a half a tackle for loss to go along with four pass break-ups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Sophomore Chad Newhard has 41 tackles with two tackles for loss and a pass break-up while graduate student Jalen Richardson has 25 tackles after missing the first two games of the year. Sophomore Isaiah Johnson has 21 stops, one tackle for loss, four passes defended and an interception while junior Zach Scillia has 21 tackles, a tackle for loss, a sack, a forced fumble and two interceptions including a 47-yard return versus Gettysburg College this season. Graduate student Carrington Smith has made 11 stops after missing the first two contests while junior Matt Blazofsky has added eight tackles. Freshman Joe DeRossi has four tackles and blocked a punt versus Gettysburg while freshman Matt Capobianco has two tackles with a half a tackle for loss and freshman Tom Post has one tackle in his debut season.
KICKING GAME: Sophomore Sam Bingaman is 5-for-5 on field goal attempts with a long of 41 yards at TCNJ on his first attempt as a Greyhound, and he is also 14-for-15 on extra points. Bingaman has punted 24 times with an average of 38.5 yards to go with a long of 50 yards, three inside the 20-yard line and five fair catches, and he has kicked off nine times for an average of 53.8 yards with one touchback. Senior Trevor Yacuboski has kicked off 20 times for an average of 49.0 yards with one touchback, and he has punted 13 times with an average of 41.4 yards, a long of 68 yards, one touchback, two fair caught, one blocked and five inside the 20-yard line. Yacuboski is 1-for-1 on field goals with a one of 30 yards, and he is 0-1 on extra-points. Sophomore quarterback Jared Jenkins has punted once for 30 yards while sophomore quarterback Carter Hallgren has punted once for 45 yards.
FRED MITCHELL OUTSTANDING PLACE-KICKING WATCH LIST: Moravian freshman kicker Sam Bingaman was one of 29 place-kickers across from non-BCS schools the nation that has been recognized by The Fred Mitchell Outstanding Place-Kicking Award for his performance during the opening half of the 2022 season. Bingaman has gone four-for-four on field goal attempts and 12-of-13 on extra-points for 24 points through Moravian's first five games of the year. Bingaman's first kick for the Greyhounds was a 41-yard field goal at The College of New Jersey on September 3. He has also kicked off five times with an average of 56.1 yards, and Bingaman has 24 punts in 2022 for an average of 38.5 yards with a long of 50 yards, five fair caught and three inside the 20-yard line.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Graduate student defensive back Jalen Richardson has 11 kickoff returns for 194 yards while sophomore wide receiver Will Castel has returned six kickoffs for 71 yards. Freshman wide receiver Tre Crenshaw has returned four kickoffs for 54 yards while junior wide receiver Brad Bryan has two kickoff returns for 35 yards. Freshman running back Cameon Tinajero and graduate student defensive back Romello Walters both have a pair of kickoff returns for 42 yards. Castel has seven punt returns for 36 yards while sophomore defensive back Joe DeRossi was credited with a punt return for 13 yards on his blocked punt versus Gettysburg and junior linebacker Chris Ortalano has a two-yard return after recovering the blocked punt. Senior running back Angelo Macera, sophomore wide receiver Nick Weston and freshman running back Tyler Rohn all have added a pair of tackles on special teams while Bryan, junior wide receiver Tim Garlick and sophomore quarterback Jared Jenkins each have one tackle.
MILESTONE WATCH: The Greyhounds have two players closing in on milestones for his careers. Junior running back Nate Boyle became the 26th player in school history to reach 1,000 career rushing yards when he reached the milestone versus Juniata College, and Boyle has 1,288 yards on 299 career carries to sit in 20th all-time. Boyle needs 212 yards to become the 15th Greyhound to reach 1,500 career yards. Senior kicker Trevor Yacuboski is tied for six with 11 career field goals made, and he is 13th in total kicking points with 56.
SCOUTING McDANIEL COLLEGE: The Green Terror enter the game at 2-5 overall and 2-4 in Centennial Conference action after falling 58-0 to No. 19 Susquehanna University last Saturday. Sophomore quarterback Eric Grinwis leads McDaniel on the field having completed 86-of-137 passes for 914 wards with four touchdowns and seven interceptions while sophomore quarterback Jared Snow has completed 30-of-60 passes for 343 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. Their top targets have been junior wide receiver Hunter Sigler, who has 24 catches for 482 yards and four touchdowns, senior wideout Sean Carter, who has 24 receptions for 248 yards, junior wide receiver Wesley Nchinda, who has caught 20 passes for 176 yards, senior wideout Matteo DeGennaro, who has 12 receptions for 119 yards, and junior tight end Aaron Gale, who has 11 catches for 92 yards and a touchdown. Senior running back Trent Gaskins leads the Green Terror rushing attack with 332 yards and five touchdowns on 106 carries to go with seven catches for 54 yards while graduate student running back Dre Carter has 209 yards and two touchdowns on 73 rushing attempts as well as eight receptions for 77 yards and a score. Sophomore wide receiver Jeremiah Maxwell has returned 27 kickoffs for 542 yards and four punts for 10 yards while Carter has six kickoff returns for 83 yards. Senior Nicco Vargas is averaging 34.9 yards per punt on 42 kicks with a long of 67 yards, 14 fair caught, seven inside the 20-yard line, three touchbacks and two blocked punts, and he has kicked off seven times for an average of 52.0 yards. Senior William Looney is 6-for-8 on field goal attempts with a long of 43 yards and 8-for-14 on extra-points, and he is averaging 57.4 yards per kickoff with three touchbacks in 18 kickoffs. Senior linebacker Mike Dunn leads the Green Terror defense with 51 tackles to go with three and a half tackles for loss, a fumble recovery and a blocked kick while sophomore defensive back Alex Brown has contributed 45 tackles with one and a half for loss and two pass break-ups. Graduate student defensive back Habeeb Baba has made 36 tackles to go with three passes defended while freshman defensive lineman Aiden Bell has 29 stops with three quarterback sacks, two and a half tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble. Senior defensive back Earl Spicer has contributed 28 tackles with four for loss, one sack, two interceptions, four passes defended and a forced fumble while senior linebacker Jaylen Kelley has 27 stops with one and a half for loss, two pass break-ups and two fumble recoveries. Junior defensive lineman Mamut Conteh leads McDaniel with 10 tackles for loss and three and a half sacks among his 24 tackles to go with a fumble recovery while junior defensive back Jevin Tranquillo has five passes defended with two interceptions to go with 22 total tackles.
THE LAST TIME THEY MET: In Westminster, Maryland in last fall, Moravian tied host McDaniel, 24-24 on a field goal with just two seconds remaining in regulation and then won the Centennial Conference contest, 37-31, in the second overtime. The Greyhounds received the opening kickoff and moved past midfield before punting while the Green Terror would turn the ball over on downs to end their first drive. Moravian took the lead on its next possession as quarterback Christopher Mills capped an eight-play, 42-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run, his first rushing touchdown of the season. Trevor Yacuboski made the extra-point for the 7-0 edge with 3:09 to play in the opening quarter. McDaniel moved down to the one-yard line where the Green Terror would take four cracks at the end zone with Moravian's defense holding each time to keep the game at 7-0. The Blue and Grey were unable to capitalize on the defensive stand and punted the ball away after just four plays. McDaniel would take the short field and put the ball into the end zone to knot the score at 7-7 with 3:25 left in the first half on a one-yard run from Trent Gaskins. The Green Terror took the lead on the first possession of the second half with a 38-yard field goal from Peyton Denlinger. The Hounds answered right back with Mills connecting with wide receiver Nick Petros on a 26-yard touchdown pass. Yacuboski's PAT made it 14-10 Moravian with 4:50 to play in the third quarter. McDaniel needed nine plays to move back ahead as John Furgeson connected on a 19-yard touchdown pass to Wesley Nchinda with 1:09 on the clock in the third. Moravian retook the play on the next possession as Mills found junior tight end Chris Carpini with an 11-yard touchdown pass. Yacuboski split the uprights with the extra-point for a 21-17 lead for the Blue and Grey with 11:30 to play. After each team punted, the Green Terror scored on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Furgeson to Hunter Sigler as McDaniel retook the lead at 24-21 with 5:40 remaining. The Greyhounds moved down the field before Mills was intercepted just outside of the red zone. Moravian forced McDaniel into a punt attempt with under 15 seconds to play, and the snap went over the punters head, setting the Greyhounds up at the McDaniel 12-yard line. Yacuboski came on to drill a 29-yard field goal with two seconds remaining to force overtime with the score knotted at 24-24. McDaniel had the ball first in overtime and took a 31-24 lead on a one-yard scoring run by Gaskins. The Greyhounds answered as Mills connected on a 27-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Trevor Cunningham. Yacuboski hit his fourth extra-point of the day to knot the contest at 31-31 and force a second overtime. The Green Terror would bring Denlinger in to attempt a 37-yard field goal on their second overtime possession, but the kick sailed wide left. Moravian's second possession of overtime started at the 12-yard line after a penalty on McDaniel after the missed field goal. Running back Nate Boyle raced into the end zone on the first play for his second overtime winning touchdown run of the season as the Greyhounds won 37-31. Moravian played its 12th overtime game since the NCAA instituted the rule in 1996, and the Greyhounds are now 9-3 in overtime. The contest was the Hounds' second overtime game this fall, and Moravian has now played multiple overtime games in four different seasons. McDaniel had a 376 to 347 edge in total offense, and the Green Terror also had the ball for 32:31 of the contest. Mills was 18-of-28 for 229 yards with three touchdowns and an interception, and Mills' rushing touchdown was the third of his career. Petros caught 10 passes for 128 yards and a score as he extended his school career records to 170 receptions and 20 touchdowns. Petros also had eight rushing yards on one attempt against McDaniel. Wide receiver Tim Garlick had three receptions for 35 yards while Cunningham caught two passes for 34 yards and his score and Carpini had one catch for 11 yards and a touchdown. Boyle led the Greyhounds' rushing attack with 83 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, and he also caught one pass while running back Carrington Smith has 34 rushing yards on six carries and one catch for 21 yards. Yacuboski scored seven points in the game and made his sixth field goal of the fall. He also punted four times for an average of 37.0 yards. Defensive back Jackson Buskirk recorded a career high 18 tackles to go with one pass break-up defensive back Jalen Richardson made eight stops to go with three kickoff returns for 48 yards. Defensive back Chad Newhard recorded eight stops while defensive lineman Javi Espinal-Katz added seven tackles and a pass break-up. Defensive lineman Brandon Nemeth, linebacker Jeremiah Espinosa and linebacker Nicholas Azpeitia all had six tackles while linebacker Francis Lagreca made five stops and defensive back Romello Walters, linebacker Colin Conway and defensive lineman Paul DeFalco each had four tackles.
OVERTIME 'HOUNDS: Moravian has played a total of 12 overtime games since the NCAA instituted the rule for the 1996 season and is 9-3 all-time in the extra-session including a pair of overtimes wins in 2021. Five of those 12 overtime games have been against Juniata College with the Greyhounds going 4-1 in those games. Moravian's contest in Huntingdon in 2008 marked the first time in the Greyhounds' have needed more than one overtime session in a game. The 2021 season marked the fourth year that Moravian has played at least two overtimes games in one season, the other years were 2008 when the Hounds played two overtime contests, 1999 when the Greyhounds played three overtime games and 1997 when Moravian played two overtime contests.
THE CENTENNIAL CONFERENCE STATISTICAL RANKINGS: The Greyhounds are eighth in the Centennial Conference in total offense at 288.6 yards per game, and Moravian is sixth in scoring at 19.1 points per contest. The Hounds are fourth in the conference in time of possession, holding the ball for an average of 30:50 per game. Defensively, Moravian is eighth in the conference in yards per game, allowing 396.4, and the Blue and Grey are seventh in points allowed at 32.4 per outing. Individually, junior running back Nate Boyle is second in the Centennial Conference at 100.3 rushing yards per contest, and he leads the conference in rushing attempts with 173 while junior wide receiver Tim Garlick is tenth in the conference at 47.7 yards per game and fifth in receptions per contest at 4.6. Junior wide receiver Brad Bryan is tied for tenth in receptions per game at 3.4. Sophomore punter/kicker Sam Bingaman is sixth in the Centennial Conference in kick scoring with 29 points while being tied for fifth with five made field goals. Junior linebacker Nick Levinski is sixth in the conference with 8.0 tackles per game while sophomore defensive back Chad Newhard is 13th at 6.8 tackles per contest and graduate student defensive back Romello Walters is tied for 20th at 6.1 tackles per outing and tied for eighth in pass break-ups with four. Junior linebacker Colin Conway is tied for third in the conference with five pass break-ups and Walters is tied for tenth with four break-ups while junior defensive back Zach Scillia is tied for ninth with a pair of interceptions. Senior defensive lineman Jack Gawlik is tied for tenth with 5.5 tackles for loss this season, and he is also tied for eighth with three sacks this fall.
NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS: Sophomore kicker Sam Bingaman is tied for 52nd in field goals per game at 0.71. Junior running back Nate Boyle is 36th in rushing yards with 702, 37th in rushing yards per game with an average of 100.3 yards per outing, tied for 86th in rushing touchdowns with six and 92nd in all-purpose yards per contest at 115.4.
BALANCED & EXPERIENCED 'HOUNDS: Of the 84 players on the Moravian roster, 34 are freshmen, 24 are sophomores and 15 are juniors. There are eight seniors and three fifth-year players on this season's squad, and the Greyhounds return 38 letterwinners and five starters from 2021.