BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian University football squad travels to The College of New Jersey on Saturday, September 3 for a non-conference contest to begin the 2022 regular season. Kickoff is slated for 12:00 p.m. at Lions Stadium in Ewing, New Jersey.
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 275 games for Moravian since 1994 with a 130-144-1 record.
The College of New Jersey coach Casey Goff (Susquehanna '00) is in his seventh year as head coach with of 17-32 mark including a 12-27 slate in five years at TCNJ.
THE SERIES: Saturday's meeting will be the first-ever contest between the two schools on the gridiron.
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 and athletic communicators poll. Johns Hopkins was picked to finish first in the poll and received seven of ten first-place votes.
BALANCED & EXPERIENCED 'HOUNDS: Of the 85 players on the Moravian roster, 34 are freshmen, 24 are sophomores and 15 are juniors. There are nine seniors and three fifth-year players on this season's squad, and the Greyhounds return 40 letterwinners and five starters from 2021.
WEEKLY GAME CAPTAINS: The Hounds will be selecting captains on a weekly basis in 2022 with senior tight end Chris Carpini, senior defensive lineman Javi Espinal-Katz and sophomore quarterback Jared Jenkins serving as captains for this weekend's game at The College of New Jersey.
THE QUARTERBACKS: Sophomore Jared Jenkins, who transferred to Moravian from NCAA Division II Millersville University of Pennsylvania where he completed 49-of-88 passes for 640 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions, has earned the starting job while sophomore Carter Hallgren is second on the depth chart, and he has completed 7-of-15 passes for 38 yards with two interceptions in his career at Moravian.
THE OFFENSIVE LINE: Moravian has one returner with game experience on the offensive line in junior Javal Reyes at right guard. The Greyhounds will 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.
IN THE BACKFIELD: Junior Nate Boyle, who was named to the 2021 Centennial All-Conference Second Team, leads the returners in the Moravian rushing attack 605 career yards and three touchdowns on 130 career carries while senior Angelo Macera has contributed 43 yards and 16 career attempts. Graduate student Carrington Smith will be returning after 292 yards on 81 carries last season; however, he will not play in week one. Smith has a total of 353 yards on 109 career rushing attempts with the Hounds.
THE WIDE RECEIVERS: The Greyhounds have seven different players returning that caught a pass in 2021 led by junior wide receiver Tim Garlick, who had 15 catches for 215 yards last fall. Sophomore wide receiver Jordan Lewis returns after 13 receptions for 104 yards last season while junior running back Nate Boyle pulled in 10 aerials for 56 yards. Senior tight end Chris Carpini had five catches for 34 yards and a touchdown in 2021 while senior running back Angelo Macera had two catches for 15 yards a year ago. Senior wide receiver Nick Basenese had one reception last season for 24 yards and graduate student defensive back Romello Walters added one catch for four yards last year.
DEFENSIVE FRONT: Senior Javi Espinal-Katz leads the returning Moravian defensive linemen with 50 tackles including nine tackles for loss, four and a half sacks, two quarterback hurries and five pass break-ups in 2021. Junior Jabir Abdallah contributed five tackles while senior Bryan Bendig had two tackles last fall.
THE LINEBACKER CORPS: Sophomore Jeremiah Espinosa made 35 tackles with a pass break-up in 2021 to lead the Greyhounds' returning linebackers while junior Nick Levinski had 25 tackles with two for loss, two sacks and a quarterback hurry in just five games due to injury. Junior Jack Gawlik contributed 13 tackles with one tackle for loss, a sack, three pass break-ups and a quarterback hurry last season while junior Colin Conway added 12 stops with a half a tackle for loss and half a sack. Junior Chris Ortalano made three tackles last year.
THE DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD: Sophomore Chad Newhard recorded 62 tackles, four and a half tackles for loss, two and a half sacks and an interception he returned six yards to lead the returning defensive backs. Graduate student Romello Walters also had 62 tackles a year ago to go with four pass break-ups, an interception with a 15-yard return for a total of five passes defended, four forced fumbles. a fumble recovery and a half a tackle for loss. Walters has a career total of 80 tackles to go with two interceptions with one returned for a touchdown and eight passes defended. Graduate student Jalen Richardson had 14 tackles, a half a tackle for loss and four pass break-ups last season, and he has 84 tackles, three interceptions and 19 passes defended in his career while junior Matt Blazofsky had five tackles a year ago. Junior Ben Carlin, who will miss the 2022 season with an injury, made four tackles last year as did junior Stefan Lorick.
KICKING GAME: Senior Trevor Yacuboski was 7-for-13 on field goal attempts last season with a long of 39 yards, and he was also 13-for-13 on extra-points. In his career, Yacuboski is 10-for-17 on field goals with a long of 42 yards, and he is 23-for-23 on extra-points. Yacuboski has punted 37 times for an average of 32.9 yards with 15 fair caught, ten inside the 20-yard line and one blocked. Sophomore transfer Sam Bingaman will handle the punting duties in 2022.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Graduate student defensive back Romello Walters has 15 kickoff returns for 349 yards in his career, and junior wide receiver Brad Bryan are slated to return kickoffs this season. Sophomore wide receiver Will Castel and junior wide receiver Tim Garlick are on the depth chart to return punts.
MILESTONE WATCH: The Greyhounds have one player closing in on milestones for his careers. Senior kicker Trevor Yacuboski is tied for seventh with 10 career field goals made, and he is 13th in total kicking points with 53.
SCOUTING THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY: The Lions, who were 3-6 overall and 2-4 on New Jersey Athletic Conference action in 2021, were picked sixth in the NJAC preseason poll. TCNJ returns a host of starters from last year's squad, highlighted by fifth-year defensive lineman Nick Celli and senior defensive back Cole Groschel. Both were All-NJAC performers a year ago, with Celli notching a first-team nod, and will serve as captains alongside senior offensive lineman Brady Scott. Senior Zac Wiles joins Scott along the line following an honorable mention All-NJAC campaign, and classmate Andrew Demboski started every game at guard in 2021. Stephen Begen is back at quarterback after starting the final two games of last season and will count on senior receiver Joey Bellamy Jr., junior tight end Thomas Burke, and sophomore wideout Jake McKown to lead a crop of green but talented pass-catchers. The Lions have their four leading tacklers back from a year ago, with senior defensive lineman Ryan McGuire (39 tackles, 8 TFL) and senior linebacker Sal Tardogno (34 tackles) joining forces once again with Groschel (44 tackles, 1 INT) and Celli (40 tackles, 12 TFL, 4.5 sacks). Senior Chris McCormack is coming off a strong season in which he tied Celli for the team lead in sacks (4.5) and racked up nine tackles for loss, and sophomore Jacob Maurice is set to build on a debut year that included two NJAC Defensive Rookie of the Week awards. Senior Bobby Wortman was 6-for-7 on both field goals and extra-point attempts last season. (Courtesy of TCNJ)
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.
