BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian University football team heads to Utica (N.Y.) University a non-conference contest on Saturday, September 9. Kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m. at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium in Utica, New York, and ticket prices will be $5 for adults.
THE COACHES: Jeff Long (Muhlenberg '14) is entering his first season as Moravian's head coach and is just the fifth head coach for the Hounds' program since 1955 when Rocco Calvo began his legendary career guiding the Greyhounds. The Blue and Grey have played 830 games over 96 seasons, and Long is the 13th coach since the program resumed action in 1930 after a 25-year break. Moravian's first football game was played in 1898. Long has spent the last six seasons with the Blue Streaks including the last three years as defensive coordinator. He began his time at John Carroll as the defensive line coach and has also been a secondary coach and linebackers coach. Prior to coaching at John Carroll, Long spent two seasons as a defensive line coach at Wilkes University, and he also worked as a scouting intern for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2015.
Utica coach Blaise Faggiano (Ithaca '93) is in his 16th year as head coach with a record of 77-72.
THE SERIES: Saturday's meeting will be the first contest between the schools as part of a two-game crossover between the Empire 8 and Landmark Conferences.
GREYHOUNDS IN THE LANDMARK CONFERENCE: After 15 seasons as an associate member of the Centennial Conference, the Greyhounds are moving to the Landmark Conference this fall with all of Moravian's other sports with the Landmark Conference hosting its inaugural season in 2023 after adding Lycoming College and Wilkes University as full members and Keystone College as an associate member. The Hounds were selected fifth in the preseason coaches poll.
2023 CAPTAINS: The Hounds has named senior running back Nate Boyle, junior quarterback Jared Jenkins, junior defensive back Chad Newhard and sophomore linebacker Clay Basile as captains for the 2023 season.
BALANCED & EXPERIENCED 'HOUNDS: Of the 76 players on the Moravian roster, 23 are freshmen, 23 are sophomores and 19 are juniors. There are 11 seniors on this season's squad, and the Greyhounds return 48 letterwinners and 14 starters from 2022.
THE QUARTERBACKS: Junior Jared Jenkins has completed 18-of-37 passes for 259 yards to go with a touchdown and an interception this season. Jenkins has been sacked twice. Junior Carter Hallgren has attempted one pass this fall.
THE BACKFIELD: Senior running back Nate Boyle leads the Moravian rushing attack with 52 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. Freshman running back LJ Cooper has gained 14 yards on six attempts while sophomore running back Camron Tinajero has five carries for seven yards and freshman running back Mike Willis has two yards on one attempt.
THE OFFENSIVE LINE: Moravian has three returning starters in juniors left tackle Reins Leedy, center Brandon Guffy and right guard Paul DeFalco. Junior Dalton Kucher has earned the starting left guard spot while freshman Eli Thompson will start at right tackle. The Hounds' line averages 6-2, 277, and the quintet has allowed just two sacks this season.
THE WIDE RECEIVERS: The Greyhounds have had seven different players catch a pass in 2023 led by senior wide receiver Tim Garlick, who has four catches for 38 yards. Senior wide receiver Brad Bryan has three receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown while junior wide receiver Jordan Lewis has caught three passes for 45 yards. Senior Jordan Bingham, who transferred to Moravian from Valparaiso (Ind.) University, has grabbed three passes for 40 yards. Senior running back Nate Boyle has caught two passes for 38 yards while junior wide receiver Bryan Monge has added two receptions for 15 yards and sophomore running back Camron Tinajero has one catch for three yards.
DEFENSIVE FRONT: Sophomore defensive end EJ Harvey leads the Moravian defensive lineman with five tackles. Sophomore defensive end Drew Bailey, junior nose guard Jeremy McGuigan and freshman defensive end EJ Boney all have two tackles. Sophomore defensive tackle Nathan Carr and junior defensive tackle Prince Sokpo both have one stop.
THE LINEBACKER CORPS: Sophomore Clay Basile leads linebackers with six tackles while senior Chris Ortalano has contributed five tackles and a pair of pass breakups. Sophomore Jashon Teller has made two stops and added a pass break-up while freshman Jackson Lake also has two tackles. Sophomore Josh Ruela, sophomore Damere Rooker and sophomore Cael Markle have all added one stop.
THE DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD: Senior safety Colin Conway leads the defensive backs and the entire Moravian defense with seven tackles. Junior safety Isaiah Johnson has four tackles and a pass breakup while senior safety Zach Scillia and sophomore cornerback Matt Capobianco both had three tackles. Sophomore cornerback Shea Endean has contributed two tackles.
KICKING GAME: Senior Colin Conway has punted five times for an average of 35.8 yards per punt with two fair caught and a long of 52 yards. Sophomore Sean Murphy has attempted on PAT this season while freshman Jackson Lake has kicked off three times for an average of 44.0 yards.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Freshman wide receiver Nick Coffaro has returned three kickoffs for 79 yards with a long of 50 yards, and he has also made a pair of tackles on special teams. Freshman defensive back Anderson Louis Jeune has returned two kickoffs for nine yards while sophomore running back Camron Tinajero has one kickoff return for nine yards. Junior wide receiver Nick Weston has one tackle on special teams.
MILESTONE WATCH: The Greyhounds have two players closing in on milestones for his career. Senior 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 1,472 yards on 364 career carries to sit in 16th all-time. Boyle needs 28 yards to become the 15th Greyhound to reach 1,500 career yards. Junior quarterback Jared Jenkins is 149 yards from reaching 1,000 career passing yards.
SCOUTING UTICA UNIVERSITY: The Pioneers are coming off a 20-17 non-conference win at The University of Rochester to open the 2023 season last Saturday. Sophomore quarterback Brett Fuller has completed 19-of-26 passes for 164 yards with two touchdowns and an interception this season, and he has added 10 yards on four rushing attempts. Senior wide receiver Travis Decker has six catches for 66 yards and a touchdown while senior running back Matt Brantley has four receptions for 30 yards and a touchdown. Senior wide receiver Joey Nare also has grabbed four passes for 24 yards while junior tight end Tyler Kolenda has two catches for 22 yards. Brantley leads the Utica rushing attack with 123 yards on 18 carries while junior running back James Salles has 47 yards on nine attempts and senior quarterback Sam Florio has 24 yards and a touchdown on six carries. Senior kicker Corey Lichtman is 2-for-3 on extra-points, 0-1 on field goal attempts and averaging 63.0 yards on four kickoffs. Junior punter Freddie Callo is averaging 38.0 yards per punt on three attempts with two fair caught, two inside the 20-yard line, a touchback and a long of 51 yards. Senior linebacker Anthony Fasano leads the Pioneers defense with 11 tackles including two and a half for loss while senior linebacker Anthony Novelloo has eight stops, a half a tackle for loss and a pass breakup. Senior defensive back Terrance Toussaint also has eight tackles with a half a tackle for loss and two pass breakups. Senior defensive back Nick Billand has contributed seven tackles while sophomore defensive back Eli Douglas has six stops and senior defensive end Doug Simmons has five tackles with two and a half for loss and Utica's lone sack of the season.
THE LAST TIME THEY MET: Moravian and Utica have not met on the gridiron before.
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 LANDMARK CONFERENCE STATISTICAL RANKINGS: The Greyhounds rank sixth in the Landmark Conference in total offense at 304.0 yards per game after week one, and the Hounds are second in passing offense at 259.0 yards per contest. The Blue & Grey lead the Landmark Conference in time of possession at 35:12 per outing. Junior quarterback Jared Jenkins is second in the Landmark Conference in passing yards per game at 259.0, and he is fifth in passing efficiency with a 111.0 rating. Senior running back Nate Boyle is sixth in the conference in rushing yards at 52.0 per outing while senior wide receiver Brad Bryan is sixth in receiving yards per game at 80.0 and junior wide receiver Jordan Lewis is tied for tenth in receiving yards at 45.0. Freshman wide receiver Nick Coffaro is second in the Landmark Conference in kickoff return average at 26.3 yards per return on three attempts while senior defensive back/punter Colin Conway is sixth in punting with an average of 35.8 yards per punt. Conway is also tied for seventh in tackles with 7.0 per contest while sophomore linebacker Clay Basile is tied for 18th at 6.0 tackles per game.
