BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian University football team hosts Lycoming College in the squad's final home game of the 2024 season in a Landmark Conference contest on Saturday, November 9. Kickoff is slated for 12:00 p.m. at Rocco Calvo Field in Bethlehem as the Hounds celebrate Senior Day. Also, all veterans will receive free admission to the game with a valid military ID for Veteran's Day.
THE COACHES: Jeff Long (Muhlenberg '14) is in his second season as Moravian's head coach. Last fall in his debut campaign, Long led the Greyhounds to a 9-9 overall record and a 6-4 slate in Landmark Conference action. He coached eight Landmark All-Conference selections including five First Team honorees. Long has spent the previous 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.
Lycoming coach Mike Clark (Lycoming '93) is in his 17th year with the Warriors with an 89-73 record.
THE SERIES: Saturday's meeting will be the 22nd in the series and first game at Rocco Calvo Field since 2006 with Lycoming leading the series 14-7. The Warriors earned a 31-20 victory in Williamsport last fall in the first contest between the schools as Landmark Conference opponents. Moravian won the last meeting between the programs in Bethlehem with a 22-3 victory at Rocco Calvo Field on October 28, 2006.
GREYHOUNDS IN THE LANDMARK CONFERENCE: The Greyhounds will compete in the Landmark Conference this fall for the second straight season. The Hounds were selected third in the preseason coaches poll while the Warriors were picked second. The Landmark Conference has announced it will be adding an eighth team in 2025 with Western Connecticut State University becoming an associate member.
BALANCED & EXPERIENCED 'HOUNDS: Of the 102 players on the Moravian roster, 50 are freshmen, 16 are sophomores and 15 are juniors. There are 17 seniors and four graduate students on this season's squad, and the Greyhounds return 41 letterwinners and 13 starters from 2023.
2024 CAPTAINS: The Hounds have named graduate student wide receiver Jordan Bingham, senior quarterback Jared Jenkins, senior offensive lineman Reins Leedy, senior defensive lineman Jeremy McGuigan and junior running back Isiah Rico as captains for the 2024 season.
THE QUARTERBACKS: Senior Jared Jenkins has completed 188-of-280 passes for 2,160 yards with 23 touchdowns and five interceptions, and Jenkins has run the ball 67 times for 141 yards while being sacked 21 times. Freshman Declan McCarthy is 2-for-7 for 42 yards, and he has 91 yards on 17 rushing attempts and one reception for a yard while senior Carter Hallgren is 1-for-3 for a yard to go with a pair of two-point conversion completions, and he also has one rushing attempt for seven yards and a touchdown.
THE BACKFIELD: Graduate student Joey Richmond leads the Moravian rushing attack with 382 yards and two touchdowns on 72 carries with a long of 65 yards versus Juniata College while junior Isiah Rico has added 129 yards and a touchdown on 41 attempts. Junior Camron Tinajero has 87 yards and three touchdowns on 19 attempts while sophomore Cole Maholtz has 61 yards on 26 carries. Freshman Jed Bendekovits has run for 45 yards and a touchdown on 11 attempts and freshman wide receiver Jacob Sutton has run the ball six times for four yards.
THE OFFENSIVE LINE: Moravian has four returning starters on the offensive line in seniors Reins Leedy, Brandon Guffy and Paul DeFalco and sophomore Mason Ludlow, and the quartet is joined by freshman Jake Englehart. Senior Dalton Kucher also has starting experience while junior Drew Brizan saw action a year ago.
THE WIDE RECEIVERS: The Greyhounds have 19 players that have caught a pass in 2024 led by graduate student Jordan Bingham, who has 56 receptions for 570 yards and seven touchdowns. Senior Diego Del Castillo has 35 catches for 604 yards and nine touchdowns while sophomore Avery Koser has 24 catches for 239 yards and two touchdowns. Freshman Josh Ludlow has 17 receptions for 211 yards and three touchdowns while senior Bryan Monge has added 11 receptions for 138 yards and a score. Sophomore Nick Coffaro has nine catches for 85 yards while graduate student running back Joey Richmond has eight catches for 61 yards and a touchdown and junior running back Isiah Rico has eight receptions for 81 yards. Senior Will Castel has three catches for 100 yards while freshman Jacob Sutton has two receptions for 18 yards. Junior running back Camron Tinajero has five catches for 12 yards while junior Ryan Frinzi has added two receptions for 10 yards, and he also has seven rushing attempts for 41 yards. Freshman Justin Wistuba has caught one pass for 17 yards while freshman tight end Nick Haurin has one catch for 10 yards. Senior wide receiver Nick Weston has one reception for five yards while freshman Gavyn Gennarelli has one reception for a yard and freshman running back Jed Bendekovits has one catch for four yards.
DEFENSIVE FRONT: Senior Jeremy McGuigan leads the defensive linemen with 31 tackles, two and a half tackles for loss, a sack, a pass break-up and a blocked kick versus Utica (N.Y.) University while junior Nathan Carr has 30 tackles with eight and a half for loss and two and a half sacks. Junior EJ Harvey has 19 stops with one and a half tackles for loss and half a sack while graduate student Ian Brunner has posted 14 tackles with a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, a quarterback hurry and a blocked kick versus Utica. Freshman Hunter Johnson has 14 tackles with one for loss and a pass break-up while freshman Ryan Burns has made eight tackles. Senior Drew Bailey has contributed eight tackles, one tackle for loss and a quarterback hurry while sophomore Logan Arteaga have has recorded seven stops. Sophomore EJ Boney has made two tackles while freshman Matthew Martinez has two tackles, half a sack and half a tackle for loss and senior Prince Sokpo has one stop.
THE LINEBACKER CORPS: Freshman Malachi McNeil-Harrison leads the linebackers with 42 stops on the year with nine and a half tackles for loss, five sacks, five passes defended, a forced fumble and an interception on the final play versus Utica. Junior Clay Basile has also contributed 42 tackles with four for loss, a pass break-up and a quarterback hurry while junior Ethan O'Neill has recorded 36 tackles with three for loss and one sack. Senior Chris Cacace has 36 tackles with two and a half for loss, one and a half sacks, and interception with an 11-yard return at Susquehanna University and two passed defended while senior Chad Newhard has made 32 tackles including two for loss. Graduate student Declan Coors has 16 tackles with a tackle for loss and a pass break-up while junior Jashon Teller has added 13 stops with a tackle for loss. Senior Jeremiah Espinosa has contributed seven tackles and a pass break-up while freshman Sahmad Bailey has one stop.
THE DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD: Sophomore Aidan Lane leads the defensive backs and the entire Moravian defense with 44 tackles including one for loss, an interception versus The Catholic University of America and three passes defended while sophomore Antonio Bowen has contributed 25 stops to go along with a tackle for loss, two interceptions, four passes defended and a fumble recovery. Senior Isaiah Johnson has added 20 tackles, three tackles for loss, a sack, five pass break-ups, a fumble recovery and a blocked extra-point at SUNY Morrisville while junior Shea Endean has 17 stops, an interception with a 19-yard return and nine passes defended. Sophomore Cleveland Harding has registered 14 stops and a pass break-up while junior Dorian Gray has ten tackles with a pass break-up. Freshman Antonio Rivera has eight stops while sophomore Elijah Fajardo has posted eight tackles and sophomore Anderson Louis Jeune has added five tackles with a pass break-up.
KICKING GAME: Freshman Ryan Child is 10-for-14 on extra-points of the season. Freshman Jack Corrigan has punted 32 times this fall for an average of 43.2 yards with a long of 71 yards on his second career attempt, and he has ten punts of more than 50 yards and five longer than 60 yards. Corrigan has four touchbacks, two fair caught and 11 punts inside the 20-yard line, and he has kicked off 37 times for an average of 53.5 yards and seven touchbacks. Corrigan is 7-for-8 on extra points and has had his only field goal attempt of the year blocked.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Freshman wide receiver Josh Ludlow has 11 kickoff returns for 257 yards and four punt returns for 25 yards while freshman wide receiver Jacob Sutton has four kickoff return for 90 yards. Freshman defensive back Antonio Rivera has two kickoff return for 23 yards while graduate student linebacker Declan Coors has returned two kickoffs for six yards and graduate student running back Joey Richmond has a kickoff return to 15 yards. Senior wide receiver Will Castel has three punt returns for six yards while graduate student wide receiver Jordan Bingham and Ludlow have both added two tackles on special teams. Freshman long snapper Connor Pennington and junior running back Parker Miller each have one tackle on special teams while freshman defensive lineman Hunter Johnson was credited with an 18-yard punt return on a blocked punt.
MILESTONE WATCH: The Greyhounds have a trio of student-athletes closing in on milestones for their careers. Graduate student wide receiver Jordan Bingham became the 23rd player in program history to reach 1,000 career receiving yards, now with 1,400 yards, and he needs 100 yards to become the 12th player to 1,500 yards. Bingham also has become the 12th player to reach 100 career receptions with 125 catches, which is seventh in program history, and he reached the milestone in just in 13 games. Bingham is also tied for fourth with 16 career touchdown receptions after tying the school record with four touchdowns catches at Susquehanna University, and he has 106 career points on 16 touchdowns and five two-point conversions. Bingham has seven touchdown catches this fall while senior wide receiver Diego Del Castillo has eight touchdown receptions, just three shy of the single season mark of 11. Senior quarterback Jared Jenkins is ranked fifth in program history with 5,494 passing yards, and he needs 506 yards passing to become the fourth player in to reach 6,000 yards. Jenkins is also second all-time in completions with 472, sixth in program history with 733 pass attempts and first in school history with 54 touchdown passes. Freshman punter Jack Corrigan booted the fourth-longest punt in school history on his second attempt versus Muhlenberg College in the opener with the ball traveling 71 yards, and he has five punts over 65 yards and 10 of his 32 punts have been longer than 50 yards.
SCOUTING LYCOMING COLLEGE: The Warriors enter the game at 4-4 overall and 2-2 in Landmark Conference action after a 45-0 win over Juniata College last Saturday. Sophomore quarterback Jay Huber leads the Lycoming offense on the field having completed 84-of-158 passes for 1,085 yards with nine touchdowns and seven interceptions while senior quarterback Will Fish is 48-for-98 for 583 yards with seven touchdowns and four interceptions. Their top targets have been junior wide receiver Dawson Debebe, who has 29 catches for 519 yards and six touchdowns, junior wide receiver Karson Kline, who has 28 receptions for 289 yards and two scores, and senior wide receiver Billy Coppock, who has 16 catches for 193 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore running back Terrence Oliver leads the Warriors' rushing attack with 906 yards and nine touchdown on 152 carries while sophomore running back Quasim Benson has added 202 yards on 66 carries. Junior defensive back Tyler Marshall has 13 kickoff returns for 366 yards and five punt returns for 29 yards while Benson has four kickoff returns for 142 yards and a touchdown. Junior Michael Sipps has punted 36 times for an average of 34.97 yards with a long of 64 yards, three touchbacks, 11 fair caught and five inside the 20-yard line while freshman Kyle Flack has kicked off 41 times for an average of 49.0 yards. Flack is also 29-for-29 on extra-points and 9-for-13 on field goal attempts with a long of 36 yards. Marshall leads the Lycoming defense with 44 tackles to go with two interceptions and three passes defended while senior linebacker Joey Rivituso also has 33 stops with four and a half for loss, one and a half sacks, a quarterback hurry, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Sophomore defensive lineman Stephan Goodman has made 37 tackles with eight loss and a pair of sacks while junior defensive back Ryan Pentz has 34 tackles with two for loss, three interceptions with 82 return yards and four passes defended. Junior linebacker Matt Trolinger and senior defensive lineman Jake Welch both had 33 tackles with Trolinger adding an interception with a 44-yard return, a half a tackle for loss and a half a sack and Welch contributing one and a half tackles for loss and two quarterback hurries. The Warriors defense has made a total of 13 interceptions this season while recovering eight fumbles.
THE LAST TIME THEY MET: In Williamsport last fall, Moravian set a pair of single season school record and added a career milestone but ended up falling to host Lycoming College, 31-20, in Landmark Conference action. The Warriors took the opening kickoff and drive 80 yards in 11 plays, scoring on an eight-yard pass to jump out to a 7-0 lead with 9:37 remaining in the first quarter. The Greyhounds picked up one first down on their initial possession of the afternoon before punting. Lycoming put together a 12-play, 61-yard drive into the red zone before settling for a 35-yard field goal to extend its edge to 10-0 with 1:02 to play in the opening period. The Hounds punted again on the first play of the second quarter while the Warriors ended up punting on their next possession. The Blue & Grey drive into the red zone when quarterback Jared Jenkins was intercepted at the four-yard line. The Warriors were unable to capitalize on the turnover and punted after gaining one first down. Moravian would get onto the scoreboard on the next drive as running back Nate Boyle capped the 11-play, 92-yard drive with a 14-yard run up the middle. Jenkins' two-point conversion attempt was no good to keep the Lycoming lead at 10-6 with 3:41 until the intermission. The Warriors picked up one first down before punting the ball back to the Hounds late in the quarter. The Greyhounds needed just nine plays and 1:26 to drive 80 yards into the end zone as Jenkins connected with wide receiver Bryan Monge on a 34-yard touchdown pass with just 21 seconds left in the first half. It is the sixth half this season that Moravian has scored in the final minute. Boyle ran in the two-point conversion to sed the Blue & Grey to the locker room with a 14-10 lead. Moravian had the ball to start the second half and gained 47 yards on 10 plays before turning the ball over on downs as Boyle was stopped shy of a first down at the Lycoming 25-yard line. The Hounds' defense forced the Warriors to punt after just three plays. The Blue & Grey needed just four plays to extend the lead as Jenkins connected on a 48-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Brad Bryan, who went over 1,000 career receiving yards on the catch. Jenkins attempted another two-point conversion pass but the attempt failed to leave the Moravian lead at 20-10 with 6:56 remaining in the third quarter. Lycoming punted after three plays, however, the Warriors needed just three plays to get the ball back as they intercepted Jenkins again at the Moravian 27-yard line. After the return of the interception, Lycoming needed just five plays to cover the 18 yards to the end zone as the Warriors pulled withing three points at 20-17 on a seven-yard touchdown pass with 2:58 left in the third stanza. Each squad punted once more in the third quarter, and the Hounds also punted early in the fourth period. The Warriors looked as if they would retake the lead on the next drive, however, Moravian linebacker Cavin King forced a fumble in the red zone that was recovered by defensive back Antonio Bowen. The Greyhounds gained one first down after the turnover but would punt. Lycoming countered with a six-yard touchdown run to retake the lead at 24-20 with 5:08 remaining with the score finishing off a seven-play, 57-yard drive. Both squads punted on their next possession. Moravian took over at its own 22-yard line and drove into Lycoming territory. However, Jenkins was sacked and fumbled at midfield with the Warriors scooping up the loose ball and returning it 50 yards for a touchdown to set the final score at 31-20 with 51 seconds to play. The Hounds finished the game with 412 yards on 78 plays including 351 yards through the air and 61 yards on the ground. Jenkins was 25-of-44 for 351 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. The two scoring passes give Jenkins 25 touchdown passes in 2023, breaking a tie with Sean Keville for the school record, initially set by Keville in 1994 when he threw 23 touchdowns. Jenkins also became the tenth player in program history to reach 3,000 career passing yards. Bryan caught six passes for 118 yards and a touchdown as he became the 22nd player in school history to reach 1,000 career receiving yards, now with 1,004 yards on 72 receptions in 24 career games to go along with 10 touchdown receptions. Bryan also returned three kickoffs for 54 yards. Wide receiver Jordan Bingham caught eight passes for 77 yards to give him a school record 69 catches in 2023, passing the previous mark of 65 set by Aaron Hudson in 2016. Monge finished with three catches for 73 yards including his first career touchdown reception while wide receiver Tim Garlick had three catches for 15 yards and wide receiver Jordan Lewis pulled in two receptions for 21 yards. Boyle ran for 74 yards on 22 carries and his eighth touchdown of the season, and he also caught three passes for 47 yards. Boyle now had 2,188 yards and 18 touchdowns on 533 career rushing attempts, and he has scored 134 points in his career. Running back Camron Tinajero added two carries for eight yards. Wide receiver Nick Coffaro had a pair of kickoff returns for 27 yards while wide receiver Will Castel added four punt returns for 13 yards. Colin Conway punted six times for an average of 38.8 yards with a long of 51 yards while Avery Koser kicked off four times for an average of 54.5 yards. Linebacker Chris Ortalano led the Greyhounds' defense with 11 tackles while defensive lineman Jeremy McGuigan added ten stops. Linebacker Clay Basile recorded eight tackles with a half a tackle for loss while defensive lineman EJ Harvey had seven stops with a half a tackle for loss and linebacker Ethan O'Neill made six tackles with one and a half for loss. Defensive back Aidan Lane finished with five tackles and a pass break-up while King also made five stops and forced a fumble. Defensive back Matt Capobianco also had a forced fumble and a pass break-up to go with four tackles while Bowen finished with three tackles, a fumble recovery and a pass break-up and defensive back Shea Endean added three stops and a pass break-up.
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 third in the Landmark Conference in total offense at 397.5 yards per game, and the Hounds are second in passing offense at 275.4 yards per contest and fourth in scoring at 26.1 points per outing. Moravian's defense is first in the conference at 319.9 yards per game, and the squad is second in rushing defense at 129.1 yards per contest, second in passing defense at 189.9 yards per outing and second in points per game allowed at 21.1. The Blue & Grey lead the Landmark Conference in defensive pass efficiency at a 115.9 rating, net punting at 38.4 yards per punt and red zone defense at 66.7 percent. Senior quarterback Jared Jenkins leads the Landmark Conference in passing yards per game at 270.0, and he is first in completions with 188, second in attempts with 280, first in yards with 2,160, second in touchdowns with 23 and second in passing efficiency with a 155.5 rating. Graduate student wide receiver Jordan Bingham is first in receptions per game at 7.0 and sixth in reception yards per game at 71.3 while senior wide receiver Diego Del Castillo is fourth in receiving yards at 75.5 and tied for sixth in receptions per contest at 4.4. Freshman wide receiver Josh Ludlow is third in the Landmark Conference in kickoff return average at 23.4 yards per return on 11 attempts. Graduate student running back Joey Richmond is tenth in the conference at 47.8 yards per outing. Freshman punter Jack Corrigan is second in the Landmark Conference in punting with an average of 43.2 yards per punt. Freshman linebacker Malachi McNeil-Harrison is second in the conference at 0.63 sacks per game, and he second in tackles for loss at 1.19 per outing and tied for 16th in stops per game at 5.3. Sophomore defensive back Aidan Lane is tied for 13th at 5.5 tackles per outing while junior linebacker Clay Basile is tied for 16th with 5.3 tackles per contest. Junior Nathan Carr is tied for third in tackles for loss with 1.06 per outing while junior defensive back Shea Endean is second the conference in passes defended with 1.13 per contest and junior defensive back Isaiah Johnson and McNeil-Harrison are tied for sixth in passes defended at 0.63 per contest, and sophomore defensive back Antonio Bowen is tied for fifth in interceptions per game at 0.25.
THE NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS: Moravian is tied for 27th in NCAA Division III in blocked kicks with the Greyhounds blocking four kicks so far this fall. The Hounds are also tied for 48th in fewest passes intercepted with five and 37th in red zone defense at 65.4%, allowing scores on just 16 of opponents' 24 trips to the red zone. Moravian is also tied for fifth on opponent fourth down conversion at 18.8 percent, 15th in net punting at 38.45yards per punt and 29th in passing yards per game at 276.0 yards per contest. Freshman punter Jack Corrigan ranks fifth in the nation in NCAA Division III with an average of 43.2 yards per punt. Graduate student wide receiver Jordan Bingham is 20th in the country in receptions per game at 67.0 and tied for 53rd in receiving touchdowns with seven while senior quarterback Jared Jenkins is eighth in completions per game at 23.38, 20th in passing yards with 2,165, 18th in passing yards per game at 270.6 yards per outing, 22nd in total offense at 288.3 yards per outing, 15th in passing touchdowns with 23, 52nd in pass efficiency with a 155.8 rating. 38th in points responsible per game at 17.2, 37th in points responsible for with 140 and 75th in yards per pass attempt at 7.76. Freshman linebacker Malachi McNeil-Harrison is tied for 85th in sacks per game with an average of 0.63 while junior defensive back Shea Endean is tied for 71st in the nation in passes defended with 1.10 per contest. Freshman wide receiver Josh Ludlow is 60th in kickoff returns at an average of 23.4 yards per return. Senior wide receiver Diego Del Castillo is 83rd in receiving yards at 604, and he is tied for 22nd in touchdown receptions with eight, 88th in receiving yards per game at 75.5 and 99th in yards per reception at 17.26.