BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian University football squad closes out the 2024 season with a trip to the Cape Charles Bowl as part of the 2024 Chesapeake Challenge Bowl Series between the Landmark Conference and Old Dominion Athletic Conference on Saturday, November 23 as the Greyhounds face off with Shenandoah (Va.) University. Kickoff is slated for 5:30 p.m. at Salem Football Stadium in Salem, Virginia.
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 10-10 overall record and a 7-5 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.
Shenandoah coach Scott Yoder (Hobart '01) is in his 12th year with the Hornets with a 64-51 record.
THE SERIES: Saturday's meeting will be the first meeting between the schools.
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. The Landmark Conference has announced it will be adding an eighth team in 2025 with Western Connecticut State University becoming an associate member. The Cape Henry Bowl in the 2024 Chesapeake Challenge Bowl Series features Wilkes University and the University of Washington & Lee.
POSTSEASON ACTION: Moravian is making its ninth postseason appearance and first in the Chesapeake Challenge Bowl Series with the Old Dominion Athletic Conference that began in 2023. The Greyhounds last postseason appearance was a berth in the Centennial-Middle Atlantic Conference Bowl Series in 2015. Moravian also played in five ECAC Division III Bowl Games and has participated in the NCAA Division III Tournament twice. Overall, Moravian has a 3-6 record in the postseason with a win in the NCAA Tournament in 1988 and ECAC Bowl Championships in 2005 and 2010.
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 293-of-351 passes for 2,653 yards with a school record 28 touchdowns and six interceptions, and Jenkins has run the ball 88 times for 147 yards while being sacked 27 times. Freshman Declan McCarthy is 3-for-8 for 46 yards, and he has 96 yards on 23 rushing attempts and one reception for a yard while senior Carter Hallgren is 6-for-12 for 73 yards to go with a pair of two-point conversion completions, and he also has three rushing attempts for five yards and a touchdown.
IN THE BACKFIELD: Graduate student Joey Richmond leads the Moravian rushing attack with 440 yards and five touchdowns on 88 carries with a long of 65 yards versus Juniata College while junior Isiah Rico has added 152 yards and a touchdown on 48 attempts. Freshman Jed Bendekovits has run for 135 yards and a touchdown on 23 attempts while junior Camron Tinajero has 101 yards and three touchdowns on 24 attempts. Sophomore Cole Maholtz has 61 yards on 26 carries while freshman 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 a school record 73 receptions for 836 yards and 10 touchdowns. Senior Diego Del Castillo has 48 catches for 729 yards and nine touchdowns while sophomore Avery Koser has 34 catches for 301 yards and three touchdowns. Freshman Josh Ludlow has 21 receptions for 237 yards and three touchdowns while senior Bryan Monge has added 14 receptions for 155 yards and a score. Sophomore Nick Coffaro has 10 catches for 97 yards while graduate student running back Joey Richmond has 11 catches for 80 yards and a touchdown and junior running back Isiah Rico has 12 receptions for 93 yards and a score. Senior Will Castel has three catches for 100 yards while freshman running back Jacob Sutton has two receptions for 18 yards. Junior running back Camron Tinajero has seven catches for 30 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 three catches for 31 yards.
DEFENSIVE FRONT: Senior Jeremy McGuigan leads the defensive linemen with 39 tackles, six tackles for loss, four and a half sacks, two pass break-up, a fumble recovery and a blocked kick versus Utica (N.Y.) University while junior Nathan Carr has 31 tackles with eight and a half for loss and two and a half sacks. Junior EJ Harvey has 27 stops with four and a half tackles for loss, one sack, a pass break-up and a forced fumble while freshman Hunter Johnson has 24 tackles with five and a half for loss, a half a sack and a pass break-up. Graduate student Ian Brunner has posted 15 tackles with a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, a quarterback hurry and a blocked kick versus Utica while sophomore Logan Arteaga has recorded 10 stops with one for loss. Freshman Ryan Burns has made eight tackles while senior Drew Bailey has contributed eight tackles, one tackle for loss and a quarterback hurry. Freshman Matthew Martinez has three tackles, half a sack and half a tackle for loss while sophomore EJ Boney has made two tackles and senior Prince Sokpo has one stop.
THE LINEBACKER CORPS: Junior Clay Basile leads the linebackers with 52 tackles with four and a half for loss, a pass break-up, a forced fumble and a quarterback hurry. Freshman Malachi McNeil-Harrison has added 46 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 while senior Chris Cacace has 44 tackles with three for loss, two sacks, and interception with an 11-yard return at Susquehanna University and two passed defended. Junior Ethan O'Neill has recorded 40 tackles with four for loss and one and a half sacks while senior Chad Newhard has made 39 tackles including two and a half for loss, a half a sack and a pass break-up. Graduate student Declan Coors has 22 tackles with two tackles for loss and a pass break-up while junior Jashon Teller has added 19 stops with two and a half tackles for loss, a half a sack and a quarterback hurry. Senior Jeremiah Espinosa has contributed 10 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 58 tackles including two and a half for loss, an interception versus The Catholic University of America, four passes defended and a forced fumble while sophomore Antonio Bowen has contributed 26 stops to go along with a tackle for loss, two interceptions, four passes defended and a fumble recovery. Senior Isaiah Johnson has added 24 tackles, three tackles for loss, a sack, six pass break-ups, two fumble recoveries and a blocked extra-point at SUNY Morrisville while junior Shea Endean has 20 stops, an interception with a 19-yard return and nine passes defended. Junior Dorian Gray has 20 tackles with one for loss, a sack and a pass break-up while sophomore Cleveland Harding has registered 16 stops and 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 43 times this fall for an average of 42.6 yards with a long of 71 yards on his second career attempt, and he has 11 punts of more than 50 yards and six longer than 60 yards. Corrigan has five touchbacks, three fair caught and 14 punts inside the 20-yard line with two blocked, and he has kicked off 47 times for an average of 52.0 yards and seven touchbacks. Corrigan is 15-for-17 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 10 punt returns for 63 yards while freshman wide receiver Jacob Sutton has six kickoff return for 128 yards. Freshman wide receiver Justin Wistuba has returned five kickoffs for 44 yards to go with a pair of tackles while freshman defensive back Antonio Rivera has two kickoff return for 23 yards. Graduate student linebacker Declan Coors has returned four kickoffs for 16 yards while 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 ninth player in program history to reach 1,600 career receiving yards, now with 1,666 yards, and he needs 34 yards to become the sixth player to 1,700 yards. Bingham also became the 12th player to reach 100 career receptions with 142 catches, which is third in program history, and he reached the milestone in just in 18 games. Bingham is second with 17 career touchdown receptions after tying the school record with four touchdowns catches at Susquehanna University, and he has 124 career points on 19 touchdowns and five two-point conversions. Bingham has 10 touchdown catches this fall while senior wide receiver Diego Del Castillo has nine touchdown receptions, just shy of the single season mark of 11. Bingham has another school record 73 catches in 2024 after setting the single season record with 69 in 2023. Senior quarterback Jared Jenkins is ranked fourth in program history with 5,987 passing yards, and he needs 13 yards passing to become the fourth player in to reach 6,000 yards. Jenkins is also second all-time in completions with 523, fourth in program history with 804 pass attempts and first in school history with 59 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 six punts over 65 yards and 11 of his 47 punts have been longer than 50 yards.
SCOUTING SHENANDOAH UNIVERSITY: The Hornets enter the game at 8-2 overall after a 28-21 victory over the University of Washington & Lee last Saturday to clinch the second seed in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference standings. Shenandoah is led on the field by senior quarterback Steven Hugney, who is 154-of-254 for 2,099 yards to go with 18 touchdowns and nine interceptions, and he has added 393 yards and six touchdowns on 83 rushing attempts. Hugney's top targets have been senior wide receiver Broden Domenico, who has 57 receptions for 765 yards and six touchdowns, senior wide receiver Guy Hayes, who has caught 22 passes for 305 yards and three scores, senior wide receiver Michael Sheil, who has 17 receptions for 273 yards and three touchdowns, and sophomore wide receiver Myles Miller, who has 11 catches for 197 yards and two scores. Junior running back Jalen Redfearn leads the Hornets' rushing attack with 851 yards and 13 touchdowns on 142 carries to go with two receptions for 52 yards and a score while sophomore running back Bryce Buchanan has 486 yards and eight touchdowns on 64 attempts to go with four receptions for 40 yards and a score. Domenico has also returned 12 kickoffs for 256 yards while senior defensive back Sean Perry has 12 punt returns for 43 yards and seven kickoff returns for 175 yards. Junior Cody Crawford has punted 23 times for an average of 39.74 yards with a long of 55 yards, six fair caught, one touchback, eight inside the 20-yard line and three of more than 50 yards. Senior Scott Martin is 48-for-50 on extra-points and 4-of-7 on field goal attempts with a long of 40 yards, and he has kicked off 54 times for an average of 58.3 yards with seven touchbacks. Junior linebacker Matt Conroy leads the Shenandoah defense with 94 tackles to go with seven tackles for loss, a sack, three interceptions, seven passes defended, three quarterback hurries and two forced fumbles. Senior defensive back Ahvyon Boothe has made 75 tackles with one for loss, two pass break-ups and a forced fumble while graduate student defensive end Ethan Brown has 57 stops with six and a half tackles for loss, two sacks, two quarterback hurries, a forced fumble and a blocked kick. Perry has contributed 53 tackles with two for loss, three interceptions, five passes defended and a fumble recovery while senior linebacker Jamarcus Davis and senior defensive back Liban Farah both have 38 tackles with Davis adding one and half tackles for loss, two pass break-ups, a quarterback hurry, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble and Farah registering three tackles for loss, two sacks, an interception, three passes defended, a quarterback hurry and two forced fumbles.
THE LAST TIME THEY MET: This is the first meeting between the Greyhounds and Hornets.
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 fourth in the Landmark Conference in total offense at 394.3 yards per game, and the Hounds are second in passing offense at 277.2 yards per contest and third in scoring at 27.1 points per outing. Moravian's defense is first in the conference at 330.1 yards per game, and the squad is third in rushing defense at 138.7 yards per contest, first in passing defense at 191.4 yards per outing and second in points per game allowed at 23.9. The Blue & Grey lead the Landmark Conference in net punting at 37.5 yards per punt and red zone defense at 71.0 percent (allowing scores on 22 of 31 opponent trips inside the 20-yard line). Senior quarterback Jared Jenkins leads the Landmark Conference in passing yards per game at 265.3, and he is first in completions with 239, second in attempts with 351, first in yards with 2,653, tied for first in touchdowns with 28 and second in passing efficiency with a 154.5 rating. Graduate student wide receiver Jordan Bingham is first in receptions per game at 7.3, second in reception yards per game at 83.6 and sixth in scoring at 6.4 points per game while senior wide receiver Diego Del Castillo is sixth in receiving yards at 72.9 and fifth in receptions per contest at 4.8. Freshman wide receiver Josh Ludlow is third in the Landmark Conference in kickoff return average at 23.4 yards per return on 11 attempts, and he is third in punt returns with an average of 6.3 yards on ten returns. Freshman punter Jack Corrigan is second in the Landmark Conference in punting with an average of 42.6 yards per punt. Freshman linebacker Malachi McNeil-Harrison is second in the conference at 0.56 sacks per game, and he third in tackles for loss at 1.08 per outing, tied for seventh in passes defended with 0.67 per outing and 19th in stops per game at 5.1 while senior defensive lineman Jeremy McGuigan is tied for sixth in the conference in sacks with 0.45 per contest. Sophomore defensive back Aidan Lane is tied for 12th at 5.8 tackles per outing while junior linebacker Clay Basile is 18th with 5.2 tackles per contest. Junior Nathan Carr is fifth in tackles for loss with 0.94 per outing while junior defensive back Shea Endean is second the conference in passes defended with 0.90 per contest. Junior defensive back Isaiah Johnson is tied for tenth in passes defended at 0.60 per contest while sophomore defensive back Antonio Bowen is tied for fourth in interceptions per game at 0.22.
THE NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS: Moravian is tied for 42nd in NCAA Division III in blocked kicks with the Greyhounds blocking four kicks so far this fall. The Hounds are also tied for 41st in fewest passes intercepted with six and 43rd in time of possession with an average of 31:37 minutes per game. Moravian is 32nd in opponent fourth down conversion at 31.8 percent, 21st in net punting at 37.53 yards per punt and 26th in passing yards per game at 277.7 yards per contest. Freshman punter Jack Corrigan ranks fifth in the nation in NCAA Division III with an average of 42.6 yards per punt. Graduate student wide receiver Jordan Bingham is 12th in the country in receptions per game at 7.3, 55th in receiving yards with 836, 62nd in receiving yards per game at 83.6 and tied for 34th in receiving touchdowns with 10 while senior quarterback Jared Jenkins is eighth in completions per game at 23.80, 16th in passing yards with 2,658, 18th in passing yards per game at 265.8 yards per outing, 26th in total offense at 280.5 yards per outing, 17th in passing touchdowns with 28, 54th in pass efficiency with a 154.8 rating. 32nd in points responsible per game at 17.6, 29th in points responsible for with 176, 26th in completion percentage at 68.0% and 87th in yards per pass attempt at 7.59. Senior wide receiver Diego Del Castillo is tied for 44th in touchdown receptions with nine, 88th in receiving yards at 729 and 98th in receiving yards per game at 72.9.
