Monday, September 10, 2001
MORAVIAN AT FDU-MADISON FOOTBALL PREVIEW
1:00 p.m.; Saturday, September 15, 2001
Robert T. Shields Field (c. 4,000); Madison, NJ
THE GAME: Moravian looks to win its first game of the season in its first road
contest, traveling to Madison, New Jersey to battle FDU-Madison in a Middle Atlantic Conference
Game. Kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m. at Robert T. Shields Field.
THE COACHES: Scot Dapp (West Chester '73) is in his 15th season at Moravian, with
a career record of 88-55-1 (.615). He entered the season 43rd in winning percentage
among NCAA Division III active coaches. Dapp has earned Coach-of-the-Year
accolades from the MAC three times including Co-Coach of the Year honors in 1997 and has
led the 'Hounds to two appearances in the NCAA playoffs.
FDU-Madison coach Bill Klika (Colgate '67) is in his 25th season at the school
with an overall mark of 68-146-1 (.319).
THE SERIES: Saturday's meeting will be the 7th in the series with the Greyhounds
owning a 5-1 lead. Moravian won last season's meeting, 36-13, and the Greyhounds
won the first four meetings in the series. FDU-Madison's only victory came in 1999
with a 13-10 win, the last time the two squads played in Madison, NJ.
LAST TIME THEY MET: In Bethlehem last fall, the Greyhounds jumped out to a 16-0
halftime lead and the squad led 23-0 before winning 36-13. Running backs Frank
Starner and Tim Barlok (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic HS) each gained 54
yards with one touchdown and fullback P.J. Jankowicz had 32 yards and a touchdown
to become the seventh player in Moravian history to surpass the 2,000-yard career rushing
mark. Tailback David Darmofal (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights HS) added
32 yards on the ground. Quarterback Charlie Bowden (Parlin, NJ/Sayreville War
Memorial HS) completed 16 of 23 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns, both to Jankowicz,
who led the receivers with 73 yards on three catches. Running back Ed Cracchiolo led
FDU-Madison with 65 yards on 14 carries with one touchdown. Quarterback Mark Pollifrone completed
seven of 12 pass attempts for the Devils for 85 yards. Wideout Keith O'Hara had
three catches for 42 yards for FDU-Madison. On the defensive side of the ball, the
Greyhounds were led by linebacker John Cupples (Allentown, PA/Allentown Central Catholic
HS) who had ten tackles. Defensive end Dustin Collier had five tackles,
a sack, a fumble recovery and an interception for Moravian. Linebacker Tom Pouliot led
the FDU-Madison defense with 11 tackles with one for loss.
LAST WEEK: The Greyhounds opened the 2001 season with a disappointing 14-13
loss to King's College. Moravian led 13-0 heading to the fourth quarter but was unable
to hold on for the win. The Greyhounds led 6-0 at halftime after a pair of second
quarter field goals. Senior Marc Roesch (Egg Harbor City, NJ/St. Augustine HS) connected
on a career-long of 40 yards with 12:38 minutes left and senior Jim McIntyre (Hackettstown,
NJ/Hackettstown HS) made a 32-yarder with 11 seconds left in the half. Roesch also
made his debut as the Greyhounds punter and was called on ten times. He averaged
29.1 yards per kick with a long of 42 yards and five downed inside the 20-yard line. Moravian
extended the lead to 13-0 with 1:33 left in the third quarter on a two-yard touchdown dive
by sophomore tailback Tim Barlok. McIntyre made the extra-point. Barlok,
who averaged over 60 yards per game last season, was held to six yards on seven carries
by the King's defense. The Monarch defense held the entire Moravian running game
to just 16 yards on 31 carries. Junior quarterback Charlie Bowden led the
Greyhound offense, completing 19 of 39 passes for 226 yards. Bowden's top
target was junior wide receiver Jarod Rhinehart (Washington, NJ/Warren Hills Regional
HS) who caught four passes for 90 yards. Bowden completed a pass to nine
different players in the game. Sophomore tailback Dave Darmofal led the Greyhounds
on the ground with just 10 yards on five carries. Defensively, junior linebacker Bill
Engler (Coopersburg, PA/Southern Lehigh HS), sophomore linebacker Steve Maslanek
(Stockholm, NJ/Vernon Township HS) and sophomore cornerback John Panikiewsky (Carteret,
NJ/Carteret HS) each made ten tackles for the Greyhounds. Panikiewsky had
two tackles for loss while Maslanek recovered one fumble. Junior defensive lineman Pat
Mancini (Milford, NJ/Delaware Valley Regional HS), who had seven tackles, and Panikiewsky each
forced fumbles in the game. Junior linebacker John Cupples had seven tackles
with one sack and a forced fumble while Cowlishaw had eight tackles in his first
career start. Senior safety Mike Wukitsch (Allentown, PA/Allentown Central Catholic
HS) and junior defensive lineman Tom Blackledge (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge HS) each
had fumble recoveries in the game. Blackledge and McIntyre each made
five stops.
SCOUTING FDU-MADISON: The Devils enter Saturday's game with an overall and MAC
record of 0-1 after a tough 28-26 loss at Juniata College on a field goal with nine seconds
left in regulation last weekend. FDU-Madison used two quarterbacks last Saturday
with sophomore quarterback Mike Passero completing nine of 17 passes for 141 yards
and one touchdown and junior signal caller Patrick O'Neill completing four of 13
passes for 88 yards and one touchdown. O'Neill, who was intercepted three
times, had a long throw of 70 yards while Passero had a long of 36 yards. The
top targets for the Devils have been junior Quadir Muhammad, five catches for 65
yards and a score, senior wideout Frank Uhrin, four receptions for 130 yards and
a touchdown, and sophomore wide receiver Mike Daly, four catches for 34 yards. On
the ground, junior running back Ed Cracchiolo gained 214 yards on 37 carries with
two touchdowns last weekend at Juniata. Junior Nathan Teale was called on
eight times to punt last Saturday and he averaged 30.9 yards per punt with a long of 46
yards. Junior place kicker Eric Eickhorst was two for two on extra-points. Senior
defensive lineman Ken Freeman led the Devils defense with ten tackles last weekend
with two pass break-ups and two forced fumbles. Senior linebacker Justin Zaleski also
had ten tackles with three pass break-ups and a forced fumble. Junior linebacker Mike
Biancella and junior defensive back Frank Nolasco each had nine tackles in the
game with Nolasco making three tackles for loss. Freshman defensive back Steve
Butler made two interceptions last weekend and he recovered one fumble to go along
with three tackles.
YOUNG, BALANCED & EXPERIENCED 'HOUNDS: Of the 84 players on the Moravian roster,
30 are freshmen, 19 are sophomores and 26 are juniors. There are nine seniors on
this season's squad and the Greyhounds return 39 letterwinners and 16 starters.
GREYHOUNDS IN THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC CONFERENCE: Beginning this season, the Middle
Atlantic Conference will be an 11-team conference instead of two separate leagues. Moravian
was selected to finish fourth in the MAC Preseason Coaches Poll this season while FDU-Madison
was picked tenth in the MAC poll. Widener University, which reached the NCAA semifinals
last season, was again selected as the top team in the MAC.
MAC STATISTICAL RANKINGS: The Greyhound defense is ranked third in the Middle Atlantic
Conference after the first week of statistical rankings by the conference. Moravian
is allowing 263.0 yards per game. The defensive squad is fourth in passing defense
at 115.0 yards per game, seventh in rushing defense at 148.0 yards per game and fourth
in scoring defense at 14.0 points per game. Offensively, the Greyhounds are ranked
ninth in total offense at 242.0 yards per contest. Moravian is fourth in passing
offense at 226.0 yards per contest, eighth in scoring offense at 13.0 points per game and
11th in rushing defense at 16.0 yards per game. Individually, junior quarterback Charlie
Bowden is ranked third in the MAC in passing yards per game at 226.0. Bowden is
sixth in total offense at 200.0 yards per game and eighth in pass efficiency at 97.4. Junior
wide receiver Jarod Rhinehart is raked sixth in receiving yards per contest with
an average of 90.0. Senior kicker Marc Roesch is ninth in punting with an
average of 29.1 yards per punt. Roesch is seventh in kick scoring at 3.0 points
per game and he is tied for second in the MAC in field goals per game at 1.0 and tied for
first in field goal percentage at 1.000. Senior kicker Jim McIntyre is tied
for fourth in kick scoring at 4.0 points per game, tied for second in field goals per game
with 1.0 and tied for first in extra-point percentage at 1.000. Junior linebacker Bill
Engler, sophomore linebacker Steve Maslanek and sophomore cornerback John
Panikiewsky are all tied for fourth in the MAC in tackles per game at 10.0 tackles
a contest.
BOWDEN LEADING THE 'HOUNDS OFFENSE: Junior quarterback Charlie Bowden completed
19 of 39 passes for 226 yards last weekend in the Greyhounds loss to King's. Bowden
hit nine different receivers in the game.
IN THE BACKFIELD: Sophomore tailback David Darmofal led the Greyhound rushing
attack last Saturday with 10 yards on five carries. Senior fullback Jerod Dobry
(Pottstown, PA/St. Pius X HS) had nine yards on two carries while sophomore tailback Tim
Barlok had six yards and a touchdown on seven attempts.
THE WIDE RECEIVERS: The Greyhounds had nine different players catch a pass last
Saturday, led by junior wide receiver Jarod Rhinehart who had four receptions for
90 yards. Sophomore wide receiver Jeff Lowry (Catawissa, PA/Southern Columbia
HS) had three catches for 28 yards while sophomore wideout Kevin Miltenberger (Carlisle,
PA/Carlisle HS) had three receptions for 26 yards. Senior wide receiver Michael
Abbate (South Plainfield, NJ/Bishop Ahr HS), who played sparingly while recovering
from an injury, grabbed three passes for 20 yards.
OFFENSIVE LINE: Moravian has three starters back on the offensive line this season
led by senior right tackle Matt Gray (Point Pleasant, NJ/Point Pleasant HS). Also
back on the line are center sophomore Josh Zagorski (Morris Plains, NJ/Parsippany Hills
HS) and junior left guard John Giacchi (Franklin, NJ/Pope John XXIII HS). Moravian's
offensive line will average 6'0", 265 this season. The two new starters this season
are freshman Andrew Leska (Coopersburg, PA/Southern Lehigh HS) and sophomore right
guard Jeff Andruczyk (Hampton, NJ/Voorhees HS).
DEFENSIVE FRONT: Junior nose tackle Pat Mancini led the front six for the
Greyhounds with seven tackles last weekend. Mancini had seven tackles and
forced one fumble in the game. Junior defensive end Tom Blackledge added five
tackles; two for loss and one fumble recovery. Senior defensive end John Kwiatkowski
(Whitehall, PA/Whitehall HS) and junior nose guard Brian Cascioli (Center Valley,
PA/Southern Lehigh HS) each made one tackle in the game with Cascioli's stop coming
for a loss.
THE LINEBACKERING CORP: Junior inside linebacker Bill Engler and sophomore
outside linebacker Steve Maslanek each had ten tackles in the game versus King's
last Saturday. Maslanek also recovered a fumble in the game as did junior
inside linebacker John Cupples. Cupples had the Greyhounds only sack
of the game and he had a total of seven stops. Junior outside linebacker Vince
Cowlishaw, who was making his first career start, had eight tackles including two for
losses and one pass break-up.
THE DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD: Sophomore cornerback John Panikiewsky had 10 tackles
as a starter. Panikiewsky added two tackles for loss and one forced fumble. Junior
safety Jarrod Pence (Livingston, NJ/Livingston HS) made four tackles last Saturday
versus King's and he led the Greyhounds with two pass break-ups. Senior cornerback Jim
McIntyre had five tackles while senior safety Mike Wukitsch added three tackles
and a fumble recovery.
KICKING GAME: Senior Marc Roesch is kicking off and punting for the Greyhounds
this season. He had four kickoffs last weekend and was called on ten times to punt. Roesch averaged
29.1 yards per punt with a long of 42 yards. Five of his punts were placed inside
the 20-yard line. Roesch also kicked a career-long 40-yard field goal against
King's to open the scoring. Senior Jim McIntyre made a 32-yard field last
week and he was one for one on extra-points. Backing up Roesch and McIntyre will
be sophomore Joshua Miller (Boyertown/Boyertown HS).
SPECIAL TEAMS: Sophomore Tim Barlok had three kickoff returns for an average
of 16.3 yards with a long return of 22 yards. Junior tailback Josh Fick (Emmaus,
PA/ Emmaus HS) returned four punts last weekend for 13 yards with a long of seven yards.
OVERTIME 'HOUNDS: Moravian has played a total of seven overtime games since the
NCAA instituted the rule for the 1996 season and is 5-2 all-time in the extra-session. Last
year was the first time since 1996 that the Greyhounds did not play at least one overtime
game.
WINNING WAYS: Moravian had 11 consecutive winning seasons-all under Coach Scot
Dapp, from 1987 to 1997 and the squad has had 12 winning seasons in Dapp's first
14 years. The 11 straight winning seasons is the longest streak in school history. Dapp
ranks third among Greyhound coaches in winning percentage.
ON THE AIRWAVES: For the fifth straight year, the Greyhounds football game will
be aired on WGPA, Sunny 1100 AM. Phil May calls the play-by-play call with color
commentary from Jim Wills.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Please contact SID Mark Fleming, either at Moravian's
sports information office (610/861-1472) or at home (610/758-8721) or FDU-Madison SID W.
Scott Giglio at (973/443-8965).
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