Sports News: Fall 2002

Monday, October 28, 2002

MORAVIAN COLLEGE GREYHOUNDS, 5-2 (5-2 MAC)

ALBRIGHT COLLEGE LIONS, 2-5 (2-4 MAC)

1:00 p.m.; Saturday, November 2, 2002
Steel Field (c. 2,500); Bethlehem, PA

THE GAME: Moravian will try extend its winning streak to five consecutive games in a Middle Atlantic Conference contest versus Albright College. Kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m. at Steel Field in Bethlehem, PA.

THE COACHES: Scot Dapp (West Chester ’73) is in his 16th season at Moravian, with a career record of 98-61-1 (.616). He entered the season 45th 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.

Albright coach E.J. Sandusky (Penn State ’92) is in his sixth season at the school with an overall mark of 28-30 (.483).

THE SERIES: Saturday’s meeting will be the 58th in the series with Albright holding a 32-24-1 advantage. The Lions won last year, 30-21, in Reading while Moravian captured the last contest in Bethlehem, 27-17, in 2000.

LAST TIME THEY MET: In Reading last fall, Moravian wideout Michael Abbate pulled down a 33-yard reception early in the second quarter for the 100th of his career, making him the fifth Greyhound in school history to catch 100 passes. Abbate finished the game with six receptions for 111 yards and a touchdown but it wasn’t enough as the Greyhounds fell to Albright College, 30-21, in Middle Atlantic Conference action and Albright’s annual Pretzel Bowl. Moravian jumped out to a 7-0 lead with 7:10 left in the first quarter on a ten-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Charlie Bowden (Parlin, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial HS) to tailback Tim Barlok. Senior Jim McIntyre made the extra-point. Albright scored the next 16 points in the game with the first eight coming off an interception of Bowden to start the drive and the final two when the Lions blocked a punt attempt by kicker Marc Roesch. Albright scored on its first possession of the second half to take a 23-7 lead with 13:25 left in the third quarter. The Greyhounds cut Albright’s lead to 23-15 with 7:42 remaining in the third quarter on a nine-yard touchdown scamper off the left side by tailback David Darmofal (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights HS) and a run by Bowden for the two-point conversion. Darmofal finished the game with 55 yards on ten carries while the Moravian running attack was led by Barlok, who had 97 yards on 23 carries. Moravian kept itself in the game with a 22-yard pass from Bowden, who completed 15 of 34 passes for 159 yards, to Abbate. A failed two-point conversion made the score 30-21 with 6:35 left to play in the fourth quarter. Defensively for Moravian, linebacker Bill Engler (Coopersburg, PA/Southern Lehigh HS) had 11 tackles. Defensive back John Panikiewsky (Carteret, NJ/Carteret HS) had ten tackles while linebacker John Cupples (Allentown, PA/Allentown Central Catholic HS) added seven tackles with two for loss in the game.

LAST GAME: Junior tailback David Darmofal ran for a career high 107 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries to lead Moravian to a 22-7 victory over Wilkes University in MAC action. The victory was Moravian’s fourth in a row, its longest winning streak since a five-game streak in 1997. Moravian took a 7-0 with 10:09 remaining in the first quarter on a seven-yard touchdown run by Darmofal and an extra-point kick by freshman Nate Strohl (Coplay, PA/Whitehall HS). The Colonels tied the score with 10:29 left in the second quarter. Moravian would take the lead for good with 4:33 remaining in the third quarter on a three-yard scamper by Darmofal. Strohl would have the next three points in the game, connecting on a 35-yard field goal with 5:41 remaining in the contest. On the drive, Moravian moved the ball just 23 yards on eight carries by Darmofal and one by senior quarterback Charlie Bowden. The Greyhounds finished out the scoring on Wilkes next drive when senior cornerback Jarrod Pence (Livingston, NJ/Livingston HS) stepped in front of a pass and returned it 57 yards for a touchdown. Strohl missed the extra-point to set the final score at 22-7 with 4:24 remaining in the contest. Bowden completed eight of 18 pass attempts for 90 yards but he was intercepted twice. Bowden also added 11 yards on five carries. Senior wide receiver Jarod Rhinehart (Washington, NJ/Warren Hills Regional HS) caught two passes for 34 yards while senior tight end Rick Kulp (Walnutport, PA/Northampton HS) gradded two passes for 19 yards in the victory. Senior linebacker John Cupples led the defense with 11 tackles, including two for loss and one of four Greyhound interceptions in the game. Senior defensive lineman Pat Mancini (Milford, NJ/Delaware Valley Regional HS) had nine tackles while sophomore defensive end Shawn Nelson (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic HS) and junior linebacker Steve Maslanek (Stockholm, NJ/Vernon Township HS) both had seven tackles in the game. Junior cornerback Nate Pogue (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty HS) and freshman linebacker Richie Cline (Union Beach, NJ/Keyport HS) had interceptions in the game.

SCOUTING ALBRIGHT: The Lions come into Saturday's game with a record of 2-5 and a 2-4 slate in the MAC. Albright is coming off a 35-12 loss at Lycoming College last Saturday. Sophomore quarterback John Port leads the Lions on the field. Port has completed 159 of 257 passes for 1,970 yards with 17 touchdowns and eight interceptions. His top targets have been sophomore wide receiver Nick Cushman, who has 47 receptions for 512 yards and four scores, junior wideout Jesse Dorais, who has 35 catches for 609 yards and six touchdowns, and senior wide receiver Jason Scheerer, who has 32 receptions for 367 yards and three scores. Sophomore tailback Adam Hubley leads the Albright rushing attack with 390 yards and five touchdowns on 104 carries. Senior running back Keith Johnson has added 182 yards and a score on 63 carries. Scheerer is averaging 11.7 yards on 15 punt returns while Cushman is netting 18.8 yards a kickoff return. Junior punter Burt Wenzel is averaging 33.8 yards per punt this fall while freshman kicker Dustin Kaplan is 26 of 29 this season on extra-point attempts and two for four on field goals attempts with a long of 34 yards. Defensively for Albright, senior linebacker Mike Gancarz leads the squad with 62 tackles including nine tackles for loss and two and a half sacks. Sophomore linebacker Brian Alboucq and sophomore safety Mikki Sprenkle both have contributed 47 tackles with Sprenkle adding two interceptions and three pass break-ups. Junior cornerback Jack Byers leads the Lions with three interceptions this season while sophomore defensive end Marc Shoemaker has a team leading five and a half sacks among his 21 stops this year. Shoemaker has a total of eight tackles for loss.

MAC HONORS: Moravian had a pair of players named to the Middle Atlantic Conference Weekly Honor Roll for their performances last week at Wilkes University. Senior linebacker John Cupples and junior tailback David Darmofal were both honored by the MAC for their contributions in Moravian's 22-7 victory.

GREYHOUNDS IN THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC CONFERENCE: Beginning last season, the Middle Atlantic Conference became an 11-team conference instead of two separate leagues. Moravian was selected to finish sixth in the MAC Preseason Coaches Poll this season while Wilkes was picked eighth. Widener, which reached the NCAA quarterfinals last season, was again selected as the top team in the MAC.

MAC STATISTICAL RANKINGS: Moravian is ranked fourth in the MAC in total defense, allowing 330.3 yards per game. The squad is tenth in passing defense at 248.7 yards per game and the defense is third in rushing yards allowed at 81.6. The Greyhounds are third in points allowed at 19.7 per game and the squad is seventh in points scored per game at 25.1. Offensively, Moravian is ninth in the MAC at 312.1 yards per game. The Greyhounds are ranked fifth in rushing offense at 162.3 yards per game and ninth in passing offense at 149.9 yards per game. Moravian is tied for seventh in turnover margin with a -0.29 per game average as the team has committed 21 turnovers while forcing 19 turnovers. Individually, junior tailback David Darmofal is seventh in rushing, averaging 61.3 yards per game and he is tied for sixth in scoring at 6.0 points per game. Senior quarterback Charlie Bowden is seventh in passing yards per game at 143.0 yards per game and he is fifth in pass efficiency at 119.5 and eight in total offense at 144.9 yards per game. Junior wide receiver Kevin Miltenberger (Carlisle, PA/Carlisle HS) is sixth in punt returns with an average of 7.6 yards. Sophomore wide receiver Jed Warsager (Newton, NJ/Andover HS) is second in kickoff returns, averaging 28.1 yards a return with one touchdown. Junior punter John McLain (Belvidere, NJ/Belvidere HS) leads the MAC in punting at 40.1 yards per kick. Freshman Nate Strohl is second in kick scoring a 5.3 points per game, first in field goals per game at 1.0, second in field goal percentage at 77.8 and seventh in PAT percentage at 80.0 percent. Junior cornerback Nate Pogue leads the MAC in interceptions at 0.71 per game and second in pass break-ups with 13 while senior cornerback Jarrod Pence is tied for seventh at 0.43 interceptions per game and first in pass break-ups with 15. Senior linebacker John Cupples is fifth in tackles at 9.0 per game and he leads the conference with four forced fumbles.

NCAA STATISTICS: Moravian has eight players ranked and the Greyhounds’ defense was ranked in the NCAA Division III football statistics last week. Moravian’s highest ranked individual was senior linebacker John Cupples, who was tied for first in the nation in forced fumbles per game at 0.67. Senior linebacker Vince Cowlishaw (Chatham, NJ/Chatham HS) was tied for sixth in the same category at 0.50 forced fumbles per game. Senior defensive lineman Tom Blackledge (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge HS) was tied for 11th in the country last week in tackles for loss with an average of 2.5 per game. Senior defensive back Jarrod Pence was tied for eighth in the nation in passes defended at 2.3 per game while junior defensive back Nate Pogue was tied for 24th in passes defended at 1.8 per game. Moravian’s other three players were ranked in special teams categories with freshman kicker Nate Strohl tied for 17th in field goals per game with an average of 1.0, junior punter John McLain was 13th in the country in punting with an average of 40.3 yards per punt, and sophomore wide receiver Jed Warsager ranked 18th in the nation in kickoff returns with an average of 29.2 yards per return. The Greyhounds were 15th in the country in rushing defense, allowing 74.2 yards per game on the ground.

MILESTONE WATCH: Senior wideout Jarod Rhinehart surpassed the 1,000-yard milestone last season. Rhinehart has 1,322 yards (eighth) on 99 career receptions (sixth). Rhinehart needs three receptions to move to fifth and 79 yards to move into seventh. Senior quarterback Charlie Bowden is also moving up the record books. He has completed 353 (fourth) of 689 (fourth) passes for 4,657 (fourth) yards with 36 touchdowns (third). Bowden needs 874 yards, 63 completions, and 100 attempts to move into third in each category and he needs 12 touchdowns to tie the school record of 48. Senior tailback Josh Fick (Emmaus, PA/Emmaus HS) became the 17th Greyhound to reach 1,000 yards rushing in the Lebanon Valley game. Fick has 1,155 yards (14th) on 210 carries with 17 touchdowns in his career. Fick needs 158 yards to move into 12th in career rushing.

BOWDEN LEADING THE ‘HOUNDS OFFENSE: Senior quarterback Charlie Bowden has completed 68 of 142 passes for 1,001 yards with 12 touchdowns and 11 interceptions this year. Junior Will Seng (Allentown, PA/William Allen HS) has completed three of seven passes for 25 yards while freshman Jerry Venturino (Hopatcong, NJ/Hopatcong HS) has completed one of three attempts for 23 yards.

IN THE BACKFIELD: Junior tailback David Darmofal leads the Greyhounds with 429 yards and five touchdowns on 108 carries. His 100-yard game against Wilkes was the second of Darmofal's season and career. Senior fullback Eric Gustafson (Collingswood, NJ/Collingswood HS) has picked up 218 yards on 48 carries while sophomore fullback Bill Carasia (Fair Haven, NJ/Rumson-Fair Haven HS) has 96 yards on 29 carries. Senior tailback Josh Fick has 245 yards and a touchdown on 61 attempts while freshman Kevin Lukich (Ogdensburg, NJ/Wallkill Valley) has 52 yards on 12 carries.

THE WIDE RECEIVERS: Senior tight end Rick Kulp has pulled down a team high 14 passes for 202 yards and three touchdowns while junior wide receiver Kevin Miltenberger has 13 receptions for 169 yards and two touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Jarod Rhinehart has also caught 13 passes for 200 yards while freshman wideout Ben Hawkins (Belmar, NJ/Manasquan HS) has 11 receptions for 242 yards and four scores. Junior wide receiver Jeff Lowry (Catawissa, PA/Southern Columbia HS) has six catches for 88 yards while junior tailback David Darmofal has six receptions for 48 yards and two scores. Senior fullback Eric Gustafson has pulled down four aerials for 14 yards while sophomore wideout Jed Warsager has three receptions for 72 yards and a touchdown.

DEFENSIVE FRONT: Senior defensive end Tom Blackledge leads the Hounds up front defensively with 44 tackles including 19 for loss, three pass break-ups and two and a half of Moravian's 11 sacks. Sophomore defensive end Shawn Nelson has added 23 tackles with five for loss and two fumble recoveries while senior nose tackle Pat Mancini has 25 stops with four for loss and a pair of fumble recoveries. Sophomore lineman Kevin McLaughlin (Philadelphia, PA/Northeast Catholic HS) has added seven tackles.

THE LINEBACKER CORPS: Senior John Cupples leads the defense with 63 tackles. Cupples also has one and a half sacks, four pass break-ups, four forced fumbles, an interception and ten tackles for loss. Senior Bill Engler has 44 tackles with one fumble recovery and two pass break-ups while senior Vince Cowlishaw has added 41 tackles, two sacks, three forced fumbles, two pass break-ups and seven tackles for loss. Junior Steve Maslanek has 35 tackles with six for loss while freshman Richie Cline has added 19 tackles, one and half a sack, a forced fumble and seven tackles for loss.

THE DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD: Junior safety John Panikiewsky leads the Moravian defensive backs with 50 tackles. He has added seven tackles for loss, one sack, a fumble recovery, seven pass break-ups and an interception. Senior cornerback Jarrod Pence has made 32 tackles and 13 pass break-ups and three interceptions while junior cornerback Nate Pogue has added 29 tackles and five interceptions, nine pass break-ups and two forced fumbles. Sophomore rover Bill Skriletz (Coopersburg, PA/Southern Lehigh HS) has 25 tackles, two for loss, a sack, an interception and seven pass break-ups while senior Paul Block (East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park HS) has contributed 10 tackles and five pass break-ups. Freshman Andy Fick (Emmaus, PA/Emmaus HS) has added six tackles, two pass break-ups and a fumble recovery.

KICKING GAME: Freshman Nate Strohl is 16-for-20 on extra-points in his debut and seven-for-nine on field goal attempts with a career-long of 43 yards against Widener. Strohl, who made his first 12 extra-point attempts before missing, has made his last seven of his last eight field goal attempts. Junior John McLain has been called on to punt 35 times this season and he is averaging 40.1 yards per kick with nine punts over 50 yards, two of 60 yards and ten downed inside the 20 yard line.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Sophomore Jed Warsager has returned 15 kickoffs for 422 yards. Warsager had a 98-yard touchdown return at Lebanon Valley that broke Ralph Eltringham’s record of 95 yards set on October 2, 1965 at Wilkes. Sophomore Cody Hendershot (Bangor, PA/Bangor HS) has five kickoff returns for 113 yards. Senior Josh Fick has made six punt returns for 32 yards and three kickoff returns for 50 yards while junior Kevin Miltenberger has 12 punt returns for 91 yards.

OVERTIME ‘HOUNDS: Moravian has played a total of eight overtime games since the NCAA instituted the rule for the 1996 season and is 5-3 all-time in the extra-session including this year's loss to Widener. The Greyhounds hadn't played an overtime game since October 16, 1999 versus Juniata College.

ON THE AIRWAVES: For the sixth 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 Chris Michael.