Monday, September 22, 2003

MORAVIAN COLLEGE GREYHOUNDS, 1-2 (1-2 MAC)

LEBANON VALLEY FLYING DUTCHMEN, 1-2 (1-1 MAC)

1:00 p.m.; Saturday, September 27, 2003
Steel Field (c. 2,500); Bethlehem, PA

THE GAME: Moravian looks to snap a two-game losing streak in a Middle Atlantic Conference contest versus Susquehanna University. Kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m. at Steel Field.

THE COACHES: Scot Dapp (West Chester ’73) is in his 17th season at Moravian, with a career record of 101-65-1 (.608). He entered the season 45th in winning percentage among NCAA Division III active coaches. Dapp has earned Coach-of-the-Year honors from the MAC three times including Co-Coach of the Year in 1997 and has led the ’Hounds to two appearances in the NCAA playoffs and the ECAC Southeast Championship game in 2002

Lebanon Valley coach Mike Silecchia (Mansfield ’78) is in his sixth season at the school with an overall mark of 10-43 (.189).

THE SERIES: Saturday’s meeting will be the 58th in the series with tied at 28-28-1 lead. Moravian has won the last three meetings, 41-21 last season, 34-20 in 2001 and 19-6 in Annville in 2000 while the Flying Dutchmen's last win was a 24-13 decision in 1999.

LAST TIME THEY MET: In Annville last fall, wide receiver Jed Warsager returned the opening kick 98 yards for a touchdown and Moravian never looked back in a 41-21 victory over Lebanon Valley College in MAC action. Nate Strohl (Coplay, PA/Whitehall HS) added the kick to give the Greyhounds a 7-0 lead. Warsager finished the game with 175 return yards on three kickoff returns. The Greyhounds next score was a 50-yard scoring pass from quarterback Charlie Bowden to tight end Rick Kulp. Tailback Josh Fick became the 16th player in Moravian history to reach 1,000 career yards rushing with 10:55 left in the second quarter. The Greyhounds would add their third touchdown 1:55 after Fick’s milestone on a 26-yard scoring pass from Bowden to wide receiver Ben Hawkins. Bowden completed eight of 17 passes for 172 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Moravian would score three more points before halftime on a 19-yard field goal by Strohl. Strohl also had the have the first points of the second half with a 32-yard field goal. Fick scored on a one-yard touchdown run with 10:49 left in the fourth quarter. He finished the game with 39 yards on 12 carries. The Greyhounds finished off the scoring on a 46-yard touchdown run by Hawkins. Cornerback Jarrod Pence and safety John Panikiewsky (Carteret, NJ/Carteret HS) led the Moravian defense with eight tackles each. Defensive back Paul Block had three pass break-ups.

LAST WEEK: Moravian dropped it second straight game, falling to Susquehanna University, 26-14, in Middle Atlantic Conference action. The Greyhounds allowed the first 26 points of the game while committing four turnovers. The Greyhounds broke up the shutout with 3:57 remaining in the fourth quarter when sophomore quarterback Jerry Venturino (Hopatcong, NJ/Hopatcong HS) found freshman wide receiver Shawn Martell (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic HS) on a 42-yard scoring strike. Senior Josh Miller (Boyertown, PA/Boyertown HS) connected on the extra-point to cut the Crusader lead to 26-7. The touchdown pass was the first in Venturino’s career and capped a 95-yard scoring drive. Martell was Moravian’s leading receiver in the game, catching three passes for 68 yards. Venturino would throw his second touchdown pass with just 12 seconds remaining in the game, finding freshman wide receiver Josh Kline (Reading, PA/Exeter HS) for a four-yard score after avoiding a sack. Miller added the extra-point to set the final score at 26-14. Venturino was 11 for 24 in the game for 164 yards, two scores and an interception after coming in to replace senior starter Will Seng (Allentown, PA/Dieruff HS), who completed four of eight passes for 39 yards but was intercepted twice. Freshman tailback Chris Jacoubs (Fair Haven, NJ/Rumson-Fair Haven HS) led the Moravian ground attack with 49 yards on nine carries while senior tailback David Darmofal (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights HS) added 29 yards on 15 attempts. Senior wide receiver Jeff Lowry (Catawissa, PA/Southern Columbia HS) and senior fullback Ray Burgan (Egg Harbor, NJ/Oakcrest HS) each caught two passes for 22 yards. Burgan also gained six yards on two carries. Senior safety John Panikiewsky led the Greyhound defense with 12 tackles while senior linebacker Steve Maslanek (Stockholm, NJ/Vernon Township HS) and sophomore linebacker Richie Cline (Union Beach, NJ/Keyport HS) each had six tackles with one for loss. Senior defensive lineman Justin Moyer (Allentown, PA/Salisbury HS) and junior defensive lineman Kevin McLaughlin (Philadelphia, PA/Northeast Catholic HS) each had sacks in the game.

SCOUTING LEBANON VALLEY: The Flying Dutchmen enter the contest 1-2 record after falling to Widener University, 74-17 last weekend. Senior Pete Henning leads the Lebanon Valley offense on the ground with 197 yards and two touchdowns on 63 carries. Junior Eric Laird has contributed 42 yards on eight carries. Henning also returns kicks and is averaging 25.6 yards per kickoff return and 9.3 yards per punt return. The Flying Dutchmen have used four quarterbacks this season. Sophomore Zach Buffington has completed 19 of 35 passes for 213 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions while senior Roger Poorman has connected on 16 of 45 attempts for 195 yards, a touchdowns and four interceptions. Sophomore Garrett Mowrey has completed ten of 20 pass attempts for 70 yards and an interception while freshman Dan Kelly is four for 12 for 49 yards and an interception. Senior Scott Marek and junior Jarrod Way lead the Flying Dutchmen wide receivers with nine catches and a touchdown apiece. Marek has 158 yards while Way has 73 yards. Junior Dave McCullough has caught eight passes for 100 yards while Henning has seven receptions for 52 yards. Sophomore wide receiver Luke Rendine has caught four passes for 45 yards and a touchdown while freshman wideout Brandon Shank has four catches for 37 yards. Sophomore Kevin Keller handles the kicking duties for Lebanon Valley. Keller is averaging 39.6 yards per punt with a long of 52 and three punts inside the 20-yard line. He is also one-for-two on field goal attempts with a long of 20 yards, and five-for-five on extra-point attempts. Junior Brian Andrewsky leads the Flying Dutchmen defense with 23 tackles with two for loss. Junior Lucas Robinson has added 16 tackles with nine for loss and three sacks while junior Brian Oberdick has 13 tackles and an interception. Senior Eric Miller has added 19 tackles with four for loss while junior Mitch Nyman has 18 tackles, two sacks and an interception. Freshman Dan Stauffer has added 17 tackles and two pass break-ups while sophomore Maurice Moore has 15 tackles and a sack. Sophomore Jimmy Holzman has 13 stops.

YOUNG, BALANCED & EXPERIENCED ‘HOUNDS: Of the 86 players on the Moravian roster, 33 are freshmen, 29 are sophomores and 13 are juniors. There are 11 seniors on this season’s squad, and the Greyhounds return 46 letterwinners and 11 starters.

GREYHOUNDS IN THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC CONFERENCE: Beginning two seasons ago, the Middle Atlantic Conference became an 11-team conference instead of two separate leagues. Moravian was selected to finish seventh in the MAC Preseason Coaches Poll this season while Lebanon Valley 11th was picked to tie for fifth in the MAC poll. Lycoming College was selected as the top team in the MAC.

THE MAC STATISTICAL RANKINGS: The Greyhounds are ranked fifth in the MAC in total defense, allowing 323.7 yards per game. The squad is eighth in passing defense at 197.7 yards per game and the defense is fourth in rushing yards allowed at 126.0. The Greyhounds are fifth in points allowed at 18.3 per game but the squad is ninth in points scored per game at 14.7. Offensively, Moravian is sixth in the MAC at 349.3 yards per game. The Greyhounds are ranked fifth in rushing offense at 175.7 yards per game and sixth in passing offense at 173.7 yards per game. Moravian is tenth in turnover margin with a -1.0 per game average as the Greyhounds have committed eight turnovers while forcing five turnovers. Individually, senior quarterback Will Seng is fourth in pass efficiency at 112.8, ninth in passing yards per game at 119.0, and tenth in total offense at 133.7 yards per game. Freshman tailback Chris Jacoubs is tenth in rushing yards per game at 60.0 yards a contest. Sophomore defensive back Tyler Chomik (Allentown, PA/Allentown Central Catholic HS) leads the MAC in kickoff return average at 28.0 yards per kickoff return. Chomik is also tied for fourth with four pass break-ups. Senior Josh Miller is tied for ninth in kick scoring at 2.7 points per contest, and he is seventh in field goals per game at 0.33 and fifth in extra-point percentage at 83.3 percent (five of six). Junior punter John McLain (Belvidere, NJ/Belvidere HS) leads the MAC in punting average at 40.6 yards per punt. Senior cornerback Nate Pogue (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty HS) leads the MAC with seven pass break-ups while senior safety John Panikiewsky is tied for second with six pass break-ups. Pogue is also tied four eighth in interceptions with 0.67 per game.

THE QUARTERBACKS: Senior Will Seng has completed 28 of 56 pass attempts for 357 yards with four touchdowns and four interceptions. Seng has been sacked four times this season, and he was run for 44 yards on 19 carries. Sophomore Jerry Venturino has completed 11 of 24 passes for 164 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Venturino has been sacked three times this season.

IN THE BACKFIELD: In the backfield, freshman tailback Chris Jacoubs leads the Greyhounds with 180 yards on 33 carries. Senior tailback David Darmofal has added 157 yards on 51 attempts. Darmofal went over 1,000 yards in his career versus FDU-Florham, and he now has 1,132 yards as a Greyhound, 15th all-time. Sophomore fullback Kevin Lukich (Ogdensburg, NJ/Wallkill Valley HS) has 62 yards on 15 carries. Junior tailback Cody Hendershot (Bangor, PA/Bangor HS) has added 42 yards on ten carries while senior fullback Ray Burgan has 21 yards on nine attempts. Freshman Marc Panepinto (Perkiomenville, PA/Boyertown HS) has added 17 yards on two rushes.

THE WIDE RECEIVERS: Senior wideout Jeff Lowry leads the Greyhounds with six receptions for 103 yards and two scores. Senior tailback David Darmofal has added five catches for 48 yards while sophomore fullback Kevin Lukich has five receptions for 39 yards. Senior wide receiver Kevin Miltenberger (Carlisle, PA/Carlisle HS) has caught four passes for 90 yards and a touchdown while freshman wideout Shawn Martell has four receptions for 72 yards and a score. Junior tight end Chad Opdyke (Bath, PA/Northampton HS) has grabbed four aerials for 37 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore wide receiver Russ Demko (Hellertown, PA/Saucon Valley HS) has three receptions for 52 yards. A total of 12 different players have caught at least one pass for Moravian this season.

DEFENSIVE FRONT: Junior defensive end Shawn Nelson (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic HS) leads the Greyhounds up front defensively with 17 tackles, two tackles for loss and half a sack. Sophomore defensive end Bryan Kohlbecker (Middletown, NJ/Middletown South HS) has added ten tackles while junior nose tackle Kevin McLaughlin has seven stops and a sack. Sophomore defensive end Robert Stockley (Red Bank, NJ/Middletown South HS) has five tackles, a sack and a pass break-up while senior defensive end Justin Moyer has made five stops with a sack.

THE LINEBACKER CORPS: Senior linebacker Steve Maslanek leads the linebackers with 18 tackles, two tackles for loss and an interception. Senior linebacker Josh DiGiacomo (Zionsville, PA/Emmaus HS) has added 17 tackles; a tackle for loss, half a sack and one pass break-up. Sophomore linebacker Richie Cline has added 14 stops while sophomore backer Steve Cline (Union Beach, NJ/Keyport HS) has nine tackles. Junior linebacker Bill Carasia (Fair Haven, NJ/Rumson-Fair Haven HS) has made ten tackles and an interception.

THE DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD: Senior free safety John Panikiewsky leads the Moravian defense with 19 tackles, an interception and five pass break-ups. Senior cornerback Nate Pogue has made nine tackles, two interceptions, two tackles for loss and seven pass break-ups this season while sophomore Tyler Chomik added 11 tackles and four pass break-ups. Junior Jim D’Agostino (Oakland, NJ/Ramsey HS) has nine tackles while sophomore Gerald Weiss (Gilbertsville, PA/St. Pius X HS) made three stops before leaving the FDU-Florham game with an injury. Junior Bill Skriletz (Coopersburg, PA/Southern Lehigh HS) has eight tackles while freshman defensive back Israel Aguila (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom HS) made four tackles in a reserve roll.

KICKING GAME: Junior punter John McLain is averaging 40.6 yards on nine attempts. Three of his punts have ended up as touchbacks and two others have been inside the 20-yard line. McLain had a long punt of 48 yards. Senior kicker Josh Miller made his first career field goal attempt, a 27-yard field goal, to open the scoring for the Greyhounds this season, and he is one-for-two on attempts this season. He added five extra-points on six tries in the game. Sophomore place-kicker Nate Strohl (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall HS) has missed three games with an injury.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Senior Kevin Miltenberger returned eight punts for a total of 48 yards with a long return of 11 yards. Sophomore Tyler Chomik also has two-punt return for 20 yards with a long of 15 yards. Freshman Chris Jacoubs returned two kickoffs for 47 yards for the Greyhounds while freshman Chris Tomelden (Barnegat, NJ/Southern Regional HS) recovered an FDU-Florham on-side kick attempt with just over a minute and a half to play in the game, helping seal the Moravian victory. Chomik has added six kickoff returns for 168 yards and a long of 47 yards while senior Ray Burgan has one kickoff return for 21 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 second 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 has had 13 winning seasons in Dapp’s 16 years. The 11-straight winning seasons is the longest in school history. Dapp ranks third among Greyhound coaches in winning percentage.

ON THE AIRWAVES: For the seventh straight year, the Greyhounds football game will be aired on WGPA, Sunny 1100 AM. Chris Michael will be the play-by-play announcer this week with color commentary from Jim Wills.