Monday, October 27, 2003

MORAVIAN COLLEGE GREYHOUNDS, 3-4 (3-4 MAC)

WIDENER UNIVERSITY PIONEERS, 4-3 (3-3 MAC)

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

THE GAME: Moravian looks to win its final home game of the 2003 season in a Middle Atlantic Conference game versus Widener University beginning at 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 103-67-1 (.606). 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.
     Widener coach David Wood (Widener ’91) is in his first season at the school with an overall mark of 4-3 (.571).

THE SERIES: Saturday’s meeting will be the 57th in the series with Widener owning a 35-21 lead. Moravian's last win in the series was in 1997 with a 27-24 overtime win in Chester. The Pioneers have won the last five games in the series including last year's 27-20 overtime victory in Bethlehem.

LAST TIME THEY MET: In Bethlehem last fall, Moravian saw Widener University score ten points in the final 5:55 of regulation and the only points of overtime for a 27-20 victory over the Greyhounds in MAC action. On Moravian’s possession in overtime, the Hounds faced a fourth-and-15 when quarterback Charlie Bowden completed a 17-yard pass to wideout Jeff Lowry (Catawissa, PA/Southern Columbia HS) for a first down. Moravian faced another fourth down and needed three yards. Bowden ended up running the ball and after a measurement, was less than four inches shy of the first down, ending the game. The Greyhounds had a 13-3 halftime lead. Moravian’s first points came on a 29-yard field goal by Nate Strohl with 3:25 left in the first quarter. Moravian retook the lead with 5:38 remaining before the half when Strohl hit a 43-yard field goal. The Greyhounds would extend their lead to 13-3 with 1:26 left in the first half when tailback David Darmofal caught a 17-yard pass from Bowden. The Greyhounds scored again with 8:53 to play in regulation when Bowden found wideout Ben Hawkins open down the sideline for a 51-yard touchdown. Defensively, strong safety John Panikiewsky (Carteret, NJ/Carteret HS) had nine tackles with one for loss while cornerback Nate Pogue (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty HS), senior linebacker John Cupples and senior defensive lineman Tom Blackledge each made seven tackles. Cupples had Moravian’s only sack in the game while Pogue had an interception.

LAST WEEK: Moravian fell behind, 19-0 before the Greyhounds scored in a 26-14 loss to Lycoming College in MAC action at Steel Field. The loss spoiled Moravian’s Homecoming celebration. Moravian got on the scoreboard when sophomore defensive back Tyler Chomik (Allentown, PA/Allentown Central Catholic HS) returned the ensuing kickoff after Lycoming stretched the lead to 19-0 at his four-yard line and raced 96 yards up the Moravian sideline for a touchdown. The 96-yard return was the second longest in Moravian history. Senior kicker Josh Miller (Boyertown, PA/Boyertown HS) added the extra-point to cut Lycoming’s lead to 19-7 with 9:36 remaining in the third quarter. Moravian forced the Warriors into a three down and out series before taking over on the Lycoming 45-yard line. The Greyhounds needed just four plays to cover the 45 yards. Freshman running back Chris Jacoubs (Fair Haven NJ/Rumson-Fair Haven Regional HS) finished off the drive with a six-yard touchdown run off the right side. Jacoubs dove for the end zone, keeping the ball just inside the pylon for the score. Miller’s extra-point cut Lycoming’s lead to 91-14 with 5:29 remaining in the third stanza. Jacoubs led Moravian on the ground with 69 yards on 17 carries. However, on the second play of the drive Moravian sophomore defensive lineman Robert Stockley (Red Bank, NJ/Middletown South HS) forced a fumble and Greyhound sophomore defensive back Gerald Weiss (Gilbertsville, PA/St. Pius X HS) recovered the ball. However, Moravian would be forced to punt after three plays. Moravian sophomore quarterback Jerry Venturino (Hopatcong, NJ/Hopatcong HS) completed just four of 22 passes in the game for 31 yards. Venturino was intercepted twice in the game, and he was sacked three times while gaining 14 yards on nine carries. Sophomore fullback Kevin Lukich (Ogdensburg, NJ/Wallkill Valley HS) added 18 yards on the ground. Senior wide receiver Jeff Lowry had two receptions for 17 yards. Senior defensive back John Panikiewsky led the Moravian defense with 14 tackles including one and a half sacks while senior defensive back Nate Pogue has 12 tackles and a forced fumble. Junior nose tackle Kevin McLaughlin (Philadelphia, PA/Northeast Catholic HS) added eight tackles while Chomik has three tackles and two pass break-ups to go with an interception and kickoff return.

SCOUTING WIDENER: The Pioneers come to Bethlehem with an overall record of 4-3 and a 3-3 slate in the MAC. Junior quarterback Mike Lomas leads Widener on the field, having completed 111 of 223 passes for 1,441 yards, 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. His top targets have been junior wide receiver Tyreak Saviour, who has 48 receptions for 71 yards and five scores, sophomore wideout Jeff Chick, who has grabbed 21 passes for 266 yards and four touchdowns, senior wide receiver Bo Fischer, who has 13 receptions for 191 yards and two scores. On the ground, senior running back Michael Gandy has 482 yards and five touchdowns on 111 carries while freshman running back Raymond Keshel has 277 yards and four scores on 67 attempts. Sophomore fullback Darren Shaw has 81 yards and four touchdowns on 17 carries. Chick is also the Pioneers kick returner, averaging 9.4 yards on 20 punt returns and 20.9 yards on 12 kickoff returns. Sophomore punter Doug Schlack is averaging 35.3 yards per punt on 35 kicks with a long of 68 yards. Sophomore kicker Frank Vinci is 13 of 14 on extra-point attempts this season, and he has made three of six field goal attempts with a long of 35 yards. Junior defensive back B.J. Hogan leads Widener with three interceptions this season with 48 return yards and one touchdown. Hogan has added 40 tackles with one for loss, 11 pass break-ups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Junior linebacker Nick Rubino leads the Pioneer defense with 55 tackles including seven for loss, two sacks and two pass break-ups. Senior defensive lineman Thomas DeMoss has contributed 49 tackles with 16 for loss, six sacks, three pass break-ups, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble while junior linebacker Ezra Bearden has added 48 stops with eight for loss, two sacks, an interception and three pass break-ups. Sophomore defensive back Shawn Wister has made 46 tackles with three for loss, two interceptions, five pass break-ups and two fumble recoveries.

YOUNG, BALANCED & EXPERIENCED ‘HOUNDS: Of the 81 players on the Moravian roster, 30 are freshmen, 28 are sophomores and 13 are juniors. There are ten seniors on this season’s squad, and the Greyhounds return 44 letterwinners and nine 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 Widener University was picked third. Lycoming College was selected as the top team in the MAC.

THE MAC STATISTICAL RANKINGS: The Greyhounds are ranked sixth in the MAC in total defense, allowing 371.7 yards per game. The squad is sixth in passing defense at 204.9 yards per game and the defense is sixth in rushing yards allowed at 166.9. The Greyhounds are third in the MAC in points allowed at 19.3 per game but the squad is ninth in points scored per game at 20.1. Offensively, Moravian is tenth in the MAC at 298.4 yards per game. The Greyhounds are ranked fifth in rushing offense at 168.1 yards per game and tenth in passing offense at 130.3 yards per game. Moravian is seventh in turnover margin with a -0.43 per game average as the Greyhounds have committed 14 turnovers while forcing 11 turnovers. Individually, junior quarterback Jerry Venturino is eighth in the MAC in pass efficiency at 99.0 and he is ninth in passing yards per game at 92.5. Freshman tailback Chris Jacoubs is eighth in rushing yards per game at 81.7 yards a contest. Freshman running back Marc Panepinto (Perkiomenville, PA/Boyertown HS) is seventh in the MAC in kickoff return average at 20.9 yards per kickoff return. Sophomore wide receiver John Miles is second in the MAC in punt returns with an average of 11.2 yards per return while senior wide receiver Kevin Miltenberger (Carlisle, PA/Carlisle HS) is seventh in punt return average at 8.0 yards per return. Senior Josh Miller is ninth in kick scoring at 3.6 points per contest, and he is tied for sixth in field goals per game at 0.43, tied for first in field goal percentage at 75.0 percent (3 of 4) and eighth in extra-point percentage at 88.9 percent (16 of 18). Junior punter John McLain (Belvidere, NJ/Belvidere HS) is sixth in the MAC in punting average at 36.1 yards per punt. Senior cornerback Nate Pogue and senior safety John Panikiewsky are tied for sixth in the MAC in pass break-ups with eight, and Panikiewsky is 13th in the MAC in tackles per game with an average of 7.7.

THE QUARTERBACKS: Sophomore Jerry Venturino has completed 37 of 89 passes for 572 yards, five touchdowns and six interceptions. Venturino has been sacked eight times this season and gained 52 yards on 36 carries. Senior Will Seng (Allentown, PA/William Allen HS) has completed 28 of 56 pass attempts for 357 yards with four touchdowns and four interceptions. Seng has been sacked six times this season, and he was run for 28 yards on 21 carries.

IN THE BACKFIELD: In the backfield, freshman tailback Chris Jacoubs leads the Greyhounds with 572 yards and four touchdowns on 109 carries. Jacoubs surpassed the 100-yard mark in his first two starts of his career, with 126 yards at King's College and 136 yards against Wilkes University. Sophomore fullback Kevin Lukich has 113 yards on 34 carries. Junior tailback Cody Hendershot (Bangor, PA/Bangor HS) has added 73 yards on 17 carries while senior fullback Ray Burgan (Egg Harbor, NJ/Oakcrest HS) has 47 yards on 14 attempts. Freshman Marc Panepinto has added 33 yards on five rushes while freshman Earl Kunkel (Jim Thorpe, PA/Jim Thorpe HS) has 24 yards on five carries.

THE WIDE RECEIVERS: Senior wideout Jeff Lowry leads the Greyhounds with 19 receptions for 263 yards and four scores. Senior wide receiver Kevin Miltenberger has caught 11 passes for 177 yards and a touchdown while freshman wideout Shawn Martell (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic HS) has seven receptions for 161 yards and two scores. Sophomore fullback Kevin Lukich has five receptions for 39 yards. Junior tight end Chad Opdyke (Bath, PA/Northampton HS) has grabbed seven aerials for 92 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore wide receiver Russ Demko (Hellertown, PA/Saucon Valley HS) has three receptions for 52 yards. A total of 12 players have caught at least one pass for Moravian.

DEFENSIVE FRONT: Junior nose tackle Kevin McLaughlin leads the Greyhounds up front defensively with 32 stops, five tackles for loss, one and a half sacks and one pass break-up. Junior defensive end Shawn Nelson (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic HS) has contributed 30 tackles, five tackles for loss and two half sacks while sophomore defensive end Bryan Kohlbecker (Middletown, NJ/Middletown South HS) has added 26 tackles with two for loss, half a sack and two pass break-ups. Sophomore defensive end Robert Stockley has 19 tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack, a forced fumble and three pass break-ups while senior defensive end Justin Moyer (Allentown, PA/Salisbury HS) has made seven stops with a sack, a forced fumble and an interception returned for a touchdown against King's College.

THE LINEBACKER CORPS: Sophomore linebacker Richie Cline (Union Beach, NJ/Keyport HS) leads the Moravian linebackers with 48 tackles, a pass break-up, a forced fumble and a blocked kick. Senior linebacker Josh DiGiacomo (Zionsville, PA/Emmaus HS) has added 44 tackles, two tackles for loss, half a sack and one pass break-up. Senior linebacker Steve Maslanek (Stockholm, NJ/Vernon Township HS) has contributed 44 stops, seven tackles for loss, one and a half sacks, an interception and three pass break-ups while sophomore linebacker Steve Cline (Union Beach, NJ/Keyport HS) has 24 tackles with three for loss. Junior linebacker Bill Carasia (Fair Haven, NJ/Rumson-Fair Haven HS) has made 32 tackles, a pass break-up and an interception. Sophomore linebacker Chad DiFelice (Pen Argyl, PA/Pen Argyl HS) has contributed six tackles while sophomore linebacker Eric Williams (Jermyn, PA/Lakeland HS) also has six tackles. Freshman Cliff Garr (Easton, PA/Notre Dame HS) has added four tackles.

THE DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD: Senior free safety John Panikiewsky leads Greyhound defense with 54 tackles, two interceptions, three tackles for loss, one and a half sacks and eight pass break-ups. Senior cornerback Nate Pogue has made 44 tackles, two interceptions, two tackles for loss and eight pass break-ups this season while sophomore cornerback Tyler Chomik added 20 tackles, an interception and seven pass break-ups. Junior safety Bill Skriletz (Coopersburg, PA/Southern Lehigh HS) has 16 tackles while freshman defensive back Israel Aguila (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom HS) made 19 tackles. Skriletz has one pass break-up on the year while Aguila has three pass break-ups this season. Junior Jim D’Agostino (Oakland, NJ/Ramsey HS) has 13 tackles with one tackle for loss while sophomore Gerald Weiss made 12 tackles with two for loss, a half a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

KICKING GAME: Junior punter John McLain is averaging 36.1 yards on 36 attempts. Three of his punts have ended up as touchbacks, nine others have been inside the 20-yard line and two have been fair caught. 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 against FDU-Florham, and he is three-for-four on attempts this season with a long of 28 yards versus Wilkes University. He added 16 extra-points on 18 tries on the year.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Senior Kevin Miltenberger returned 11 punts for a total of 88 yards with a long return of 21 yards. Sophomore Tyler Chomik also has two punt return for 20 yards with a long of 15 yards while sophomore John Miles has six punt returns for 67 yards with a long of 38 yards. Freshman Chris Jacoubs has returned five kickoffs for 128 yards with a long of 44 yards for the Greyhounds while freshman Marc Panepinto has seven kickoff returns for 146 yards with a long of 27 yards. Chomik has added eight kickoff returns for 282 yards and a long of 96 yards for a touchdown against Lycoming College. Junior Cody Hendershot has two kickoff returns for 28 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. The Greyhounds were 0-1 in overtime last year.

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. Phil May will be the play-by-play announcer with color commentary from Chris Michael.