Monday, September 6, 2004

MORAVIAN COLLEGE GREYHOUNDS, 0-0 (0-0 MAC)  

JUNIATA COLLEGE EAGLES, 0-1 (0-0 MAC)

1:30 p.m.; Saturday, September 11, 2004
Knox Stadium (c. 3,000); Huntingdon, PA

THE GAME: Moravian opens its 2004 season with a Middle Atlantic Conference game at Juniata College. Kickoff is slated for 1:30 p.m. at Knox Stadium in Huntingdon, PA.

THE COACHES: Scot Dapp (West Chester ’73) is in his 18th season at Moravian, with a career record of 103-70-1 (.595). He entered the season 50th 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.
   Juniata coach Darrell Alt (Frostburg State ’96) is in his first season at the school with an overall mark of 0-1 (.000).

THE SERIES: Saturday’s meeting will be the 50th in the series with Juniata owning a 25-22-2 lead. The Eagles earn a 21-14 victory in Bethlehem last fall but Moravian has owned the series recently with an 8-5-1 record in the last 14 games. The series has had a history of close games with a streak of five straight years in which the game ended in a regulation tie from 1995 until 1999. Four of those games went to overtime and three won by Moravian.

LAST TIME THEY MET: In Bethlehem last fall, Moravian lost its first game of the year, falling to Juniata , 21-14, in a MAC game. Juniata jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter with the second score coming after a Moravian turnover. Moravian would need just one play on its second drive of the half to score its first points of the game when quarterback Will Seng connected on a 47-yard scoring strike with wide receiver Kevin Miltenberger. Josh Miller added the kick to cut the Eagles lead to 14-7 with 12:36 left in the third quarter. The Greyhounds other touchdown came when Seng hit tight end Chad Opdyke with an 18-yard scoring strike with 6:38 to play in the third stanza. Miller added the kick to get the score to 21-14. Seng completed 14 or 31 passes for 204 yards, and he was intercepted once. On the drive, tailback Chris Jacoubs (Fair Haven, NJ/Rumson-Fair Haven Regional HS) ran for 17 of his team high 95 yards. Jacoubs had 19 carries in the game. For Moravian, tailback David Darmofal had 32 yards on 13 carries, and he was the team’s leading receiver with four receptions for 32 yards. Fullback Kevin Lukich (Ogdensburg, NJ/Wallkill Valley HS) added three catches for 25 yards and three carries for 12 yards while Opdyke had two receptions for 29 yards. Seng carried the ball nine times for 26 yards. The Moravian defense was led by defensive tackle Shawn Nelson (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic HS), who had nine tackles and half a sack. Linebacker Josh DiGiacomo added six tackles and a half a sack while safety John Panikiewsky had six tackles and four pass break-ups including two possible interceptions that he was unable to control the ball on. Senior cornerback Nate Pogue also had six tackles and he added two pass break-ups and one and a half tackles for loss while linebacker Bill Carasia (Fair Haven, NJ/Rumson Fair Haven HS) had six tackles and an interception. For the Eagles, quarterback Greg Troutman completed 12 of 29 passes for 122 yards and a touchdown while running 20 times for 169 yard and another score. Running back Craig Moshier added 68 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries.

SEASON OPENING GAMES: The Greyhounds will be looking for their fourth season opening victory in the last five years. The Greyhounds defeated Delaware Valley College, 19-10, in Doylestown to open the 2000 season and FDU-Florham, 21-14, in 2002 and 16-8, last fall.

SCOUTING JUNIATA: The Eagles enter the game with a record of 0-1 after a 49-6 loss to Dickinson College to open the 2004 season last weekend. Senior quarterback Greg Troutman completed just two of nine passes attempts for 25 yards and he was intercepted twice before leaving the game with an injury. Sophomore Jeffrey Hayes came in to complete nine of 24 attempts for 78 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. The top receiver was senior Jared Lucas, who caught three passes for 34 yards. Junior wide out John Boyer added two receptions for 23 yards and a touchdown. On the ground, sophomore tailback Duane Ehredt, Jr. led the Eagles with 24 yards on 21 carries while junior fullback Paul Kozick added 17 yards on three carries. Sophomore running back Kurht Engle added 15 yards on three rushing attempts, and he had 159 yards on eight kickoff returns. Senior defensive back Paul Evans will return punts for Juniata, and he had one return for three yards last weekend. Junior punter Jesse Leonard averaged 36.6 yards on seven punts last week with a long of 47 yards and he had another attempt blocked that Dickinson recovered for a touchdown. Junior Dan Heinlein is handling the place kicking duties for the Eagles, and he missed his only extra-point attempt last week. Junior free safety Steve Parsons led the Eagle defense last week with seven tackles, one for loss, and a pass break-up. Senior defensive end Bryon Latterner also added seven tackles with one for loss while junior cornerback Troy Beaver, senior linebacker Paul Berry and senior defensive end Frederick Wall each had five tackles. Junior linebacker Peter Thomas had a fumble recovery to go with four tackles while Evans contributed four tackles and a pair of pass break-ups.

YOUNG, BALANCED & EXPERIENCED ‘HOUNDS: Of the 83 players on the Moravian roster, 25 are freshmen, 25 are sophomores and 22 are juniors. There are 11 seniors on this season’s squad, and the Greyhounds return 58 letterwinners and 16 starters.

GREYHOUNDS IN THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC CONFERENCE: Beginning three 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 Juniata was picked tenth in the MAC poll. Lycoming College was selected as the top team in the MAC just one point ahead of Wilkes University.

THE QUARTERBACKS: Junior Jerry Venturino (Hopatcong, NJ/Hopatcong HS) was the Greyhounds quarterback a year ago and completed 48 of 136 passes for 807 yards, five touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Venturino was sacked 15 times this season and gained 65 yards on 54 carries. He will be the starter again this season.

IN THE BACKFIELD: In the backfield, sophomore tailback Chris Jacoubs (Fair Haven, NJ/Rumson-Fair Haven HS), who was named the 2003 MAC Rookie of the Year, led the Greyhounds with a school record 1,051 yards and seven touchdowns on 216 carries. Jacoubs surpassed the 100-yard mark in his first two starts of his career and had 319 yards at Albright College, breaking the old record of 256 yards set by James Evanko in 1953. Jacoubs was just the second player in school history to reach 1,000 yards in a season and the third to have more than 200 carries in a year. He broke Jim Joseph’s single season record of 1,048 yards set in 1985 on 245 attempts. Junior fullback Kevin Lukich (Ogdensburg, NJ/Wallkill Valley HS) had 179 yards on 48 carries while senior tailback Cody Hendershot (Bangor, PA/Bangor HS) added 103 yards on 18 carries. Sophomore Marc Panepinto (Perkiomenville, PA/Boyertown HS) added 33 yards on five rushes.

THE WIDE RECEIVERS: The Greyhounds will have to replace their top two wide receivers from last season this fall. Sophomore wideout Shawn Martell (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic HS) had eight receptions for 184 yards and two scores last year and is the top returning receiver from 2003. Lukich had six receptions for 51 yards. Junior wide receiver Russ Demko (Hellertown, PA/Saucon Valley HS) has three receptions for 52 yards. A total of 12 players caught at least one pass for Moravian last year. Moravian does return to wideouts from the 2002 team with sophomore Ben Hawkins (Belmar, NJ/Manasquan HS) and senior Jed Warsager (Andover, NJ/Newton HS) returning to the squad. Hawkins caught 18 passes for 394 yards and four touchdowns as a freshman while Warsager had three catches for 76 yards and a score in 2002.

OFFENSIVE LINE: The Greyhounds return three of their starting offensive linemen from a year ago with juniors Brenten Runne (Stanhope, NJ/Hopatcong HS) and Salvatore DeWalt (Allentown, PA/Allentown Central Catholic HS) and sophomore Michael Abruzzo (Newton, NJ/Kittatinny Regional HS) back this season. The trio are over six feet tall and average 280 pounds to give coach Dapp and the rest of his offensive staff a strong trio to build the rest of the line around. Junior Scott Burke (Holmdel, NJ/Holmdel HS) and sophomore Andrew Remsing (Bath, PA/Northampton HS) each saw limited action on the offensive front last fall.

DEFENSIVE FRONT: Senior defensive end Shawn Nelson (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic HS) led the Greyhounds up front defensively with 44 tackles, eight tackles for loss, two sacks and two pass break-ups a year ago and should anchor the front line again this season. Senior nose tackle Kevin McLaughlin (Philadelphia, PA/Northeast Catholic HS), who earned a spot on the All-MAC Second Team a year ago, contributed 39 stops, five tackles for loss, one and a half sacks and one pass break-up while junior defensive end Bryan Kohlbecker (Middletown, NJ/Middletown South HS) added 33 tackles with three for loss, half a sack, a forced fumble and two pass break-ups. Junior defensive end Robert Stockley (Red Bank, NJ/Middletown South HS) had 26 tackles, three tackles for loss, a sack, a forced fumble and three pass break-ups. The last two seasons, Moravian has rotated between a three and a four person line which has allowed this group to gain valuable playing experience. Senior Richie Cline (Union Beach, NJ/Keyport HS) led the Moravian linebackers with 68 tackles, five tackles for loss, a pass break-up, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a blocked kick last year and he will be moving to defensive end with junior Steve Cline (Union Beach, NJ/Keyport HS) and sophomore Matt Lieberwirth (Chester, NJ/Mendham HS). Steve Cline had 29 tackles with three for loss while Lieberwirth made 14 tackles with one for loss and a sack.

THE LINEBACKER CORPS: Senior linebacker Bill Carasia (Fair Haven, NJ/Rumson-Fair Haven HS) made 51 tackles, four pass break-ups, two tackles for loss and an interception Junior linebacker Chad DiFelice (Pen Argyl, PA/Pen Argyl HS) contributed seven tackles while sophomore Cliff Garr (Easton, PA/Notre Dame HS) added five tackles.

THE DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD: Leading the defensive backfield this season will be junior cornerback Tyler Chomik (Allentown, PA/Allentown Central Catholic HS), who added 32 tackles, three interceptions and 11 pass break-ups last season. Senior safety Bill Skriletz (Coopersburg, PA/Southern Lehigh HS) had 17 tackles while sophomore defensive back Israel Aguila (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom HS) made 32 tackles. Skriletz had one pass break-up on the year while Aguila had three pass break-ups this season. Junior Gerald Weiss (Gilbertsville, PA/St. Pius X HS) made 24 tackles with two for loss, a half a sack, a forced fumble, two pass break-ups and three fumble recoveries, one he returned 42 yards for a touchdown against Widener University.

KICKING GAME: Senior punter John McLain (Belvidere, NJ/Belvidere HS) had an average of 36.4 yards on 56 attempts. Three of his punts ended up as touchbacks, 14 others were inside the 20-yard line and four were fair caught. McLain had a long punt of 58 yards against Muhlenberg College. For the first year, McLain will also be handling the place kicking duties for the Greyhounds, and he will be backed up by sophomore Michael Liccketto (Barrington, NJ/Haddon Heights HS).

SPECIAL TEAMS: Junior Tyler Chomik had two punt return for 20 yards with a long of 15 yards while junior wide receiver led Moravian with 14 punt returns for 106 yards with a long of 38 yards. Sophomore Chris Jacoubs returned 11 kickoffs for 215 yards with a long of 44 yards for the Greyhounds while sophomore Marc Panepinto had seven kickoff returns for 146 yards with a long of 27 yards. Chomik led Moravian with 13 kickoff returns for 361 yards and a long of 96 yards for a touchdown against Lycoming College. It was the second longest kickoff return in school history. Senior Cody Hendershot had two kickoff returns for 28 yards. Sophomore wide receiver Josh Kline (Reading, PA/Exeter HS) blocked an extra-point this season while sophomore Shawn Martell had a blocked punt and eight tackles on special teams last fall. Senior Jed Warsager will also return kickoffs this fall. Warsager set the school record in 2002 with a 98-yard kick off return for a touchdown at Lebanon Valley College.

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 third 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 17 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 eighth straight year, the Greyhounds football game will be on the radio. However, this fall Moravian's games will be aired on WKAP Oldies 1470 AM. Phil May calls the play-by-play call with color commentary from Jim Wills and technical assistance from John Elliott.