Monday, September 19, 2005

MORAVIAN GREYHOUNDS, 2-1 (2-1 MAC) 

JUNIATA COLLEGE EAGLES, 0-3 (0-2 MAC)

1:00 p.m.; Saturday, September 24, 2005
Rocco Calvo Field (c. 2,000); Bethlehem, PA

THE GAME: Moravian looks to win its third straight game in a Middle Atlantic Conference contest versus Juniata College. Kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m. at Rocco Calvo Field in Bethlehem, PA.

THE COACHES: Scot Dapp (West Chester ’73) is in his 19th season at Moravian, with a career record of 112-75-1 (.598). He entered the season in the top 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, the ECAC Southeast Championship game in 2002 and the ECAC Southwest Championship game last fall.

Juniata coach Darrell Alt (Frostburg State ’96) is in his second season at the school with an overall mark of 1-12 (.077).

THE SERIES: Saturday’s meeting will be the 51st in the series with Juniata owning a 25-23-2 lead. Moravian shutout out Juniata, 34-0, to begin the 2004 season in Huntingdon, and Moravian has owned the series recently with a 9-5-1 record in the last 15 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 Huntington last fall, junior tailback Chris Jacoubs (Fair Haven, NJ/Rumson-Fair Haven HS) ran for 139 yards and a touchdown, and he added one pass reception for 23 yards and a score to lead Moravian to a 34-0 victory at Juniata College in MAC action at Knox Stadium. The shutout was the first for the Greyhounds since 2001. Moravian took a 2-0 lead with 9:07 remaining in the first quarter when Greyhound defensive lineman Shawn Nelson sacked the Juniata quarterback in the end zone for a seven-yard loss and two points. Moravian extended its lead with 3:08 remaining in the first quarter on a four-yard scoring run by senior quarterback Jerry Venturino (Hopatcong, NJ/Hopatcong HS). Punter/kicker John McLain added the extra-point for a 9-0 Greyhound lead. Venturino, who completed six of ten passes for 138 yards and two scores, hit senior wide receiver Ben Hawkins (Belmar, NJ/Manasquan HS) on a 76-yard touchdown pass. McLain made his first career field goal when he connected on a 26-yard field goal to give the Greyhounds a 19-0 lead. Jacoubs scored on a 62-yard touchdown run for a 26-0 advantage. On the Greyhounds first drive of the second half, which was set up by a 22-yard interception return by sophomore linebacker Arturo Duran (Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood HS), Venturino connected on a 23-yard touchdown pass to Jacoubs. Venturino hit senior defensive end Steve Cline (Union Beach, NJ/Keyport HS) with a two point conversion to give the Greyhounds a 34-0 lead. Moravian’s defense ended the next Juniata drive on a one-handed interception by junior cornerback Israel Aguila (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom HS) at the Moravian 49 yard line. Jacoubs' 139-yard day led the Greyhounds, who gained 339 yards on 61 carries. Junior tailback Marc Panepinto (Perkiomenville, PA/Boyertown HS) added 60 yards on 13 carries while senior running back Kyle Hefferon (Stanhope, NJ/Hopatcong HS) ran for 43 yards on seven carries. The Greyhounds had a total of 477 yards on 73 plays and had a 39:33 to 20:27 advantage in time of possession and a 19-9 edge in time of possession. The Moravian defense held Juniata to just 124 yards on 44 plays including no yards rushing. Senior defensive back Tyler Chomik (Allentown, PA/Allentown Central Catholic HS) and junior linebacker Cliff Garr (Easton, PA/Notre Dame HS) each have five tackles for the Moravian defense with Garr adding a tackle for loss. Nelson made three tackles with two for loss, a sack and two pass break-ups.

LAST WEEK: Junior tailback Chris Jacoubs ran for a season high 164 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries and sophomore defensive back Matt Sheridan (Magnolia, NJ/Sterling HS) tied an NCAA Division III record with three blocked punts to lead Moravian to a 29-18 victory at King’s College in Middle Atlantic Conference action. King’s received the opening kickoff and was forced to punt after three plays. Sheridan came from the left side and blocked the punt attempt at the King’s 24-yard line. Junior wide receiver Josh Kline (Reading, PA/Exeter HS) recovered the ball for the Greyhounds at the King’s 23-yard line. However, Moravian freshman Brian Maida (Freehold, NJ/Freehold Boro HS) had his 22-yard field goal attempt with 10:34 remaining in the first quarter blocked, and the Monarchs took over at their own one-yard line. After forcing the Monarchs to punt again, Moravian took over on the King’s 30-yard line. Five plays later, Jacoubs punched into the end zone from one-yard out. Moravian went for the two-point conversion, and senior quarterback Jerry Venturino ran a bootleg to the right side, giving Moravian an 8-0 lead with 6:56 left in the first quarter. During the rest of the first quarter, Moravian was forced to punt twice while King’s had one punt and a pass intercepted by Moravian senior safety GJ Weiss (Gilbertsville, PA/St. Pius X HS). Moravian forced the Monarchs to punt on the third play of the second quarter when Sheridan broke through from the left side again and blocked another punt. Junior linebacker Tony Gro (Schwenksville, PA/The Hill School) covered the ball at the King’s eight-yard line. Two plays later, Venturino connected on an eight-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Ben Hawkins. Maida connected on the extra-point for a 15-0 Greyhound lead with 13:59 remaining in the second quarter. Moravian had a chance to put more points on the board on its next drive, however, Maida had a 33-yard field goal attempt blocked after a 50-yard drive. Neither team was able to move the ball into scoring territory in the remainder of the first half. The Greyhounds received the opening kickoff of the second half. Venturino had a 46-yard completion to senior wide receiver Cletus Kilker (Bethlehem, PA/Notre Dame HS) on the second play of the drive before connecting on a 28-yard touchdown strike to Hawkins down the right sideline to finish off the five-play, 76-yard drive. Freshman kicker Brian Reckenbeil (Branchburg, NJ/Somerville HS), who handles kickoffs for the Greyhounds, made the extra-point for a 22-0 Moravian lead with 12:13 remaining in the third quarter. Venturino completed eight of 20 passes for 136 yards with two touchdowns and an interception while Hawkins caught three passes for 44 yards. Kilker added two catches for 58 yards. King’s would score its first touchdown on its opening possession of the second half. Moravian senior Corey Czerniak (Randolph, NJ/Randolph HS) blocked the extra-point attempt to keep the lead at 22-6 with 7:32 left in the third quarter. Czerniak, who is also Moravian’s punter, averaged 35.8 yards on six punts with a long of 51 yards in the victory. King’s would intercept a Venturino to set up another scoring drive, cutting the lead to 22-12 with 1:54 left in the third stanza. The Greyhounds were forced to punt again on their final drive of the third quarter. With under 20 seconds remaining in the third quarter, the Greyhounds made King’s punt again from inside the Monarchs’ ten-yard line. Sheridan came through to block his third punt of the game with Moravian taking over on the King’s 24-yard line. Sheridan tied the NCAA Division III record for blocked punts in a game on the play, becoming the sixth player in NCAA history to block three punts in a contest. The Greyhounds needed just four running plays to increase their lead with Jacoubs finishing off the short drive with a one-yard leap into the end zone. Reckenbeil’s extra-point gave Moravian a 29-12 lead with 14:01 remaining in the game. The touchdown gave Jacoubs’ 180 career points, moving him past Jud Frank into second all-time, just 12 points behind Jim Joseph’s career record of 192 points. Jacoubs is also now second all-time with 30 career touchdowns. King’s finished off the scoring with just 1:31 remaining in the game for the final of 29-18. Moravian recovered an onsides kick attempt with 1:31 remaining and ran out the clock to preserve the 29-18 victory. The Greyhounds finished the game with 216 yards on the ground including 32 yards by freshman tailback Tyler McCambridge (Northampton, PA/Allentown Central Catholic HS) and ten each by Venturino and senior fullback Kevin Lukich (Ogdensburg, NJ/Wallkill Valley HS). Freshman linebacker Andrew Morrissey (Emmaus, PA/Emmaus HS) led the Greyhound defense with 13 tackles while senior linebacker Chad DiFelice (Pen Argyl, PA/Pen Argyl HS) added 11 tackles. Junior linebacker Cliff Garr had nine tackles while senior defensive back Tyler Chomik had four tackles, three pass break-ups, a punt return of 13 yards and a kickoff return of 22 yards.

SCOUTING JUNIATA: The Eagles come to Bethlehem with an overall record of 0-3 and an 0-2 slate in MAC action. Juniata is led on the field by freshman quarterback Jay Leonard. Leonard has completed 24 of 84 passes for 323 yards with three touchdowns and nine interceptions. His top targets have been junior wide receiver Jason Koch, who has six catches for 85 yards and a score, sophomore wide receiver Lance Tippett, who has caught five passes for 76 yards, and senior wideout John Boyer, who has five receptions for 44 yards. Junior tailback Duane Ehredt, Jr. leads the Juniata ground attack with 274 yards and a touchdown on 54 carries while junior tailback Dusty Sierhas added 70 yards on 21 attempts. Senior punter Jesse Leonard is averaging 38.4 yards per punt on 18 attempts this fall with along of 56 yards while senior kicker Dan Heinlein has made four of six field goals with a long of 42 yards and four of four extra-point attempts. Senior defensive back Troy Beaver is averaging 22.8 yards per kickoff return an 14 returns, and he has an average of 2.7 yards on three punt returns. Senior linebacker Peter Thomas leads the Juniata defense with 34 tackles including five and a half for loss, two passes defended and an interception. Sophomore linebacker Justin Bell has contributed 29 tackles with one and a half for loss while sophomore defensive back Dominick Wytovich has added 25 tackles with one for loss and two interceptions. Junior linebacker Nick Trionfo has made 24 tackles with one and a half for loss while sophomore defensive back Matt Schmidt leads the Eagles with four interceptions, five passes defended, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery to go with 20 tackles.

MAC WEEKLY HONORS: Sophomore defensive back Matt Sheridan of Moravian was named the Middle Atlantic Conference Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance in the Greyhounds’ 29-18 victory over King’s College. Sheridan tied an NCAA Division III record by blocking three punts in Moravian’s victory at King’s. Sheridan blocked the Monarchs’ first, fourth and seventh punts of the game. All three punts were blocked inside the King’s 30-yard line and two were inside the 15-yard line. Sheridan is the sixth player in NCAA history to block three punts in a game and the first since 2002 when Don Rodgers of Sewanee; University of the South accomplished the feat. Sheridan was credited with two punt returns for nine yards on the two blocks that were recovered behind the line of scrimmage, and two of the blocks led to Moravian touchdowns.

USATODAY.COM NOMINATION: Sophomore defensive back Matt Sheridan of Moravian was one of five players selected for the USATODAY.com College Football Player of the Week honors. The on-line voting took place from Sunday evening until Tuesday at 12:00 p.m. Sheridan was the only one of the nominees not from an NCAA Division I school.

BALANCED & EXPERIENCED ‘HOUNDS: Of the 104 players on the Moravian roster, 40 are freshmen, 22 are sophomores and 16 are juniors. There are 26 seniors on this season’s squad, and the Greyhounds return 57 letterwinners and 15 starters.

GREYHOUNDS IN THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC CONFERENCE: Beginning four seasons ago, the Middle Atlantic Conference became an 11-team conference instead of two separate leagues. Moravian, which received two first place votes, was selected to finish in a tie for second in the MAC Preseason Coaches Poll this season with Widener University while Juniata College was 11th in the poll. Delaware Valley was selected as the top team in the MAC and received the other nine first place votes.

THE MAC STATISTICAL RANKINGS: The Greyhounds are fifth in the MAC in total defense, allowing 324.3 yards per game. The squad is seventh in passing defense at 189.3 yards per game, and the defense is sixth in rushing yards allowed at 135.0. The Greyhounds are tied for fifth in points allowed at 19.7 per game, and the squad is third in points scored per game at 24.3. Offensively, Moravian is sixth in the MAC at 315.7 yards per game. The Greyhounds are ranked first in rushing offense at 210.0 yards per game and tenth in passing offense at 105.7 yards per game. Moravian is tied for fourth in turnover margin with a -0.33 per game average as the Greyhounds have committed seven turnovers while forcing six turnovers. The Greyhounds are also first in the MAC in total rushing yards at 630 yards, passing yards per completion at 15.1 yards per completion and fourth down conversions at 75 percent (three of four). Individually, senior quarterback Jerry Venturino is ranked eighth in passing yards per game at 105.7 yards, first in passing yards per completion at 15.1, fourth in passing touchdowns with four, fifth in pass efficiency with a 105.8 rating and seventh in total offense at 136.7 yards per game. Junior running back Chris Jacoubs is ranked second in rushing yards per game at 116.3 yards per game, first in rushing attempts with 76, first in rushing touchdowns with four, second in rushing yards with 349 and ninth in total offense at 116.3 yards per game. Senior fullback Kevin Lukich is second in the MAC in yards per rush with an average of 7.6 yards per carry. Senior wide receiver Ben Hawkins ranks second in the MAC in yards per catch with an average of 19.5 yards, and he is ninth in reception yards with 156, eighth in receiving yards per game at 52.0 yards per game and tied for second in receiving touchdowns with three. Senior punter Corey Czerniak is seventh in the MAC with an average of 33.6 yards per punt and sixth in number of punts with 13. Freshman kicker Brian Maida is seventh in the MAC in kick scoring with 2.0 points per game while freshman Brian Reckenbeil is eighth at 1.7 points per game. Both kickers are tied for fifth in the MAC with 0.33 field goals per game. Freshman wide receiver Rob Shaffer (Pottsville, PA/Pottsville HS) is tied for fourth in kickoff return average at 23.6 yards per return while junior linebacker Cliff Garr is fifth in the MAC in interception return yards with 32 yards. Senior linebacker Chad DiFelice is second in tackles per game at 11.0, and he leads the conference in tackles for loss with 2.67 per contest. DeFelice is also first in sacks with three. Garr, who is tied for first in interception returns for touchdowns with one, is tied for 18th in tackles at 7.0 per game while senior defensive back Mario Bevilaqua is tied for 25th in tackles at 6.0 per game and tenth in passes defended with 1.5 per contest. Senior defensive back Tyler Chomik is tied for 45th in tackles with 5.0 per game and he leads the MAC in passes defended at 2.33 per contest while junior defensive back Israel Aguila is tied for fourth with 1.67 passes defended per game. Senior defensive lineman Bryan Kohlbecker (Middletown, NJ/Middletown South HS) ninth in tackles for loss with 2.44 per contest while senior defensive back GJ Weiss is tied for 38th in tackles at 5.3 per game. Freshman linebacker Andrew Morrissey is tied for 15th in the conference in tackles with an average of 7.7 per contest.

THE QUARTERBACKS: Senior quarterback Jerry Venturino has completed 20 of 49 passes for 317 yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions this season. Venturino has also added 93 yards on 19 carries while being sacked three times. Sophomore quarterback Sean Hill (West Reading, PA/Wyomissing HS) has completed his only pass attempt for no yards and has been sacked three times while seeing action in two games this season.

IN THE BACKFIELD: In the backfield, junior running back Chris Jacoubs leads Moravian with 349 yards and four touchdowns on 76 carries. Jacoubs has 3,189 yards (first all-time at Moravian) in just 24 career games with 14 100-plus yard games in 20 starts, including four games over 200 yards. Jacoubs became the first player in school history to reach 3,000 rushing yards in a career against Susquehanna University and the only player in school history to rush for 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons in 2003 and 2004. He is second all-time with 180 points and 30 career touchdowns, and Jacoubs is second in career rushing attempts with 634, just 15 attempts shy of Jim Joseph's career mark of 648. Senior fullback Kevin Lukich has 107 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries while junior fullback Joe Costanzo (Barnstead, NH/Bow HS & Tilton School) has added 21 yards on three carries. Freshman running back Tyler McCambridge has contributed 32 yards on just four carries while junior running back Marc Panepinto has 13 yards on five attempts this season.

THE WIDE RECEIVERS: Senior wide receiver Ben Hawkins leads the Greyhounds with eight receptions for 156 yards and three touchdowns. Junior wide receiver Shawn Martell and sophomore tight end Kris Bisci each have two receptions for 18 yards with Bisci adding a touchdown reception. Moravian has had nine different players catch a pass this season. Senior wide receiver Cletus Kilker has two catches for 58 yards while freshman wideout Rob Shaffer has grabbed two passes for 40 yards. Junior running back Chris Jacoubs has added two receptions for five yards while senior wide receivers Andrew Mazurek (West Orange, NJ/West Orange HS) and Russ Demko (Hellertown, PA/Saucon Valley HS) and senior fullback Kevin Lukich each have one catch.

OFFENSIVE LINE: The Greyhounds’ front line includes seniors Scott Burke (Holmdel, NJ/Holmdel HS), Salvatore DeWalt (Allentown, PA/Allentown Central Catholic HS) and Brenten Runne (Stanhope, NJ/Hopatcong HS) and juniors Andrew Remsing (Bath, PA/Northampton HS) and Dave Kircher (Manasquan, NJ/Manasquan HS). DeWalt was selected to the 2005 Lindy’s Preseason All-American First Team center. Last season, the Greyhounds set single season records for rushing yards 2,541 and total offense 4,479 yards a year ago and the line has an average size of six feet, two inches and 280 pounds.

DEFENSIVE FRONT: Senior Steve Cline leads the Moravian defensive line with 13 tackles with three and a half for loss, one sack and one pass defended. Senior Bryan Kohlbecker has added 12 tackles including four tackles for loss and one and a half a sacks. Senior Robert Stockley (Red Bank, NJ/Middletown South HS) has contributed eight tackles with one and a half a tackles for loss and one sack while junior Alex Smith-Constantine (Secaucus, NJ/Secaucus HS) has eight tackles with two and a half for loss and an interception. Junior defensive end Nick Feo (Hampton, NJ/Voorhees HS) has six tackles with two tackles for loss, one sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Senior defensive tackle Mike Hurden (Spring Lake, NJ/Wall HS) has contributed three tackles with half a tackle for loss.

THE LINEBACKER CORPS: Senior linebacker Chad DiFelice leads the Moravian defense with 33 tackles including eight tackles lor loss, three sacks, two pass break-ups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Junior Cliff Garr has added 21 tackles with one tackle for loss, one sack and an interception returned 32 yards for a touchdown while freshman Andrew Morrissey (Emmaus, PA/Emmaus HS) has made 23 tackles with one tackle for loss, half a sack and a pass break-up. Sophomore linebacker Kerry Myers (Easton, PA/Easton HS) has two tackles with half a tackle for loss in two games. Sophomore Arturo Duran has added four tackles this season. Freshman linebacker Kevin McGorry (Whitehall, PA/Allentown Central Catholic HS) and sophomore Dan Edleman (Pottstown, PA/The Hill School) each have one tackle.

THE DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD: In the defensive backfield, senior safety Mario Bevilaqua has made 18 tackles with one and a half tackles for loss, three passes defended and a forced fumble. Senior cornerback Tyler Chomik has added 15 tackles with one for loss and seven passes defended. Junior cornerback Israel Aguila has 14 tackles with one for loss, five passes defended, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble while senior safety GJ Weiss has added 16 tackles with half a tackle for loss, and interception and two pass break-ups. Sophomore defensive back Matt Sheridan has five tackles while junior defensive back Tom Carroll (Blackwood, NJ/Paul VI HS) has made five stops.

KICKING GAME: Senior Corey Czerniak is averaging 33.6 yards per punt on 13 attempts. He has a long punt of 51 yards with five punts fair caught and six inside the 20-yard line. Freshman Brian Maida has connected on one of five field goal attempts with a long of 25 yards versus Delaware Valley College, and he is three for six on extra-point attempts. Freshman kicker Brian Reckenbeil handles the kickoff duties for Moravian, and he is one-for-one on field goal attempts with a long of 38 yards versus Susquehanna University and two-for-two on extra-point attempts.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Freshman wide receiver Rob Shaffer has three punt returns for zero yards and five kickoff returns for 118 yards including a long kickoff return of 45 yards. Shaffer has also made two special teams tackles as has junior wide receiver Shawn Martell. Martell also returned three kickoffs for 49 yards and a long of 22 yards. Senior defensive back Tyler Chomik has one punt return for 13 yards and one kickoff return for 22 yards. Sophomore defensive back Matt Sheridan has two punt returns for nine yards after blocking three punts at King's last weekend.

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 fourth 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 14 winning seasons in Dapp’s 18 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 9th straight year, the Greyhounds' games will be on the radio. Moravian's games will be aired on WKAP Oldies 1470 AM for the second straight year. Phil May calls the play-by-play call with color commentary from Karl Baker and technical assistance from John Elliott.

STARTERS PLAYER OF THE GAME: As part of Moravian's new radio contract with Oldies 1470 WKAP, the announcers will select the Starters Player of the Game for Moravian during the St. Luke's Hospital Post-Game Show. Last week, sophomore defensive back Matt Sheridan tied an NCAA Division III record by blocking three punts in Moravian’s victory at King’s. Starters Restaurant, a sponsor of Moravian College Athletics, is located on Route 378 South of Bethlehem.

ON TELEVISION: Service Electric Cable TV-2 will be broadcasting the game this week with play-by-play from Mike Zambelli and color commentary from Jim Wills. This is the second of three games TV-2 Sports is slated to air this season.