Sports News: Fall 2000

September 18, 2000

MORAVIAN AT LEBANON VALLEY FOOTBALL PREVIEW

THE GAME: Moravian looks win its third game of the year in a Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth game against Lebanon Valley College on Saturday, September 23rd. Kickoff is slated for 1:30 p.m. at Arnold Field in Annville, PA.

THE COACHES: Scot Dapp (West Chester ’73) is in his 14th season at Moravian, with a career record of 84-50-1 (.626). He enters the season 42nd 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.

Lebanon Valley coach Mike Silecchia (Mansfield ’78) is in his third season at the school with an overall record of 4-18 (.182).

THE SERIES: Saturday’s meeting will be the 55th in the series with Lebanon Valley holding a 28-25-1 advantage. The Flying Dutchmen won last season’s game 24-13 while Moravian’s last win in the series was two years ago in Annville, 35-15.

LAST TIME THEY MET: In Bethlehem last fall, Moravian fell to Lebanon Valley by the score of 24-13. The Greyhounds scored just 3:46 into the game on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Rob Petrosky to wide receiver Keith Moore (Perkasie/Pennridge HS). The Flying Dutchmen would score the next 18 points in the game on three touchdown passes from Dennis Yagmourian. Yagmourian connected with Gannon Enck from nine yards out, Tommy Mealy on a 35-yard scoring strike and Doug Henning for a 26-yard touchdown. Moravian would score in the third quarter on another Petrosky touchdown pass, this one to tight end Rick Kulp (Walnutport/Northampton HS) for six yards. Yagmourian connected with Mealy for a 30-yard scoring play to finish the game. Petrosky was 14 of 21 in the game for 140 yards but he was intercepted twice while Yagmourian completed 20 of 39 passes for 268 yards and he was intercepted twice as well. Moravian’s P.J. Jankowicz (Belle Mead, NJ/Hillsborough HS) had 56 yards on 15 carries while Tom Kuhn had 54 yards on 19 carries for Lebanon Valley. Mealy had six receptions for the Flying Dutchmen for 141 yards. Moravian linebacker Phil Black had 14 tackles and a sack to lead the Greyhound defense.

LAST WEEK: Sophomore quarterback Charlie Bowden (Parlin, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial HS) completed 19 of 33 passes for 256 yards and two touchdowns to lead Moravian to a 27-17 victory over Albright. Bowden got the Greyhounds, who are now 2-0 on the season for the first time since 1996, on the board with 10:55 remaining in the first quarter when he connected with junior wide receiver Michael Abbate (South Plainfield, NJ/Bishop Ahr HS) on a 64-yard scoring strike. Junior Marc Roesch (Egg Harbor City, NJ/St. Augustine HS) made the extra-point. Abbate caught three passes for 109 yards. Moravian would regain the lead with just over five minutes remaining in the first stanza on a one-yard scamper by senior tailback P.J. Jankowicz and a Roesch extra-point. Bowden, who was sacked four times in the game, gave the Greyhounds the lead for good with a one-yard touchdown run with 18 seconds remaining in the first half to cap a 10-play, 55-yard drive. The Greyhounds put the game away with a 21-yard scoring pass from Bowden to freshman wide receiver Kevin Miltenberger (Carlisle/Carlisle HS) on a fourth and seven-play from the Albright 21 yard line. Roesch missed the extra-point. For the second straight week, Miltenberger was the top target for the Greyhound quarterbacks, catching six passes for 62 yards. Senior cornerback Doug Joseph (Allentown/Parkland HS) led the Greyhound defense with 12 tackles and he added on of the ‘Hounds three interceptions. Sophomore safety Jarrod Pence (Livingston, NJ/Livingston HS) had ten tackles in the game to go along with one forced fumble and one interception to end the first half. Sophomore linebacker Bill Engler (Coopersburg/Southern Lehigh HS) had ten tackles for the second straight week while senior linebacker J.D. Rhinehart (Washington, NJ/Warren Hills Regional HS) had nine tackles including one for loss and one interception. Sophomore defensive tackle Pat Mancini (Milford, NJ/Delaware Valley Regional HS) added three tackles, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery for Moravian.

SCOUTING LEBANON VALLEY: The Flying Dutchmen enter the game with a 1-1 record after a 19-7 victory over Juniata College last weekend. Lebanon Valley will be led on the field by sophomore quarterback Dallas Noll, who is 25 for 46 on the season for 275 yards and two touchdowns. His top two targets this fall have been freshman tight end Scott Marek, who has ten receptions for 105 yards, and senior wide receiver Doug Henning, a former quarterback with seven catches for 57 yards and one touchdown. Junior quarterback Dennis Yagmourian has completed three of nine passes for 36 yards and one interception. Senior tailback Joe Trezza has 97 yards on 28 carries this season with one touchdown while freshman running back Pete Henning has 48 yards on 14 attempts. Marek also handles the punting chores for the Flying Dutchmen and he is averaging 36.8 yards per punt on 13 kicks. Senior kicker Eric Connelly is two-for-two on field goals this season and one-for-two on extra-points. Pete Henning has returned four kickoffs for an average of 25.8 yards per return and he has returned four punts for an average of 13.5 yards per return. Senior linebacker Todd Lipp leads the Lebanon Valley defense with 21 tackles including three for loss and he has one interception. Senior defensive back Shawn Berwager has 17 tackles this season with a team high ten solo tackles and five pass break-ups. Senior linebacker John Music leads the Flying Dutchmen with five tackles for loss and two sacks among his 13 tackles while sophomore defensive back Jack Himmelberger has 12 tackles this season.

YOUNG, BALANCED & EXPERIENCED ‘HOUNDS: Of the 75 players on the Moravian roster, 25 are freshmen, 30 are sophomores and 13 are juniors. There are seven seniors on this season’s squad and the Greyhounds returns 35 letterwinners and 14 starters.

GREYHOUNDS IN THE MAC: The ’Hounds defense leads the Middle Atlantic Conference in scoring defense, allowing just 13.5 points per game. The Moravian defense also ranks fifth in rushing (104.5 yards per contest), second in passing (162.0 yards per game), second in total defense (266.5 yards per game), first in pass defense efficiency (79.5) and tied for first in turnover margin (+2.5 per game). The Greyhounds are a +5 in takeaway/giveaway this season. On offense, the Greyhounds are sixth in scoring (23.0 points per game), sixth in rushing (113.5 yards per game), fourth in passing (228.5 yards per game), sixth in total offense (343.0 yards per contest) and third in pass efficiency (129.3). Sophomore safety Jarrod Pence leads the MAC with 1.5 interceptions per game while three Greyhounds are tied for sixth at 0.5 interceptions per contest. Sophomore quarterback Charlie Bowden ranks third in pass efficiency at 131.2 and he is seventh in passing at 196.0 yards per game. Senior quarterback Jed Moyer (Dresher/Upper Dublin HS) is second in the conference with a 132.9 pass efficiency. Freshman wide receiver Kevin Miltenberger is fourth in the MAC with 6.0 receptions per game while freshman Tim Barlok (Bethlehem/Bethlehem Catholic HS) is ninth in rushing offense at 41.0 yards per game and sophomore tailback Josh Fick (Emmaus/Emmaus HS) is tenth at 39.5 yards per game. Freshman punter Alex Myshak (Lake Ariel/North Pocono HS) is sixth in punting at 33.8 yards per kick while Barlok is fifth in kickoff returns with an average of 23.5 yards per return. Senior Doug Joseph ranks fourth in punt returns at 14.0 yards per return and ninth in kickoff returns with an average of 20.0 while junior Michael Abbate is ninth in punt returns at 5.3 yards a return, ninth in receiving yards per game at 71.0 and tied for seventh in scoring at 6.0 points per game. Junior kicker Marc Roesch is tied for second in field goals per game (1.0) and tied for third in points per game (5.0).

POLL POSITION: Moravian was selected to tie for fifth in the MAC Commonwealth preseason poll this season with Lebanon Valley College. Lycoming College was again selected as the top team in the MAC.

MOYER & BOWDEN TO LEAD THE ‘HOUNDS OFFENSE: Sophomore quarterback Charlie Bowden made his first collegiate start at quarterback last week. Bowden has completed 30 of 53 passes this season for 392 yards and two touchdowns and no interceptions. Senior quarterback Jed Moyer (Dresher/Upper Dublin HS) has completed five of eight passes for 67 yards this fall.

IN THE BACKFIELD: Freshman tailback Tim Barlok is tied for third on the squad with just 11 carries this season but he leads the Greyhounds with 82 yards including a team best 47-yard run. Sophomore tailback Josh Fick has 16 carries for 79 yards and one touchdown this year. Senior tailback P.J. Jankowicz needs just 94 yards to become the seventh Greyhound player to run for 2,000 yards in a career and 131 attempts to set the school record. Jankowicz has 47 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries this season. Senior fullback Frank Starner (Nazareth/Nazareth HS) has added 22 yards on ten carries.

THE WIDE RECEIVERS: The Greyhounds have had nine players catch a pass this season led by freshman Kevin Miltenberger, who has 12 receptions for 98 yards and one touchdown. Junior wideout Michael Abbate has six catches for 142 yards and a touchdown while sophomore wide receiver Jarod Rhinehart (Washington, NJ/Warren Hills Regional HS) has grabbed five aerials for 95 yards. Sophomore tight end Rick Kulp has three catches for 47 yards.

OFFENSIVE LINE: Moravian has three starters back on the offensive line this season including senior tackle Adam Smith (Allentown/Parkland HS). Smith will anchor the line which averages 6’0", 253. Junior Matt Gray (Point Pleasant, NJ/Point Pleasant HS) is moving from center to the other tackle position. Junior Jon Williams (Allentown/Parkland HS) returns to one guard spot while sophomore John Giacchi (Franklin, NJ/Pope John XXIII) will move into the starting role in the other guard position. Sophomore Josh Zagorski (Morris Plains, NJ/Parsippany Hills HS) will be the starting center.

DEFENSIVE FRONT: Sophomore defensive tackle Pat Mancini leads the Greyhounds’ front four with nine tackles, including two for loss, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. Senior defensive end Dustin Collier (Easton/Freedom HS) has eight tackles with one for loss while junior defensive tackle John Kwiatkowski (Whitehall/Whitehall HS) has added eight tackles and one and a half sacks. Sophomore defensive end Brian Cascioli (Center Valley/Southern Lehigh HS) has seven tackles with one for loss while sophomore defensive end Tom Blackledge (Sellersville/Pennridge HS) has six tackles with two for loss and one sack.

THE LINEBACKERING CORP: Senior J.D. Rhinehart leads the Greyhound defense with 21 tackles including four for loss, one and a half sacks, one interception, two pass break-ups and one forced fumble. Sophomore Bill Engler has 20 tackles this season with two for loss. Sophomore John Cupples (Allentown/Allentown Central Catholic HS) has added nine tackles this fall.

THE DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD: Sophomore safety Jarrod Pence has made three interceptions this fall to lead the Greyhounds and he has added 16 tackles, one forced fumble and four pass break-ups. Senior cornerback Doug Joseph also has 16 tackles to go along with one interception and five pass break-ups. Junior safety Mike Wukitsch (Allentown/Allentown Central Catholic HS) has 11 tackles, one interception and four pass break-ups while sophomore cornerback Nate Pogue (Bethlehem/Liberty HS) has seven tackles and four pass break-ups.

KICKING GAME: Junior Marc Roesch is four of six on extra-points and two of three on field goal attempts this season. Roesch has made field goals of 28 and 33 yards but missed a 30-yarder. Freshman Alex Myshak (Lake Ariel/North Pocono HS) is the Greyhounds punter and he is averaging 33.8 yards per kick with a long of 43 yards.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Junior Michael Abbate has returned three punts for 16 yards while freshman Tim Barlok has four kickoff returns for 94 yards. Senior Doug Joseph has three kickoff returns for 60 yards and three punt returns for 42 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 LAST TIME FOR A 2-0 START: The last time the Greyhounds opened a season with a 2-0 record was in 1996. Moravian’s last 3-0 start to a season was in 1988 when the team went 4-0 to start the year and that squad ended the season in the NCAA playoffs.

ON THE AIRWAVES: For the fourth straight year, the Greyhounds football game will be aired on WGPA, Sunny 1100 AM. Phil May will handle the play-by-play call with color commentary from Jim Wills.