Sports News: Fall 2001

Monday, November 5, 2001

MORAVIAN AT MUHLENBERG FOOTBALL PREVIEW

1:00 p.m.; Saturday, November 10, 2001
Frank Marino Field at Scotty Wood Stadium (c. 3,000); Allentown, PA

THE GAME: Moravian looks to snap a two-game losing streak in a non-conference game at rival Muhlenberg College.  Kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m. at Frank Marino Field at Scotty Wood Stadium in Allentown. 

THE COACHES: Scot Dapp (West Chester '73), who won the 90th game of his career four weeks ago, is in his 15th season at Moravian with a career record of 91-59-1 (.606).  He entered the season 43rd 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.

Muhlenberg coach Mike Donnelly (Ithaca '75) is in his fifth season at the school with an overall record of 28-22 (.560).

THE SERIES: Saturday's meeting will be the 50th in the series with Moravian holding a 29-18-2 advantage.  The Greyhounds, however, have lost the last three games to the Mules by a combined score of 130-60.  Moravian's last win in the series was a 21-16 victory in Allentown in 1997.

LAST TIME THEY MET: In Bethlehem last fall, Moravian fell to Muhlenberg, 45-20 to close out the season on the 100th anniversary of the first two meetings between the two schools.  Muhlenberg would score twice in the first quarter to take a 14-0 lead before the Greyhounds would get on the scoreboard.  Moravian would cut the lead to 14-6 early in the second stanza when tailback Josh Fick (Emmaus/Emmaus HS) took a handoff and ran three yards for a touchdown.  The extra-point failed and Moravian trailed 14-6.  Fick also grabbed three passes for 62 yards.  The Mules would extend the lead right back to 21-6 before the Hounds had the ball again.  Moravian would score on its next drive as well on a 14-yard pass from quarterback Charlie Bowden (Parlin, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial HS) to wide receiver Jarod Rhinehart (Washington, NJ/Warren Hills Regional HS) but the two-point conversion failed to set the score at 21-12.  Bowden, Moravian's MVP in the game, completed 16 of 32 passes for 250 yards to give him 2,237 on the year, the third best single season in Moravian history.  However, Bowden was intercepted twice in the game.  Rhinehart had four receptions for 39 yards with the touchdown.  Muhlenberg would need exactly 13 seconds to pad its lead as Joshua Carter received the kickoff at the ten yard line and ran up the middle of the field 90 yards for a touchdown.  The score gave the Mules a 28-12 halftime lead.  The Greyhounds would be the only team to score in the third quarter as tailback Tim Barlok (Bethlehem/Bethlehem Catholic HS) scampered up the middle 36 yards for the touchdown.  A Bowden pass to Rhinehart for two points put Moravian down by eight points, 28-20 with 4:02 left in the third quarter.  Barlok led the Moravian ground game with 75 yards on 12 carries and he also had 50 yards on three receptions.  Running back P.J. Jankowicz ran for 38 yards on seven attempts.  Muhlenberg would finish out the scoring in the fourth quarter with 17 points.  Linebacker J.D. Rhinehart paced the Greyhounds with 13 tackles, one interception and two pass break-ups.  Linebacker John Cupples (Allentown/Allentown Central Catholic HS) had 11 tackles with one for loss.

LAST WEEK: Moravian committed seven turnovers (four fumbles and three interceptions) in a 41-14 loss to Susquehanna University in a Middle Atlantic Conference game last weekend.  The Crusaders converted four of those seven turnovers into touchdowns including three in the first half.  After falling behind 21-0 in the first half, Moravian finally got on the board in the third quarter on a one-yard run by sophomore quarterback Will Seng (Allentown, PA/William Allen HS).  Senior defensive back/kicker Jim McIntyre (Hackettstown, NJ/Hackettstown HS) added the extra-point to cut the Susquehanna lead to 21-7.  Seng came into the game in the second quarter after starter junior quarterback Charlie Bowden completed just two of seven passes for 21 yards with two interceptions.  Moravian scored its final touchdown with 7:22 remaining in the contest on a 22-yard pass from Seng to senior wide receiver Michael Abbate (South Plainfield, NJ/Bishop Ahr HS) and McIntyre adding the extra-point to cut Susquehanna's lead to 35-14.  Seng completed eight of 14 passes for 94 yards in relief of Bowden but he was intercepted once.  Abbate grabbed four passes for 65 yards to go over 1,500 yards, just the fifth player in Moravian history to reach 1,500 yards with 1,568 yards on 109 career receptions.  Abbate also had two carries for five yards and four punt returns for 35 yards.  On the ground for the Greyhounds, sophomore tailback David Darmofal (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights HS) ran for 65 yards on 11 carries while sophomore tailback Tim Barlok added 51 yards on 14 attempts.  Defensively for the Greyhounds, Junior defensive lineman Tom Blackledge (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge HS) had nine tackles with three for loss and two half sacks while junior linebacker John Cupples, sophomore linebacker Bill Engler (Coopersburg, PA/Southern Lehigh HS) and senior defensive lineman John Kwiatkowski (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall HS) each had eight tackles.  Junior defensive back Jarrod Pence (Livingston, NJ/Livingston HS) added six pass break-ups in the game.

SCOUTING MUHLENBERG: The Mules enter Saturday's game with an overall mark of 7-2 and a Centennial Conference record of 5-1.  Muhlenberg is coming off a 63-13 victory at Hartwick College last weekend.  Junior quarterback Justin Jones leads the Mules on the field, having completed 105 of 216 passes for 1,464 yards with 12 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.  Senior wideout Joshua Carter has been the top target, catching 37 aerials for 550 yards and seven scores.  Carter also handles the return duties for Muhlenberg with 13 kickoff returns for 347 yards and 41 punt returns for 532 yards.  Junior wide receiver Alfredo Mercuri has caught 29 passes for 529 yards and one touchdown.  Sophomore running back Matt Bernardo leads the Muhlenberg rushing attack with 990 yards and 19 touchdowns on 198 carries.  Jones has added 374 yards and eight scores on 62 carries while senior running back Kamali Roberts has 363 yards and four touchdowns on 62 attempts.  Junior kick Chris Reed is 36 of 40 on extra-points this season for the Mules and he has made four of 11 field goals with a long of 36 yards.  Senior Erik Hammar and freshman Justin Saverine have split the punting duties with Hammar averaging 33.8 yards on 12 punts and Saverine averaging 36.1 yards on 29 kicks.  Hammar has also added 36 tackles and he leads the Mules with seven interceptions.  Senior linebacker Jon-Paul Skarpetowski leads the Muhlenberg defense with 60 tackles.  Senior free safety Kit Spicer has 50 tackles with six and a half for loss while junior linebacker Beau Sherry has 47 tackles.  Junior defensive end Michael Ferreira leads the Mules with five sacks this season.

YOUNG, BALANCED & EXPERIENCED 'HOUNDS: Of the 83 players on the Moravian roster, 30 are freshmen, 19 are sophomores and 26 are juniors.  There are eight seniors on this season's squad and the Greyhounds return 39 letterwinners and 16 starters.

GREYHOUNDS IN THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC CONFERENCE: Beginning this season, the Middle Atlantic Conference is an 11-team conference instead of two separate leagues.  Moravian was selected to finish fourth in the MAC Preseason Coaches Poll this season.  Widener University, who reached the NCAA semifinals last season, was selected to win the MAC again this year.

MILESTONE WATCH: Senior wide receiver Michael Abbate is moving up the Moravian record books.  After catching four passes for 65 yards and a touchdown versus Susquehanna last weekend, Abbate now has 109 career receptions (fourth) and he needs just 12 catches to move into third all-time.  He is fifth in Moravian history with 1,538 yards and he needs just 50 yards to move into fourth and 59 yards to move into third all-time.  Abbate is fifth all-time with 12 touchdown catches and he ranks second in career punt returns with 77 and career punt return yardage with 633 yards.  Junior wideout Jarod Rhinehart surpassed the 1,000-yard milestone versus Juniata.  Rhinehart has 1,059 yards (12th) on 79 career receptions (tenth).  Junior quarterback Charlie Bowden hit the 3,000-yard passing mark at Juniata as well and he is fifth all-time with 3,396 yards.  Bowden needs 167 yards to move into fourth place.  He has completed 265 (4th) of 510 (5th) passes with 23 touchdowns (4th).  Junior tailback Josh Fick (Emmaus, PA/Emmaus HS) needs just 90 yards to become the 17th Greyhounds to surpass the 1,000-yard rushing mark.  Fick has 910 yards on 149 carries with 16 touchdowns in his career.  Sophomore tailback Tim Barlok needs just 93 yards to reach 1,000 as he has 907 career yards on 183 attempts with ten touchdowns.

MAC STATISTICAL RANKINGS: The Greyhound offense is currently ranked fifth in the MAC, averaging 361.6 yards per game.  Moravian is eighth in passing at 179.4 yards a contest, third in rushing offense at 182.2 yards per game and sixth in scoring offense at 26.1 points per game.  Defensively, the Greyhounds are sixth in total defense, allowing 370.2 yards an outing.  Moravian is fifth rushing defense, allowing just 120.5 yards per game, 11th in passing defense at 249.8 yards per contest and sixth in scoring defense at 25.4 points per game.  The Greyhounds are tenth in turnover margin at -0.88 per game.  Individually, quarterback Charlie Bowden is eighth in passing offense at 164.9 yards per game, ninth in pass efficiency at 98.9 and eighth in total offense at 162.3 yards per game.  Wide receiver Michael Abbate is seventh in punt return yardage at 6.4 yards per return.  Kicker Marc Roesch (Egg Harbor City, NJ/St. Augustine HS) is tenth in punting average at 31.0 yards per run, eighth in the MAC in kick scoring at 1.8 points per game, eighth in extra-point percentage at 68.8 percent (11 of 16) and tied for eighth in field goal percentage at 33.3.  Roesch is tied with cornerback/kicker Jim McIntyre for ninth in the MAC in field goals with 0.12 per game.  McIntyre is tied for first in field goal percentage at 1.000, sixth in extra-point percentage at 75.0 (six of eight) and tied for fifth in fumbles recovered with two.  Linebacker John Cupples is fifth in tackles with 9.1 per game.  Freshman safety Bill Skriletz (Coopersburg, PA/Southern Lehigh HS) is tied for fifth in forced fumbles with two while cornerback Jarrod Pence leads the MAC with 28 pass break-ups.

BOWDEN LEADING THE 'HOUNDS OFFENSE: Quarterback Charlie Bowden completed 97 of 206 passes for 1,154 yards with nine touchdowns and ten interceptions for the Greyhounds.  Bowden, who has been sacked 12 times, has hit ten different receivers with a pass while 13 different Greyhounds have caught a pass this season.  Quarterback Will Seng has completed 19 of 32 passes for 281 yards and three touchdowns this season.  Seng has been intercepted three times but sacked just twice.  Seng has run 11 times for 40 yards and one score.

IN THE BACKFIELD: Tailback Josh Fick, who has missed the last three weeks with a knee injury, leads the Greyhounds on the ground with 468 yards on 79 carries with eight touchdowns, including a 46-yard score.  Tailback Tim Barlok has 242 yards and two touchdowns on 47 attempts while tailback David Darmofal has 319 yards on 66 attempts with two scores.  Junior fullback Eric Gustafson (Collingswood, NJ/Collingswood HS) has added 225 yards on 47 attempts with two touchdowns.  Wide receiver Michael Abbate has added 110 yards on 21 carries with two touchdowns.

THE WIDE RECEIVERS: The Greyhounds have had 13 different players catch a pass this season, led by wideout Michael Abbate, who has 462 yards on 34 receptions and four touchdowns.  Sophomore wide receiver Jeff Lowry (Catawissa, PA/Southern Columbia HS) has 23 receptions for 263 yards and two scores while wideout Jarod Rhinehart has 20 catches for 258 yards and two touchdowns.  Sophomore wideout Kevin Miltenberger (Carlisle, PA/Carlisle HS) has six receptions for 38 yards while tailback Josh Fick has eight catches for 107 yards.  Tight end Rick Kulp has added seven catches for 94 yards and two touchdowns.

OFFENSIVE LINE: Moravian has three starters back on the offensive line this season led by senior right tackle Matt Gray (Point Pleasant, NJ/Point Pleasant HS).  Also back on the line are center sophomore Josh Zagorski (Morris Plains, NJ/Parsippany Hills HS) and junior left guard John Giacchi (Franklin, NJ/Pope John XXIII HS).  Moravian's offensive line will average 6'0", 265 this season.  The two new starters on the line are freshman Andrew Leska (Coopersburg, PA/Southern Lehigh HS) and sophomore right guard Jeff Andruczyk (Hampton, NJ/Voorhees HS).

DEFENSIVE FRONT: Junior defensive end Tom Blackledge leads the Moravian front six with 35 tackles; 12 for loss, four sacks and one fumble recovery.  Junior nose tackle Pat Mancini (Milford, NJ/Delaware Valley Regional HS) has added 32 tackles, one forced fumble, five tackles for loss and two and a half sacks.  Senior defensive end John Kwiatkowski has 34 tackles with nine behind the line of scrimmage and four sacks while junior nose guard Brian Cascioli (Center Valley, PA/Southern Lehigh HS) has nine tackles with two stops coming for a loss and one sack.  Sophomore Justin Moyer (Allentown, PA/Salisbury HS) has nine tackles this season.

THE LINEBACKER CORP: Junior John Cupples leads the Greyhound defense with 72 tackles with 17 tackles for loss, four sacks, one interception, four pass break-ups, one fumble recovery and one forced fumble.  Sophomore Bill Engler has made 60 tackles this year with ten tackles for loss, three sacks, two pass break-ups, one fumble recovery and one forced fumble.  Sophomore Steve Maslanek (Stockholm, NJ/Vernon Township HS) has added 53 tackles including four pass break-ups, four and a half sacks and eight tackles for loss.  Maslanek has also recovered one fumble and forced another.  Junior Vince Cowlishaw (Chatham, NJ/Chatham HS) has 43 tackles, including eight for losses, two sacks, one forced fumble and four pass break-ups.

THE DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD: Junior Jarrod Pence has made 43 tackles this season with two for loss, two interceptions and a team high 28 pass break-ups.  Senior Jim McIntyre has 35 tackles, two fumble recoveries for four yards, two interceptions with 35 yards in returns and 12 pass break-ups while senior Mike Wukitsch (Allentown, PA/Allentown Central Catholic HS) added 25 tackles, three tackles for loss, four pass break-ups, a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.  Sophomore John Panikiewsky (Carteret, NJ/Carteret HS) has 28 tackles this season with three for loss in five games.  Freshman Bill Skriletz has 33 tackles, seven pass break-ups, two interceptions with a 39-yard return and two forced fumbles.

KICKING GAME: Senior Marc Roesch is kicking off and punting for the Greyhounds this season.  He has had 40 kickoffs this year and he has been called on 40 times to punt.  Roesch averaged 31.0 yards per punt with a long of 44 yards with 11 of his punts placed inside the 20-yard line.  Roesch also kicked a career-long 40-yard field goal against King's College and is 11-for-16 on extra-points.  Freshman Bill Skriletz punted three times last week with an average of 30.0 yards.  Senior Jim McIntyre made a 32-yard field goal against King's and he is six for eight on extra-points.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Senior Michael Abbate has five kickoff returns for 156 yards, an average of 31.5 yards per return, with a long of 57 yards and he has 27 punt returns for 174 yards and a long of 23 yards.  Sophomore Dave Darmofal has 12 kickoff returns for 206 yards and a long of 35 yards.  Junior Josh Fick has returned seven kickoff for 141 yards and four punts for 13 yards with a long of seven yards.  Sophomore Tim Barlok has added 119 yards on seven kickoff returns with a long of 22 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 first 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 the squad has had 12 winning seasons in Dapp's first 14 years.  The 11-straight winning seasons is the longest streak in school history.  Dapp ranks third among Greyhound coaches in winning percentage.

ON THE AIRWAVES: For the fifth straight year, the Greyhounds football game will be aired on WGPA, Sunny 1100 AM.  Phil May calls the play-by-play call with color commentary from Fred Harris

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Please contact SID Mark Fleming, either at Moravian's sports information office (610/861-1472) or at home (610/758-8721) or Muhlenberg College SID Mike Falk at (484/664-3232).