Monday, September 9, 2002

MORAVIAN COLLEGE GREYHOUNDS, 1-0 (1-0 MAC)

KING'S COLLEGE MONARCHS, 0-1 (0-0 MAC)

1:30 p.m.; Saturday, September 14, 2002
Betzler Fields (c. 3,000); Wilkes-Barre, PA

THE GAME: Moravian looks to win its second game of the 2002 season and its fourth straight contest dating back to last season, traveling to King's College for a Middle Atlantic Conference game.  Kickoff is slated for 1:30 p.m. at Betzler Fields in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

THE COACHES: Scot Dapp (West Chester '73) is in his 16th season at Moravian, with a career record of 94-59-1 (.614).  He entered the season 45th  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.

King's coach Rich Manello (Springfield '83) is in his tenth season at the school and he has an overall record of 32-59-1 (.353).

THE SERIES: Saturday's meeting will be the eighth in the series with King's owning a 4-3 lead.  Moravian's last win in the series was in 1996 with a 14-12 win in Wilkes-Barre.  Last fall, King's scored a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns to come back from a 13-0 deficit to win 14-13 in the season opener for both schools.

LAST TIME THEY MET: In Bethlehem last fall, the Greyhounds opened the 2001 season with a disappointing 14-13 loss to King's. Moravian led 13-0 heading to the fourth quarter but was unable to hold on for the win.  The Greyhounds led 6-0 at halftime after a pair of second quarter field goals.  Marc Roesch connected on a career-long of 40 yards with 12:38 minutes left and Jim McIntyre made a 32-yarder with 11 seconds left in the half.  Roesch also made his debut as the Greyhounds punter and was called on ten times. He averaged 29.1 yards per kick with a long of 42 yards and five downed inside the 20-yard line. Moravian extended the lead to 13-0 with 1:33 left in the third quarter on a two-yard touchdown dive by sophomore tailback Tim Barlok.  McIntyre made the extra-point.  Barlok was held to six yards on seven carries by the King's defense.  The Monarch defense held the entire Moravian running game to just 16 yards on 31 carries.  Quarterback Charlie Bowden (Parlin, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial HS) led the Greyhound offense, completing 19 of 39 passes for 226 yards. Bowden's top target was wide receiver Jarod Rhinehart (Washington, NJ/Warren Hills Regional HS) who caught four passes for 90 yards. Tailback Dave Darmofal (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights HS) led the Greyhounds on the ground with just 10 yards on five carries. Defensively, linebacker Bill Engler (Coopersburg, PA/Southern Lehigh HS), linebacker Steve Maslanek (Stockholm, NJ/Vernon Township HS) and safety John Panikiewsky (Carteret, NJ/Carteret HS) each made ten tackles for the Greyhounds. Panikiewsky had two tackles for loss while Maslanek recovered one fumble.

LAST WEEK: Junior tailback David Darmofal rushed for 100 yards, the first 100-yard rushing game of his career, and the game winning touchdown on 16 carries to lead the Moravian College football team to a season opening, 21-14 victory over FDU-Florham in Middle Atlantic Conference action.  The Greyhounds overcame five turnovers (three interceptions and two fumbles) and a 14-point rally by the Devils, which tied the score at 14-14 just 11 seconds into the fourth quarter, for the victory. Moravian took a 7-0 lead with 13:38 to play in the second quarter as senior quarterback Charlie Bowden found freshman wideout Ben Hawkins (Belmar, NJ/Manasquan HS) in the back corner of the end zone on a 23-yard fade route. Freshman Nate Strohl (Coplay, PA/Whitehall HS) added the extra-point. The Greyhounds extended their first half lead to 14-0 with 8:58 to play in the quarter when Bowden found senior tight end Rick Kulp (Walnutport, PA/Northampton HS) open across the middle for a ten-yard scoring pass before Strohl added the kick.  Bowden completed 13 of 25 passes for 136 yards. The Greyhounds responded to FDU-Florham tying the game by taking the ball 70 yards on 11 plays for the game winning touchdown with 9:11 to play. Darmofal finished off the drive with a five-yard scamper off the left side.  On the drive, Darmofal had seven carries for 53 yards. Defensively for the Greyhounds, senior defensive lineman Tom Blackledge (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge HS) had six tackles with one sack and three and a half tackles for loss. Moravian allowed FDU just 150 yards total, 158 yards in the air and minus-eight yards on the ground. Senior linebacker John Cupples (Allentown, PA/Allentown Central Catholic HS) added eight tackles with one for loss.

SCOUTING KING'S: The Monarchs enter the game with a 0-1 record after falling to Hartwick College, 21-13, in their season opener last weekend. King's managed just 168 yards of total offense with all of it coming on the ground as quarterbacks junior David Hessler and senior Andy French combined to go 0-for-15 with three interceptions in the game. Sophomore tailback Richard Johnson did most of the running with 135 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries. Hessler added 43 yards on nine attempts. Defensively, the Monarchs forced three turnovers and allowed 242 yards on 72 plays but just 36 yards of it on the ground. The squad came up with seven sacks in the game and a total of 13 tackles for loss. Senior cornerback Sean Frasier, senior linebacker Ken Kozminski, senior defensive end Steve Wilson and senior defensive end Chris Keene each had eight tackles in the game. Keene and senior defensive tackle Rubin Doster each made two sacks in the game while Keene had a total of three tackles for loss. Doster and junior free safety Matt VonTanhausen each made seven tackles in the game. Senior cornerback Kamau Woolard had six tackles and an interception, which he returned 26 yards for the Monarchs' other touchdown last weekend. Sophomore punter Bobby Nawrocki averaged 36.7 yards on six punts with a long of 44 yards and he had one blocked.

YOUNG, BALANCED & EXPERIENCED 'HOUNDS: Of the 102 players on the Moravian roster, 46 are freshmen, 17 are sophomores and 16 are juniors.  There are 23 seniors on this season's squad, the largest number in years and the most ever for head coach Scot Dapp, and the Greyhounds return 43 letterwinners and 19 starters.

GREYHOUNDS IN THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC CONFERENCE: Beginning last season, the Middle Atlantic Conference became an 11-team conference instead of two separate leagues.  Moravian was selected to finish sixth in the MAC Preseason Coaches Poll this season while King's was picked third in the MAC poll.  Widener University, which reached the NCAA quarterfinals last season, was again selected as the top team in the MAC.

THE MAC STATISTICAL RANKINGS: Team stats were not released this week as only seven of the 11 teams in the conference played last weekend.  Individually, junior tailback David Darmofal is sixth in the MAC in rushing, averaging 100 yards per game and he is eighth in all-purpose yardage at 100 yards per game.  Senior quarterback Charlie Bowden is fourth in yards per game at 136 yards per game, seventh in pass efficiency at 108.1 and seventh in total offense at 114 yards per game.  Senior tight end Rick Kulp is tied for fourth in receptions per game at five and freshman wideout Ben Hawkins is tied for ninth at three.  Hawkins is fourth in receiving yards per game at 68 yards per game while Kulp is ninth at 41 yards per game.  Senior tailback Josh Fick (Emmaus, PA/Emmaus HS) is fourth in the MAC in runt returns with an average of 8.2 yards per return while junior wide receiver Kevin Miltenberger (Carlisle, PA/Carlisle HS) is fifth at 7.9 yards.  Junior Jed Warsager (Andover, NJ/Newton HS) is second in kickoff returns, averaging 23.5 yards a return.  Junior punter John McLain (Belvidere, NJ/Belvidere HS) is second in punting at 41.4 yards per kick.  Freshman Nate Strohl (Coplay, PA/Whitehall HS) is tied for first in PAT percentage at 100 percent and fifth in kick scoring at 3.0 points per game.

MILESTONE WATCH: Junior wideout Jarod Rhinehart surpassed the 1,000-yard milestone last season.  Rhinehart has 1,131 yards (11th) on 87 career receptions (eighth).  Rhinehart needs four receptions to move to fifth and 134 yards to move into ninth.  Junior quarterback Charlie Bowden is also moving up the record books.  He has completed 298 (fourth) of 572 (fourth) passes for 3,792 (fourth) yards with 26 touchdowns (fourth).  Bowden needs 1,739 yards, 118 completions, 217 attempts and nine touchdowns to move into third in each category.  Junior tailback Josh Fick needs just 66 yards to reach 1,000.  Fick has 944 yards on 160 carries with 16 touchdowns in his career.

BOWDEN LEADING THE 'HOUNDS OFFENSE: Senior quarterback Charlie Bowden completed 13 of 25 passes for 136 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions last Saturday.  Junior Will Seng (Allentown, PA/William Allen HS) also saw some playing time and was one for two for 15 yards and an interception.

IN THE BACKFIELD: Junior tailback David Darmofal leads the Greyhounds with 100 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries.  The 100-yard game was the first of Darmofal's career.  Junior fullback Eric Gustafson (Collingswood, NJ/Collingswood HS) picked up 44 yards on nine carries while sophomore fullback Bill Caraisa (Fair Haven, NJ/Rumson-Fair Haven HS) had 22 yards on six carries.  Senior tailback Josh Fick had 34 yards on 11 attempts last Saturday.

THE WIDE RECEIVERS: Senior tight end Rick Kulp led the Greyhounds in receiving last week, catching five passes for 41 yards and one touchdown.  Freshman wideout Ben Hawkins had three receptions for 68 yards and one score.  Senior fullback Eric Gustafson and junior wide receiver Kevin Miltenberger each had two receptions wit Gustafson gaining 14 yards and Miltenberger getting 11 yards. Senior wide receiver Jarod Rhinehart made one reception for nine yards to give him 87 catches for his career.

OFFENSIVE LINE: Senior Josh Zagorski (Morris Plains, NJ/Parsippany Hills HS), a 2001 Middle Atlantic Conference All-Star and center, anchors the offensive line which returns four of five members from last season. Zagorski was also named to the Don Hansen's Football Gazette Division III Preseason All-American Third Team. Also back on the front line will be seniors John Giacchi (Franklin, NJ/Pope John XXIII HS) and Jeff Andruczyk (Hampton, NJ/Voorhees HS) and sophomore Andrew Leska (Coopersburg, PA/Southern Lehigh HS).  Senior Marc Zimmerman (Macungie, PA/Emmaus HS) will fill the open positions in the line. The quintet gives the Greyhounds a formidable line, averaging 5'11" and 260 pounds.

DEFENSIVE FRONT: Senior defensive end Tom Blackledge led the Greyhounds up front last weekend with six tackles including four for loss and one of Moravian's three sacks.  Sophomore defensive end Shawn Nelson (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic HS) added four tackles with one for loss while senior nose tackle Pat Mancini (Milford, NJ/Delaware Valley Regional HS) had two stops.

THE LINEBACKER CORPS: Senior John Cupples (Allentown, PA/Allentown Central Catholic HS) led the Greyhound defense with eight tackles in the victory.  Cupples also had half a sack and a pass break-up in the game.  Senior linebackers Bill Engler and Vince Cowlishaw (Chatham, NJ/Chatham HS) each had four tackles while junior Steve Maslanek and freshman Richie Cline (Union Beach, NJ/Keyport HS) each had three stops.  Cline had two tackles for loss and a half a sack while Cowlishaw had a tackle for loss.

THE DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD: Junior safety John Panikiewsky led the Moravian defensive backs with five tackles last week.  He made two key plays in the final three minutes of last weekend's victory, a fumble recovery and an interception, which he returned five yards.  Panikiewsky also had one sack in the game.  Senior cornerback Jarrod Pence (Livingston, NJ/Livingston HS) made four tackles while junior cornerback Nate Pogue (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty HS) and sophomore rover Bill Skriletz (Coopersburg, PA/Southern Lehigh HS) each had two tackles and a pass break-up.  Pogue's pass break-up was an interception in the third quarter.

KICKING GAME: Freshman Nate Strohl was three-for-three on extra-points in his collegiate debut but he was wide right on a 37-yard field goal attempt in the third quarter against FDU-Florham.  Junior John McLain was called on to punt five times last week and he averaged 41.4 yards per kick with two punts over 58 yards and one downed inside the 20.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Junior Jed Warsager returned two kickoffs for 47 yards while sophomore Cody Hendershot (Bangor, PA/Bangor HS) had one kickoff return for eight yards.  On punt returns, Josh Fick and Kevin Miltenberger each made four returns with Fick gaining 33 yards and Miltenberger picking up 29 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 second 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 12 winning seasons in Dapp's 15 years. The 11-straight winning seasons is the longest in school history. Dapp ranks third among Greyhound coaches in winning percentage.