Monday, September 16, 2002

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

Bye Week

THE GAME: Moravian has its first scheduled week off since the third week of the 1984 season as the Greyhounds will use the bye week to prepare for a Middle Atlantic Conference home game on Saturday, September 28th with Widener University. Kickoff of that game will take place at 1:00 p.m. on Moravian's Family Day.

THE COACHES: Scot Dapp (West Chester '73) is in his 16th season at Moravian, with a career record of 94-60-1 (.610). 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.

THE SERIES: Next Saturday's meeting will be the 56th in the series with Widener owning a 34-21 lead. Moravian's last win in the series was in 1997 with a 27-24 overtime win in Chester. The Pioneers have won the last four games in the series with the average score being 44-18 and Widener has scored at least 40 points in all four contests.

LAST TIME THEY MET: In Chester last fall, the Greyhounds returned to action in a MAC game at Widener after having their second game of the season cancelled. However, Moravian ended up on the short end of the score, falling to the fifth-ranked Pioneers, 44-26. The Greyhounds took a 6-0 lead with 9:07 to play in the first quarter on a four-yard touchdown run by tailback Josh Fick (Emmaus, PA/Emmaus HS). Fick's run capped an eight-play, 43-yard drive. Trailing 13-6, Moravian scored with 7:30 left in the second quarter on a 46-yard touchdown run by Fick, who finished the game with 80 yards on 12 carries. The Greyhounds next score was on a 39-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Charlie Bowden (Parlin, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial HS), who completed 13 of 36 passes for 195 yards, to wide receiver Michael Abbate, who caught six passes for 101 yards. Jim McIntyre made the extra-point to make the score 37-19 Widener. Moravian finished off the scoring for the game with a one-yard touchdown run by running back Will Shorman. Shorman's touchdown run was setup by a 51-yard pass from quarterback William Seng (Allentown, PA/William Allen HS) to wide receiver Ed Hughes to the one-yard line. Leading on the Greyhounds on defense was linebacker John Cupples (Allentown, PA/Allentown Central Catholic HS) with 12 tackles and one forced fumble. Cornerback Jarrod Pence (Livingston, NJ/Livingston HS) and linebacker Steve Maslanek (Stockholm, NJ/Vernon Township HS) each made 11 tackles in the game. Pence had one tackle for loss and three pass break-ups while Maslanek forced a fumble and made both of Moravian's sacks in the games.

LAST WEEK: The Greyhounds suffered a 33-0 loss to King's College in Middle Atlantic Conference action last Saturday, snapping the team's three-game winning streak. The Monarchs scored all 33 of their points in the first half and forced the Greyhounds into six turnovers. The loss was the worst shutout loss for the Greyhounds since losing the opening game of the 1998 season, 36-0, at Lycoming College. The Moravian offense gained 113 yards through the air but was held to minus-27 yards rushing. Senior quarterback Charlie Bowden was 7-for-24 for 103 yards but he was intercepted three times and sacked four times. Junior wide receiver Kevin Miltenberger (Carlisle, PA/Carlisle HS) had three receptions for 37 yards while senior wideout Jarod Rhinehart (Washington, NJ/Warren Hills Regional HS) made three catches for 35 yards. Junior tailback David Darmofal (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights HS) led the Greyhound rushing attack with 16 yards on five carries. On defense, senior linebackers John Cupples and Bill Engler (Coopersburg, PA/Southern Lehigh HS) led the Moravian defense with 12 tackles in the game with Cupples forcing a fumble. Sophomore defensive back Bill Skriletz (Coopersburg, PA/Southern Lehigh HS) added eight tackles with one for loss, a sack and an interception for the Greyhounds. Moravian junior safety John Panikiewsky (Carteret, NJ/Carteret HS) contributed nine tackles with two sacks. Moravian junior punter John McLain (Belvidere, NJ/Belvidere HS) was called on nine times during the game and he averaged 37.4 yards per punt with two 50-yard kicks.

SCOUTING WIDENER: The Pioneers opened the 2002 season with a 29-17 victory at Wilkes University this past Saturday. Widener is slated to hosted Lebanon Valley College in a MAC game at 1:00 p.m. this Saturday. A look at the Pioneer team will be in next week's release.

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 Widener, which reached the NCAA quarterfinals last season, was again selected as the top team in the MAC.

THE MAC STATISTICAL RANKINGS: The Greyhounds are ranked third in the Middle Atlantic Conference in total defense, allowing 239.0 yards per game. The squad is fourth in passing defense at 155.5 yards per game and the defense is also fourth in rushing yards allowed at 83.5. The Greyhounds are seventh in points allowed at 23.5 per game but the squad is eighth in points scored per game at 10.5. Offensively, Moravian is eighth in the MAC at 221.0 yards per game. The Greyhounds are ranked sixth in rushing offense at 89.0 yards per game and tenth in passing offense at 132.0 yards per game. Moravian is tenth in turnover margin with a -2.5 per game average as the Greyhounds have committed 11 turnovers while forcing just six turnovers. Individually, junior tailback David Darmofal is ninth in the MAC in rushing, averaging 58.0 yards per game. Senior quarterback Charlie Bowden is eighth in yards per game at 119.5 yards per game. Junior wide receiver Kevin Miltenberger (Carlisle, PA/Carlisle HS) is fifth in the MAC in runt returns with an average of 7.2 yards while senior tailback Josh Fick is tenth at 5.3 yards per return. Junior wide receiver Jed Warsager (Andover, NJ/Newton HS) is fifth in kickoff returns, averaging 19.5 yards a return. Junior punter John McLain is third in punting at 38.9 yards per kick. Freshman Nate Strohl (Coplay, PA/Whitehall HS) is tied for first in PAT percentage at 100.0 percent and tied for ninth in kick scoring at 1.5 points per game. Junior safety John Panikiewsky, sophomore safety Bill Skriletz and junior cornerback Nate Pogue (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty HS) are tied for sixth in interceptions at 0.5 per game. Senior linebacker John Cupples is tied for 11th in tackles with 9.0 per contest.

MILESTONE WATCH: Junior wideout Jarod Rhinehart surpassed the 1,000-yard milestone last season. Rhinehart has 1,166 yards (11th) on 90 career receptions (eighth). Rhinehart needs one reception to move to fifth and 99 yards to move into ninth. Junior quarterback Charlie Bowden is also moving up the record books. He has completed 305 (fourth) of 596 (fourth) passes for 3,895 (fourth) yards with 26 touchdowns (fourth). Bowden needs 1,636 yards, 111 completions, 193 attempts and nine touchdowns to move into third in each category. Junior tailback Josh Fick needs just 48 yards to reach 1,000. Fick has 952 yards on 166 carries with 16 touchdowns in his career.

BOWDEN LEADING THE 'HOUNDS OFFENSE: Senior quarterback Charlie Bowden has completed 20 of 49 passes for 239 yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions this year. Junior Will Seng has completed two of five passes for ten yards this season.

IN THE BACKFIELD: Junior tailback David Darmofal leads the Greyhounds with 116 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. His 100-yard game against FDU-Florham was the first of Darmofal's career. Junior fullback Eric Gustafson (Collingswood, NJ/Collingswood HS) has picked up 46 yards on 13 carries while sophomore fullback Bill Carasia (Fair Haven, NJ/Rumson-Fair Haven HS) has 27 yards on seven carries. Senior tailback Josh Fick has 42 yards on 17 attempts while freshman Kevin Lukich (Ogdensburg, NJ/Wallkill Valley) has ten yards on four carries.

THE WIDE RECEIVERS: Senior tight end Rick Kulp (Walnutport, PA/Northampton HS) has five receptions for 41 yards and one touchdown while junior wide receiver Kevin Miltenberger has five catches for 48 yards. Senior wideout Jarod Rhinehart has added four catches for 44 yards while freshman wideout Ben Hawkins (Belmar, NJ/Manasquan HS) has three receptions for 68 yards and one score. Junior wide receiver Jeff Lowry (Catawissa, PA/Southern Columbia has added two receptions for 31 yards while senior fullback Eric Gustafson has two catches for 14 yards.

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 (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge HS) leads the Greyhounds up front on the defensive line with 12 tackles including six for loss and one of Moravian's six sacks. Sophomore defensive end Shawn Nelson (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic HS) has added nine tackles with two for loss while senior nose tackle Pat Mancini (Milford, NJ/Delaware Valley Regional HS) has four stops, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

THE LINEBACKER CORPS: Senior John Cupples leads the Greyhound defense with 20 tackles this season. Cupples also has half a sack, a pass break-up and three tackles for loss. Senior Bill Engler has 16 tackles on the year and one fumble recovery while senior Vince Cowlishaw (Chatham, NJ/Chatham HS) has added 11 tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble and three tackles for loss. Junior Steve Maslanek has 12 tackles on the season with two for loss while freshman Richie Cline (Union Beach, NJ/Keyport HS) has added six tackles, one sack and four tackles for loss.

THE DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD: Junior safety John Panikiewsky leads the Moravian defensive backs with 14 tackles this season. He has added three tackles for loss, one sack, a fumble recovery and an interception. Panikiewsky also has one pass breakup. Senior cornerback Jarrod Pence (Livingston, NJ/Livingston HS) has made six tackles while junior cornerback Nate Pogue has added five tackles and an interception. Sophomore rover Bill Skriletz has ten tackles, two for loss, a sack and an interception.

KICKING GAME: Freshman Nate Strohl was three-for-three on extra-points in his collegiate debut against FDU-Florham but he was wide right on a 37-yard field goal attempt in the third quarter against the Devils. Strohl only kicked off once at King's last week. Junior John McLain has been called on to punt 14 times this season and he is averaging 38.9 yards per kick with four punts over 50 yards and two downed inside the 20.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Junior Jed Warsager has returned seven kickoffs for 118 yards while sophomore Cody Hendershot (Bangor, PA/Bangor HS) had one kickoff return for eight yards. On punt returns, senior Josh Fick has made six returns for 32 yards and junior Kevin Miltenberger returning four punts for 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.

ON THE AIRWAVES: For the sixth 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 Jim Wills.