Tuesday, September 6, 2005

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

SUSQUEHANNA UNIVERSITY CRUSADERS, 1-0 (0-0 MAC)

1:00 p.m.; Saturday, September 10, 2005
Rocco Calvo Field at the Steel Field Complex (c. 2,000); Bethlehem, PA

THE GAME: Moravian hosts Susquehanna University in a Middle Atlantic Conference game. Kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m. on the new Rocco Calvo Field, a Sportexe synthetic surface installed this past summer, at the Steel Field Complex in Bethlehem, PA.

THE COACHES: Scot Dapp (West Chester ’73) is in his 19th season at Moravian, with a career record of 110-75-1 (.594). 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.

Susquehanna coach Steve Briggs (Springfield ’84) is in his 16th season at the school with an overall mark of 93-60 (.608).

THE SERIES: Saturday’s meeting will be the 32nd in the series with Moravian holding a 16-14-1 advantage. The Greyhounds earned a 32-13 victory over Susquehanna in Bethlehem last season. The Crusaders last win was in 2003 with a 26-14 victory in Selinsgrove. Moravian captured a 23-6 victory also in Selinsgrove back in 2002 and that victory was the 100th win in coach Scot Dapp's career.

LAST TIME THEY MET: In Bethlehem last fall, junior tailback Chris Jacoubs (Fair Haven, NJ/Rumson-Fair Haven HS) ran for 216 yards and three touchdowns to lead Moravian to a 32-13 win over Susquehanna University in MAC action at a rain-drenched Steel Field in Bethlehem. Jacoubs carried the ball 40 times for the Greyhounds. The Greyhounds pounded the Crusaders exclusively on the ground as Jacoubs ran 30 yards for a touchdown to complete a seven-play, 93-yard drive and give the Greyhounds a 7-0 lead with 5:06 remaining in the first quarter. Kicker John McLain added the extra-point for Moravian. After recovering an onside kick, Susquehanna scored on a 47-yard touchdown pass. The extra point attempt failed, keeping the Moravian lead at 7-6. After an offsides call on the ensuing kickoff forced the Crusaders to re-kick from their own 30, Moravian wide receiver Jed Warsager returned the boot untouched 79 yards for a touchdown to push the Greyhounds’ lead to 14-6. Two plays after recovering a fumble, Jacoubs ran 30 yards down the left sidelines for a touchdown to increase the Greyhounds’ lead to 20-6 with 7:01 left in the half. After sophomore linebacker Arturo Duran (Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood HS) intercepted a tipped pass early in the fourth quarter, Jacoubs finished off the drive on a 4-yard touchdown run to restore the lead to 26-13. The Greyhounds finished off the scoring when senior wide receiver Ben Hawkins (Belmar, NJ/Manasquan HS) found a wide-open Warsager on a wide receiver option pass to increase the Moravian lead to 32-13. The Greyhounds ran for a total of 377 yards on 71 attempts. Senior fullback Kevin Lukich (Ogdensburg, NJ/Wallkill HS) added a career high 94 yards on 13 attempts while senior quarterback Jerry Venturino (Hopatcong, NJ/Hopatcong HS) had 29 yards on eight carries despite being sacked three times. Venturino completed three of eight attempts for only 26 yards. Linebacker Bill Carasia led the Greyhound defense with nine tackles while senior defensive back Tyler Chomik (Allentown, PA/Allentown Central Catholic HS) had six tackles, a interception and three pass break-ups. Senior linebacker Chad DeFelice (Pen Argyl, PA/Pen Argyl HS) also had six tackles with one for loss while senior defensive back GJ Weiss (Gilbertsville, PA/St. Pius X HS) had five stops, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a pass break-up for the Greyhounds.

LAST WEEK: Moravian began the 2005 season with a 31-22 loss to Delaware Valley College in MAC action. Prior to the start of the game, Moravian dedicated its new Sportexe synthetic turf playing surface to legendary coach and athletic director Rocco Calvo with a ribbon cutting ceremony in front of a crowd of more than 3,000 spectators. The new Mondo, Olympic-quality, eight lane track was also rededicated to Timothy Breidegam in the ceremony. Delaware Valley, the defending MAC Champion, jumped out to a 7-0 lead on their first possession of the season. Moravian would drive right down the field on its first possession of the year as well. However, Greyhound senior quarterback Jerry Venturino was intercepted in the end zone. Delaware Valley ran just three plays on its next series before Moravian junior cornerback Israel Aguila (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom HS) forced a fumble that was recovered by senior linebacker Chad DiFelice at the Delaware Valley 35 yard line. On Moravian’s second play of the drive, Venturino would be knocked out of the game on a roughing the passer penalty. The Greyhounds would drive down to the nine-yard line with sophomore quarterback Sean Hill (West Reading, PA/Wyomissing HS) leading the squad but Moravian settled for a 25-yard field goal by freshman Brian Maida (Freehold, NJ/Freehold Boro HS) to cut the score to 7-3 with 3:04 remaining in the first quarter. The second quarter belonged to the Aggies, which scored ten points. The Greyhounds started the third quarter by punting; however, the team seemed rejuvenated with Venturino returning to the field. After forcing a three and out of the Aggies first possession, the Greyhounds scored their first touchdown of the season. Venturino connected on a three-yard touchdown pass with sophomore tight end Kris Bisci (Easton, PA/Easton HS) to cap a nine-play, 30-yard drive. Maida’s extra-point was wide so the score sat at 17-9 with 7:32 remaining in the third quarter. Delaware Valley, which only gained three yards in the entire third quarter while Moravian had the ball for nearly 12 minutes, had another three and out and another short punt set the Greyhounds next possession up at the Delaware Valley 41-yard line. Six plays later, Moravian junior running back Chris Jacoubs leaped over the pile for a two-yard touchdown pass, cutting the Aggie lead to 17-15 with 4:25 remaining in the third quarter. Moravian went for two points to tie the game but Venturino’s pass was intercepted. Jacoubs, who is Moravian’s career rushing leader with 2,920 yards after the game, had a total of 80 yards on 23 carries. Delaware Valley would score on its first possession of the fourth quarter to take a 24-15 advantage with 13:47 left in the contest. Moravian needed just five plays to pull back within two points when Venturino connected on a 58-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Ben Hawkins. Maida added the kick to cut Delaware Valley’s lead to 24-22 with 10:51 remaining in the game. Venturino completed seven of 13 passes for 136 yards with the two touchdowns and two interceptions while Hawkins, who now has 1,211 career receiving yards, caught five passes for 112 yards and a score. Venturino also ran for 22 yards on three carries. Delaware Valley finished off the scoring for a 31-22 edge with just five minutes remaining in the game. On Moravian’s final possession, Venturino tried connecting with junior wide receiver Shawn Martell (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic HS) on the same pattern as the Hawkins’ touchdown pass, however, Delaware Valley intercepted the pass. DiFelice paced the Moravian defense with 12 tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery while junior linebacker Cliff Garr (Easton, PA/Notre Dame HS) added nine tackles and a half sack.

SCOUTING SUSQUEHANNA: The Crusaders come to Bethlehem after opening the season with a 24-16 victory over Ursinus College last Saturday evening. Junior quarterback Justin Wutti leads Susquehanna on the field. Last week, Wutti completed 16 of 36 passes for 152 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Wutti also ran for 67 yards and a score on 13 carries. Sophomore wide receiver Nick Macia caught six passes for 56 yards and a touchdown while junior wide receiver Ravi Kantha added four receptions for 56 yards. Junior running back Anthony Edwards led the Susquehanna rushing attack with 135 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries while junior running back Nick Friday added 18 yards on four rushing attempts. Senior kicker/punter Dwight Swaney connected on a 38-yard field goal attempt last week, and he was three-for-three on extra point attempts. Swaney also averaged 37.6 yards on five punt attempts with a long of 43 yards. Kantha had one punt return for seven yards and a kickoff return for 22 yards. Sophomore linebacker Tim Sela led the Susquehanna defense with 11 tackles including one and a half for loss and half a sack. Junior defensive back Shawn Rafferty had seven tackles with one for loss and a rumble recovery, he returned 17 yards. Rafferty also returned two kickoffs for 16 yards. Junior defensive lineman Damian Buggy contributed six tackles while junior defensive back Rob Hauke had six stops with one and a half tackles for loss and one sack. Sophomore defensive back Jeff Hauser had an interception for Susquehanna.

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 Susquehanna was eighth in the poll. Delaware Valley was selected as the top team in the MAC and received the other nine first place votes.

THE QUARTERBACKS: Senior quarterback Jerry Venturino completed seven of 13 passes for 136 yards, two touchdowns an two interceptions last week against Delaware Valley. Venturino, who missed a quarter and a half in the first half of the game after taking a late hit, also added 22 yards on three carries. Sophomore quarterback Sean Hill completed his only pass attempt for no yards, however, he was sacked three times. Hill did finish with one yard on five carries.

IN THE BACKFIELD: In the backfield, junior running back Chris Jacoubs (Fair Haven, NJ/Rumson-Fair Haven HS) ran for 80 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. In 22 games at Moravian, Jacoubs has run for a Greyhound career record total of 2,920 yards. Junior fullback Joe Costanzo (Barnstead, NH/Bow HS & Tilton School) added eight yards on one carry while senior fullback Kevin Lukich had four yards on one carry.

THE WIDE RECEIVERS: Senior wide receiver Ben Hawkins caught five passes last week for 112 yards and a touchdown. Junior wide receiver Shawn Martell added one reception for 14 yards while junior running back Chris Jacoubs had one catch for seven yards. Sophomore tight end Kris Bisci grabbed one reception for three yards and a touchdown.

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 Bryan Kohlbecker (Middletown, NJ/Middletown South HS) led the defensive line with six tackles last week with two tackles for loss and a half a sack. Senior Steve Cline (Union Beach, NJ/Keyport HS) added five tackles and one pass defended. Senior Robert Stockley (Red Bank, NJ/Middletown South HS) contributed four tackles with half a tackle for loss while junior Alex Smith-Constantine (Secaucus, NJ/Secaucus HS) had three tackles with one for loss in his first career start. Junior defensive end Nick Feo (Hampton, NJ/Voorhees HS) also had one tackle with half a tackle for loss.

THE LINEBACKER CORPS: Senior linebacker Chad DiFelice led the Moravian defense last week with 12 tackles including a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Junior Cliff Garr added nine tackles with half a tackle and half a sack whilefreshman Andrew Morrissey (Emmaus, PA/Emmaus HS) had six tackles in his first collegiate start. Sophomore Arturo Duran and sophomore Dan Edleman (Pottstown, PA/The Hill School) each had one tackle last week. Freshman linebacker Kevin McGorry (Whitehall, PA/Allentown Central Catholic HS) also had one tackle.

THE DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD: In the defensive backfield, senior Tyler Chomik and junior Israel Aguila each had six tackles last weekend. Chomik had a tackle for loss and two passes defended while Aguila added two passes defended and a forced fumble. Senior GJ Weiss added five tackles with half a tackle for loss while senior Mario Bevilaqua (Scranton, PA/West Scranton HS) made five tackles with two passes defended. Sophomore defensive back Matt Sheridan (Magnolia, NJ/Sterling HS) had three tackles while junior defensive back Tom Carroll (Blackwood, NJ/Paul VI HS) had two tackles.

KICKING GAME: Senior Corey Czerniak (Randolph, NJ/Randolph HS) was called on to punt four times last weekend, averaging 27.8 yards with a long of 33 yards. Freshman Brian Maida connected on his first collegiate field goal attempt of 25 yards, and he was one for two on extra-point attempts. Freshman kicker Brian Reckenbeil (Branchburg, NJ/Somerville HS) handles the kickoff duties for Moravian.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Freshman wide receiver Rob Shaffer (Pottsville, PA/Pottsville HS) had one punt return for seven yards and three kickoff returns for 82 yards in his Moravian debut last weekend including a long kickoff return of 45 yards. Shaffer also made one special teams tackle as did junior wide receiver Shawn Martell. Martell also returned three kickoffs for 49 yards and 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 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 ninth 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, senior wide receiver Ben Hawkins was selected as the Starters Player of the Game for his performance. Hawkins had five catches for 112 yards including a 58-yard touchdown. 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 first of three games, TV-2 Sports is slated to air this season.