Monday, October 10, 2005

MORAVIAN GREYHOUNDS, 3-2 (3-2 MAC)

FDU-FLORHAM DEVILS, 1-4 (1-3 MAC)

1:00 p.m.; Saturday, October 15, 2005
Robert T. Shields Field (c. 4,000); Madison, NJ

THE GAME: Moravian looks to win its fourth game of the 2005 season after a bye week in a Middle Atlantic Conference road contest at Fairleigh Dickinson University College at Florham. Kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m. at Robert T. Shields Field in Madison, New Jersey.

THE COACHES: Scot Dapp (West Chester ’73) is in his 19th season at Moravian, with a career record of 113-76-1 (.597). He entered the season in the top 50th in winning percentage among NCAA Division III active coaches. Dapp, who is currently the president of the American Football Coaches Association, 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.

FDU-Florham coach Rich Mosca (West Liberty ’70) is in his fourth season at the school with an 8-27 record (.229).

THE SERIES: Saturday’s meeting will be the 11th in the series with the Greyhounds owning a 9-1 lead. Moravian won last season’s meeting, 35-27 in Bethlehem, 16-8, and the Hounds have won the last five games between the two schools. The Greyhounds won the first four meetings in the series while FDU-Florham’s only victory was in 1999 with a 13-10 win.

LAST TIME THEY MET: In Bethlehem last fall, junior tailback Chris Jacoubs (Fair Haven, NJ/Rumson Fair Haven HS) ran for 159 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries to help Moravian celebrate its annual homecoming by improving to 6-0 for just the second time in school history with a 35-27 victory over FDU-Florham in MAC action at Steel Field. FDU scored the only points of the first quarter 2:12 remaining on a touchdown run. The Greyhounds tied the game on the first play of the second quarter when senior quarterback Jerry Venturino (Hopatcong, NJ/Hopatcong HS) found senior wide receiver Ben Hawkins (Belmar, NJ/Manasquan HS) with a 55-yard touchdown pass on a third-and-13 play. Hawkins caught the ball at the line of scrimmage on a wide receiver screen play. Kicker Ken Macaulay added the extra-point to tie the game at 7-7. Hawkins caught four passes for 100 yards in the game while Venturino completed eight of 15 passes for 157 yards. On FDU’s first drive of the second half, Greyhound senior defensive lineman Mike Hurden (Spring Lake, NJ/Wall HS) sacked the Devil’s quarterback at the FDU 38-yard line and forced a fumble. Moravian senior linebacker Chad DiFelice (Pen Aryl, PA/Pen Argyl HS) picked up the ball at the FDU 40-yard line and raced down the left side line for a touchdown. Macaulay added the extra-point for a 14-7 Moravian lead. On FDU’s ensuing drive, the Devils scored on a third-and-ten play with a 60-yard touchdown pass. The extra-point and tied the game at 14-14 with 9:52 remaining in the third stanza. On the ensuing kickoff, Moravian's Jed Warsager received the ball at the Moravian 15-yard line and raced up the right hash marks, untouched for an 85-yard touchdown return. Macaulay’s extra-point attempt failed, setting the score at 20-14 Moravian with 9:41 remaining in the third quarter. The Greyhounds forced FDU to punt on the next possession, taking over at their own 26-yard line. Jacoubs ran for four yards on the first play before bouncing the second play to the left sideline for a 70-yard touchdown. The Greyhounds went for a two-point conversion to build a two-touchdown lead. Jacoubs took the hand off from Venturino and sprinted towards the left sideline before finding tight end Chad Opdyke in the back of the end zone with a pass to set the score at 28-14 Moravian with 7:10 remaining in the third quarter. After each team fumbled the ball, FDU scored another rushing touchdown to cut Moravian’s lead to 28-21 with 2:25 remaining in the third quarter. Moravian would put the game away on its next drive when Jacoubs scored on a five-yard touchdown run. Macaulay added the extra-point for a 35-21 Moravian lead with 13:38 left in the game. FDU scored again on its next drive but missed the extra-point giving the Greyhounds a 35-27 lead with 10:10 led in the game. After forcing Moravian to punt, the Devils took over on their own eight-yard line and put together a drive inside the Moravian five-yard line. The Greyhound defense stopped a pair of rushing plays for one-yard losses, and after an incomplete pass, the Devils attempted a reverse on fourth-and-goal from the five-yard line. However, the play was stopped at the seven-yard line by DiFelice and defensive end Richie Cline to turn the ball over to the Greyhounds on downs. The Greyhound offense was limited to 52 plays for 322 yards while handling the ball for just 23:11 of the game. The Greyhound defense, which was nationally ranked in turnover margin coming into the game, forced three turnovers. Linebacker Bill Carasia led the squad with 14 tackles including four for loss while senior defensive back GJ Weiss (Coopersburg, PA/Southern Lehigh HS) added 12 tackles and a forced fumble. DiFelice had ten stops with four tackles for loss, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries including the one for a touchdown while sophomore linebacker Mike Prata (Little Ferry, NJ/Paramas Catholic HS) added nine tackles with four for loss.

LAST WEEK: Moravian had its scheduled bye week after playing its first half of the season with a 3-2 record. The Greyhounds ended up with the bye week in the middle of the season by moving the game versus Delaware Valley College to the season opener back on September 3rd.

SCOUTING FDU-FLORHAM: The Devils enter the game with an overall record of 1-4 and a 1-3 slate in the MAC after a 43-15 loss at Lebanon Valley College last weekend. Junior quarterback Dan Huff leads FDU-Florham on the field. He has completed 58 of 126 passes for 667 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions. Huff's top targets have been sophomore wide receiver Robert Felicett, who has 11 catches for 96 yards and a touchdown, junior wideout David Nemeth, who has ten receptions for 119 yards and a pair of touchdowns, junior wide receiver Mike Smeja, who has caught eight passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns, and senior wide receiver David Copp, who has eight receptions for 57 yards. Huff also leads the Devils in rushing with 317 yards and four touchdowns on 56 carries. Sophomore running back Daniel Harrison has added 316 yards on 76 attempts while junior running back Phil Sylvester has added 147 yards on 23 attempts. Sophomore defensive back Michael Lotwich has five punt returns for 18 yards, and he has added two interception while sophomore defensive back Billy D. Williams has 13 kickoff returns for 276 yards and a team high three interceptions with a return of 80 yards for a touchdown. Junior kicker Michael Rabasca is seven for nine on extra-point attempts, and he has made five of seven field goals with a long of 33 yards. Rabasca is also averaging 33.9 yards per punt on 29 attempts with seven punts inside the 20-yard line and one fair catch. Junior linebacker Shane Hayes leads the Devils defense with 38 tackles including two and a half tackles for loss and two and a half sacks. Williams has contributed 23 tackles with a total of five passes defended including his three interceptions. Sophomore defensive back Derek Gregory also has 23 tackles, and he has added a fumble recovery while sophomore defensive lineman K.C. Ogbonna has 22 tackles, four tackles for loss, one and a half sacks and a safety for FDU-Florham.

BALANCED & EXPERIENCED ‘HOUNDS: Of the 102 players on the Moravian roster, 39 are freshmen, 21 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. FDU-Florham was picked tenth in the preseason poll. Delaware Valley was selected as the top team in the MAC and received the other nine first place votes.

THE MAC STATISTICAL RANKINGS: The Greyhounds are fifth in the MAC in total defense, allowing 353.4 yards per game. The squad is fourth in passing defense at 186.6 yards per game, and the defense is seventh in rushing yards allowed at 166.8. The Greyhounds are fifth in points allowed at 21.4 per game, and the squad is second in points scored per game at 29.2. Offensively, Moravian is sixth in the MAC at 374.0 yards per game. The Greyhounds are ranked first in rushing offense at 216.2 yards per game and eighth in passing offense at 157.8 yards per game. Moravian is sixth in turnover margin with a -0.20 per game average as the Greyhounds have committed ten turnovers while forcing nine turnovers. The Greyhounds are first in the MAC in yards per rush at 5.3, passing yards per completion at 16.4, field goals attempted at nine, kickoff return average at 22.1 yards per return, interception returns for touchdowns with two and opponent third down conversions at 28.4 percent (21 of 74). Individually, senior quarterback Jerry Venturino is ranked seventh in passing yards per game at 157.8 yards, second in passing yards per completion at 16.8, tied for fifth in passing touchdowns with seven, seventh in pass efficiency with a 121.2 rating and eighth in total offense at 189.8 yards per game. Junior running back Chris Jacoubs is ranked third in rushing yards per game at 130.2 yards per game, third in rushing attempts with 115, second in rushing touchdowns with eight, second in scoring at 9.6 points per game, second in rushing yards with 651 and fourth in all-purpose at 135.4 yards per game. Senior fullback Kevin Lukich (Ogdensburg, NJ/Wallkill Valley HS) is fourth in the MAC in yards per rush with an average of 6.8 yards per carry while Venturino us seventh at 5.9 and Jacoubs is tenth at 5.7. Lukich is also sixth in tottal offensive average per play at 6.8 yards per play while Venturino is fourth at 7.4 yards per play. Senior wide receiver Ben Hawkins ranks first in the MAC in yards per catch with an average of 21.8 yards, and he is tied for third in receiving touchdowns with four. Senior punter Corey Czerniak (Randolph, NJ/Randolph HS) is seventh in the MAC with an average of 34.3 yards per punt and ninth in number of punts with 18. Freshman kicker Brian Reckenbeil (Branchburg, NJ/Somerville HS) is fifth gin the MAC in kick scoring with 3.6 points per game. Reckenbeil is tied for first in PAT percentage at 100 percent (12 of 12), and he is fourth in PAT kicks made, tied for sixth in PAT kicks attempted, tied for fourth in field goals per game (0.40), tied for fifth in field goals attempted with four and tied for fourth in field goals made with two. Freshman kicker Brian Maida (Freehold, NJ/Freehold Boro HS) is fourth in field goals attempted with five. Freshman wide receiver Rob Shaffer (Pottsville, PA/Pottsville HS) is sixth in kickoff returns with nine and seventh in kickoff return yards with 169. Senior linebacker Chad DiFelice is sixth in tackles per game at 8.8, and he tied for second in tackles for loss with 1.80 per contest. DeFelice is tied for second in sacks with 0.80 per game. Junior linebacker Cliff Garr (Easton, PA/Notre Dame HS), who is tied for first in interception returns for touchdowns with one, is tied for 36th in tackles at 5.0 per game while senior defensive back Mario Bevilaqua (Scranton, PA/West Scranton HS) is tied for 33rd in tackles at 5.2 per game. Senior defensive back Tyler Chomik (Allentown, PA/Allentown Central Catholic HS) is tied for second in the MAC in passes defended at 1.60 per contest with junior defensive back Israel Aguila (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom HS). Chomik is also tied for first in interception returns for touchdowns with one, and he ninth in punt return yards with a total of 36 yards on five returns and tenth in kickoff return yards with 145. Senior defensive back GJ Weiss is tied for 36th in tackles at 5.0 per game while freshman linebacker Andrew Morrissey (Emmaus, PA/Emmaus HS) is 11th in the conference in tackles with an average of 7.8 per contest. Morrissey and DiFelice are tied for second in forced fumbles with 0.40 per contest.

THE QUARTERBACKS: Senior quarterback Jerry Venturino has completed 47 of 101 passes for 789 yards, seven touchdowns and seven interceptions this season. Venturino has also added 160 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries while being sacked five times. Sophomore quarterback Sean Hill (West Reading, PA/Wyomissing HS) has completed his only pass attempt for no yards and has been sacked four times while seeing action in three games this season. Sophomore quarterback Brad Swartz (Temple, PA/Muhlenberg HS) saw his first action of the season against Juniata but did not attempt a pass.

IN THE BACKFIELD: In the backfield, junior running back Chris Jacoubs leads Moravian with 651 yards and eight touchdowns on 115 carries. Jacoubs has 3,491 yards (first all-time at Moravian) in just 26 career games with 16 100-plus yard games in 22 starts, including four games over 200 yards. Jacoubs became the first player in school history to reach 3,000 rushing yards in a career against Susquehanna University and the only player in school history to rush for 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons in 2003 and 2004. He is also first all-time with 204 points, 34 career touchdowns, and 673 career rushing attempts. Senior fullback Kevin Lukich has 123 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries while junior fullback Joe Costanzo (Barnstead, NH/Bow HS & Tilton School) has added 22 yards on five carries. Freshman running back Tyler McCambridge (Northampton, PA/Allentown Central Catholic HS) has contributed 49 yards on just eight carries while junior running back Marc Panepinto (Perkiomenville, PA/Boyertown HS) has 55 yards and a touchdown on 16 attempts this season. Senior wide receiver Ben Hawkins has 25 yards on four attempts.

THE WIDE RECEIVERS: Moravian has had nine different players catch a pass this season. Senior wide receiver Ben Hawkins leads the Greyhounds with 13 receptions for 284 yards and four touchdowns. Junior wide receiver Shawn Martell (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic HS) has nine catches for 182 yards and a score while sophomore tight end Kris Bisci (Easton, PA/Easton HS) has five receptions for 61 yards and two touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Cletus Kilker (Bethlehem, PA/Notre Dame HS) has four catches for 75 yards while senior wide receiver Russ Demko (Hellertown, PA/Saucon Valley HS) has four catches for 71 yards. Junior running back Chris Jacoubs has added seven receptions for 26 yards while senior wideout Andrew Mazurek (West Orange, NJ/West Orange HS) has added three receptions for 45 yards. Freshman wideout Rob Shaffer has grabbed two passes for 40 yards while senior fullback Kevin Lukich has one catch for zero yards.

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). Freshman Timothy McBride (Egg Harbor Township, NJ/Egg Harbor Township HS) made a start in place of an injured Kircher against Juniata College and Widener University. 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) leads the Moravian defensive line with 19 tackles including four tackles for loss, one and a half a sacks and a fumble recovery he returned four yards versus Juniata College. Senior Steve Cline (Union Beach, NJ/Keyport HS) has added 17 tackles with four for loss, one sack and one pass defended. Senior Robert Stockley (Red Bank, NJ/Middletown South HS) has contributed 13 tackles with one and a half a tackles for loss and one sack while junior Alex Smith-Constantine (Secaucus, NJ/Secaucus HS) has ten tackles with two and a half for loss and an interception he returned nine yards versus Susquehanna University. Junior defensive end Nick Feo (Hampton, NJ/Voorhees HS) has 11 tackles with three tackles for loss, one sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery while senior defensive tackle Mike Hurden has contributed seven tackles with half a tackle for loss. Sophomore defensive tackle Tom Braxmeier (Center Valley, PA/Allentown Central Catholic HS) has five tackles with one for loss while sophomore defensive tackle Matt Adams (Dover, NJ/Dover HS) has three tackles. Senior Corey Czerniak also has three tackles this season with half a tackle for loss while senior Keith Jacobson (Cresskill, NJ/Cresskill HS) has three tackles including one for loss.

THE LINEBACKER CORPS: Senior linebacker Chad DiFelice leads the Moravian defense with 44 tackles including nine tackles for loss, four sacks, three pass break-ups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Freshman Andrew Morrissey has made 39 tackles with one tackle for loss, half a sack, two forced fumbles, one of which he recovered, and a pass break-up while junior Cliff Garr has added 25 tackles with one tackle for loss, one sack and an interception returned 32 yards for a touchdown versus Susquehanna University. Sophomore linebacker Mike Prata has 12 tackles on the season with half a tackle for loss and a pass defended. Sophomore Arturo Duran (Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood HS) has added seven tackles this season while junior Tony Gro (Schwenksville, PA/The Hill School) has contributed four tackles with half a tackle for loss. Sophomore Dan Edleman (Pottstown, PA/The Hill School) has six tackles with half a tackle for loss while freshman linebacker Kevin McGorry (Whitehall, PA/Allentown Central Catholic HS) has one tackle.

THE DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD: In the defensive backfield, senior safety Mario Bevilaqua has made 26 tackles with one and a half tackles for loss, three passes defended and a forced fumble. Senior safety GJ Weiss has added 25 tackles with half a tackle for loss, an interception he has returned 16 yards and two pass break-ups. Senior cornerback Tyler Chomik has added 22 tackles with one for loss, an interception returned 42 yards for a touchdown against Juniata College and seven pass break-ups for a total of eight passes defended while junior cornerback Israel Aguila has 20 tackles with one for loss, eight passes defended, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble. Sophomore defensive back Matt Sheridan (Magnolia, NJ/Sterling HS) has 12 tackles while junior defensive back Tom Carroll (Blackwood, NJ/Paul VI HS) has made 11 stops.

KICKING GAME: Senior Corey Czerniak is averaging 34.3 yards per punt on 18 attempts. He has a long punt of 51 yards with six punts fair caught and seven inside the 20-yard line. Freshman kicker Brian Reckenbeil is two-for-four on field goal attempts with a long of 38 yards versus Susquehanna University and 12-for-12 on extra-point attempts. Freshman Brian Maida has connected on one of five field goal attempts with a long of 25 yards versus Delaware Valley College, and he is three for six on extra-point attempts.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Freshman wide receiver Rob Shaffer has three punt returns for zero yards and nine kickoff returns for 169 yards including a long kickoff return of 45 yards. Shaffer has also made three special teams tackles while junior wide receiver Shawn Martell has three tackles. Martell has also returned three kickoffs for 49 yards and a long of 22 yards. Senior defensive back Tyler Chomik has five punt returns for 36 yards with a long of 13 yards and four kickoff returns for 145 yards with a long of 74 yards versus Juniata College. Sophomore defensive back Matt Sheridan has two punt returns for nine yards after blocking three punts at King's College, which tied an NCAA Division III record. Freshman tight end Doug Bocchino (Madison, NJ/Madison HS) has four special teams tackles while junior fullback Joe Costanzo has added six special teams tackles and one kickoff return for 13 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. Moravian has played four overtime games with Juniata College, two with Widener University and one with Delaware Valley College.

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 while Mark Harding adds color commentary and technical assistance from John Elliott.

STARTERS PLAYER OF THE GAME: As part of Moravian's 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. In Moravian's last game, junior wide receiver Shawn Martell caught six passes for a career high 133 yards, the eighth highest single game total in Moravian history in the Greyhounds' 34-24 loss at Widener University. Starters Restaurant, a sponsor of Moravian College Athletics, is located on Route 378 South of Bethlehem.