GREYHOUNDS SELECTED SIXTH IN MAC PRESEASON FOOTBALL POLL

ANNVILLE, PA --- The Moravian College football team has been selected to finish sixth and Wilkes University was picked to win the 2006 Middle Atlantic Conference Championship based on a poll of the conference head coaches released at the conference’s annual media day luncheon on Thursday at Starters Riverport in Bethlehem.

Wilkes University, which was last year’s runner-up, received seven first place votes and 95 points to finish just four points ahead of two-time defending champion Delaware Valley College, which had the other four first place votes and 91 points. Both Wilkes and Delaware Valley competed in the NCAA Division III playoffs in 2005 with Delaware Valley reaching the quarterfinals for the second straight season. Widener University, which won the ECAC South Atlantic Championship in 2005, was third with 82 points while Lycoming College was fourth at 68 points and King’s College was fifth at 62 points.

The Greyhounds, who had 49 points in the poll, head into the season with nine starters and 62 letterwinners returning from last year’s 7-4 ECAC Southwest Championship team; however, head coach Scot Dapp knows he has plenty of holes to fill if the Greyhounds want to challenge for the MAC and the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Playoffs. Sophomore kicker Brian Reckenbeil (Branchburg, NJ/Somerville HS) back after making the All-Conference Second Team in his debut season, Moravian’s only returning All-Conference player. When Reckenbeil arrived at football camp last August, the former high school soccer player had never kicked a football in competition. By the end of the season, Reckenbeil was nine-for-13 on field goal attempts with a long of 38 yards versus Susquehanna University and 28-for-29 on extra-point attempts. Reckenbeil’s 55 points were a new single season Moravian record, and the nine field goals tied Chad Kurtz’s record for a season, and Reckenbeil only did kickoffs for the first two and a half games of the year. Also back for the Greyhounds are seniors wide receiver Shawn Martell (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic HS) and linebacker Cliff Garr (Easton, PA/Notre Dame HS). A year ago, Martell had a team high 26 catches for 434 yards and four scores, and Martell also went over 1,000-receiving yards for his career with 1,045 yards on 59 catches. Garr had 70 tackles with two and a half tackles for loss, one and a half sacks, a fumble recovery, a forced fumble and an interception returned 32 yards for a touchdown versus Susquehanna University.

Albright College was picked seventh with 46 points while Lebanon Valley College filled the eighth spot with 41 points. FDU-Florham was selected ninth with 36 points while Susquehanna University and Juniata College rounded out the poll with 27 and 11 points, respectively.

Moravian is slated to begin the 2006 MAC season on Saturday, September 9th at Susquehanna University in a 3:00 p.m. kickoff in Selinsgrove.

2006 MIDDLE ATLANTIC CONFERENCE FOOTBALL PRESEASON POLL

First-place votes in parentheses