Negron Runs for 202 Yards but Hounds Fall to Susquehanna
October 18, 2014

Negron Runs for 202 Yards but Hounds Fall to Susquehanna

BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Sophomore running back Chris Negron went over the century mark for the sixth time in his career with his third 200-yard game, picking up 202 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 31 carries but it wasn’t enough as the Moravian College football team dropped its second straight game, falling to Susquehanna University, 24-21, on a late field goal during the Greyhounds’ annual Homecoming game on Saturday afternoon at Rocco Calvo Field.

Box Score

BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Sophomore running back Chris Negron went over the century mark for the sixth time in his career with his third 200-yard game, picking up 202 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 31 carries but it wasn't enough as the Moravian College football team dropped its second straight game, falling to Susquehanna University, 24-21, on a late field goal during the Greyhounds' annual Homecoming game on Saturday afternoon at Rocco Calvo Field.

"I think we had 60 minutes of effort but we didn't have 60 minutes of perfect execution not that you're ever going to be perfect in a game but we let too many opportunities slip away," stated Head Coach Jeff Pukszyn. "We didn't win the turnover battle, and when we did get a turnover, we gave it right back. We're a good team but we're not good enough yet to overcome those things and it showed today."

Negron scored on touchdown runs of 20 yards in the second quarter and 17 yards in the fourth quarter, to tie the game twice. Negron now has 1,661 yards in 16 career games which is 11th in the Greyhound record books including 609 this fall as he moved back into pace for back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. Negron also caught a pair of passes in the game for 20 yards.

"Chris prepares so well during the week, and he's a guy who gives a lot of effort," commented Pukszyn. "We've got to be able to get points on the board with all of those yards, and we just didn't do that today. We're running the ball well and effectively, and now we've just got to put it all together. We have another week to prepare, and that is what we intend to do."

The Greyhounds, now 3-3 on the year, had 72 plays for 437 yards in the game including 277 yards on the ground. Freshman running back Eli Redmond added 75 yards on 14 carries to become just the fifth freshman in school history to reach 500 yards in his rookie season with 504 yards on 67 carries in six games. Sophomore quarterback Mike Hayes had 28 yards on five carries, and he completed 12-of-21 passes to eight different receivers for 160 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.

The Greyhounds received the opening kickoff and were moving down the field with Negron picking up 36 yards on four carries before he was stripped of the ball by Susquehanna's John Daku. It was the first time in 2014 that Moravian had lost a fumble for a turnover.

The Crusaders picked up one first down before punting the ball away on their opening possession.

Moravian started on its own four-yard line and Negron picked up 12 yards on the first play to become the 12th player in school history to surpass 1,500 career yards. The Greyhounds were driving when Hayes had a pass intercepted by Susquehanna's Cody Miller inside the 50-yard line.

Susquehanna needed just one play to get on the scoreboard with a 36-yard touchdown pass from Nick Crusco to Denzell Walker, taking a 7-0 lead with 7:18 to go in the first quarter.

Late in the first quarter, the Hounds looked to have tied the game when Susquehanna faced a third-and-three from its own 28-yard line. Moravian junior defensive back Anthony Orlando blitzed from the left side and hit Crusco, knocking the ball loose and Moravian sophomore defensive lineman John Snyder scooping the ball up and running for a touchdown. However, the officials ruled that Crusco's arm was moving forward before he lost the ball and called it an incomplete pass. The Crusaders flipped field position with a 55-yard punt on the next play.

Early in the second quarter, the Greyhounds would start near midfield. Hayes found sophomore wide receiver Liam Nolan has with a 22-yard completion on a third down play. Three plays later, Negron burst of the middle for a 20-yard touchdown, his fourth score of the season. Junior Jerome Wachter added the extra point to knot the score at 7-7 with 8:45 remaining in the first half.

Susquehanna drove right back down the field with a nine-play, 51-yard drive to take a 14-7 lead with exactly four minutes left in the second quarter.

The Greyhounds would begin the ensuing possession at their own 11-yard line. After a loss on first down, Redmond had runs of 11 and eight yards. The Crusaders would be called for a penalty, and runs of six yards by Negron and eight yards from Hayes would move the ball to ball to the Susquehanna 43-yard line. After a sack, Hayes would find junior tight end Andrew Racobaldo on a seam route, and Racobaldo would cut to the far sideline, pick up a block and finish off the 48-yard touchdown play. It was the first touchdown reception of Racobaldo's career, and the longest catch of his career as well. Wachter added the extra-point to knot the score at 14-14 with 1:22 left before the intermission.

Moravian would get a break on the opening kickoff of the second half. Kicking into the wind, junior Cedar McCredie popped a short kickoff up into the wind. Susquehanna called for a fair catch but muffed the ball with Moravian sophomore defensive back Chris Lott covering the ball at the Susquehanna 40-yard line. Four rushes by Negron sandwiched around a 16-yard completion from Hayes to sophomore wide receiver Jalen Snyder-Scipio put the Greyhounds at the one-yard line for first-and-goal. With Hayes in the shot gun, the snapped sailed over his head with Negron covering the loose ball back at the 29-yard line. Moravian ended up turning the ball over on downs.

"I think when things are going well like they were on that drive, we want to get on the ball and go quickly," Pukszyn explained. "We wanted to snap the ball quick and run another inside zone for Chris but the snap got away and made a difference of 28 yards on one play. That is something that we need to do a better job executing. We're shooting ourselves in the foot is probably the best way to put it and it showed on that play big time."

Susquehanna's first possession of the second half would end with junior defensive back Jimmy McCarthy stepping in front of a Crusco pass and making his team-leading fourth interception of the season. However, the Greyhounds were unable to capitalize on the miscue again, punting the ball away.

Early in the fourth quarter, Susquehanna was in the red zone but faced a fourth-and-six at the 19-yard line. The Crusaders lined up for a 36-yard field goal attempt but tried to run a fake with holder Ron Vilardi trying to flip the ball over his back to kicker Spencer Hotaling, who was sprinting towards the right side of the field. Moravian senior linebacker Ed Buoye came rushing in and stole the ball out of the air and took off down the field but lost his balance at the Moravian 44-yard line.

It didn't take long for Susquehanna to get the ball back as Miller stepped in front of another Hayes pass and returned it to the Moravian 18-yard line. The Crusaders needed four runs by Ian Richardson, the final one from five yards to take a 21-14 lead with 8:50 to play.

Moravian started at its own 15-yard line with three runs by Negron and a 19-yard pass from Hayes to senior wide receiver Sam Boyer to get near midfield. Negron added three more yards before Redmond ran four straight times for 33 yards. Negron would come back in for the 17-yard touchdown run as Wachter's extra-point tied the game again at 21-21 with 5:38 remaining.

The Crusaders would milk the clock moving the ball down the field. Susquehanna would get to the Moravian 23-yard line but back-to-back plays by Orlando made sure they would get no closer. Hotaling came on to hook a 40-yard field goal attempt just inside the right upright with 19 seconds remaining.

With just 15 seconds to play, Hayes completed a 19-yard pass to Negron at the Moravian-49 yard line with Negron falling out of bounds to stop the clock. After an incomplete pass, Hayes aired the ball out to the end zone on the final play, just over throwing Snyder-Scipio to end the game.

Susquehanna had 310 yards on 60 plays with just 92 yards on the ground as Richardson had 94 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries. Crusco completed 20-of-25 passes for 218 yards with one touchdown and one interception as he hit 11 different players with a completion.

Senior defensive back Ricky Sinnig led the Moravian defense with nine tackles including a half a tackle for loss and one forced fumble. Orlando had eight stops with one for loss and a pass break-up in his first game in a month while sophomore defensive back Noah Miller also made eight tackles with a pass break-up. McCarthy had six tackles to go with his interception.

Tom McLoughlin led the Susquehanna defense with a game-high 11 tackles to go with a pass break-up, and Miller added seven tackles a fumble recovery to go with his two interceptions.

"We have three good safeties in Ricky, Anthony and Chris McGrath," stated Pukszyn. "We were glad to get Anthony back from injury but started Chris and used Anthony in our sub package. He really came up big at the end. I'm not sure if he is at 100 percent yet, but he'll keep getting healthier and gain more confidence and will look to contribute more next week."

Moravian will start a three-game road trip next Saturday with a Centennial Conference game at Franklin & Marshall College kicking off at 1:00 p.m. in Lancaster.