Top 10 Exciting Games of 2015-16 - #7 Football Wins at King's in Final Minute to Open 2015
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Moravian College continues its look back at the 2015-16 athletic campaign with the No. 7 highlight in the Top 10 Exciting Games – the football team defeating King’s College, 21-17, in the final minute of action to open the 2015 season.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Moravian College continues its look back at the 2015-16 athletic campaign with the No. 7 highlight in the Top 10 Exciting Games – the football team defeating King's College, 21-17, in the final minute of action to open the 2015 season.
The Greyhounds, who completed the season with an 8-3 record, just the fifth eight-win season in school history and played in the inaugural Centennial Conference-Middle Atlantic Conference Bowl Series in November, topped the Monarchs on Saturday, September 5 in the first night game for Moravian since 2007.
Fifth-year Head Coach Jeff Pukszyn looked back at the season opening win.
"Opening with King's under the lights was fun for the players," commented Pukszyn. "A night game brings a different atmosphere and it was exciting for us. We felt that we finally had a large number of guys who had a lot of experience, and we felt good about our senior leadership on the team. Our guys had great work ethic and enthusiasm during training camp, and we were looking forward to see that pay off during the year.
"The opener is very critical to a program," Pukszyn continued. "It can really set the tone for the rest of the season."
The Greyhounds received the opening kickoff but both squads would punt on their first possessions of the season. Moravian's second drive began at its own 35-yard line with four straight runs by junior running back Chris Negron for 29 yards down to the King's 36-yard line. Negron finished with 88 yards on 15 carries, and he also caught five passes for 35 yards.
Junior quarterback Mike Hayes then found sophomore tight end Nick Nejad with a 28-yard pass down to the eight-yard line. Sophomore running back Eli Redmond finished off the drive with an eight yard run, and senior Jerome Wachter connected on the first of his school record 42 extra points in 2015 to give Moravian a 7-0 lead with 9:47 left in the first quarter. The scoring drive took the Hounds just 1:58 and covered 65 yards in just six plays.
"Going into the season, I had a lot of confidence because I had a full year under my belt," Hayes said. "I may have been too confident because of what we had done to them the year before and that's bad. I promised myself after that game that I would not be like that going into any game going forward.
"It's important to score early in every game we play to set the tone for the rest of the game but the hard part is maintaining that lead and building upon it throughout the game," Hayes continued. "It requires both sides of the ball to be on the same page and in sync."
The Monarchs tied the game on a 10-yard touchdown pass with just 34 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Hounds answered right back. Negron began the drive with a 16 yard run to finish off the first 15 minutes of action. After a loss of three yards on the opening play of the second quarter, Hayes hit senior tight end Andrew Racobaldo with a six-yard reception before a 28-yard completion to Negron. Negron ran for two more yards on the next play before Redmond ran for 26 yards and put the ball on the two-yard line. Redmond, who had 49 yards on 11 carries, scored on the next run from scrimmage to cap a seven-play, 77-yard drive for the 14-7 lead.
King's scored the only other points of the first half on a 37-yard field goal with 5:47 left in the opening half to second Moravian to the locker room with a 14-10 lead.
The Greyhounds defense would step up in the third quarter with interceptions by freshman linebacker Steve Ewald, who added six tackles, one and a half tackles for loss and half a sack, and senior defensive back Anthony Orlando, who had a team-high eight tackles to go with two passes defended. Senior defensive lineman Tim McCabe had seven tackles with two and a half tackles for loss, one and a half sacks and one forced fumble in the game.
King's eventually pulled ahead on a two-yard touchdown run with 5:45 remaining in the contest as the Monarchs took a 17-14 lead.
"With 5:45 left on the clock, it meant that there was a lot of football still left, and we had to stop their momentum and gain some of our own," stated Pukszyn.
Moravian punted on the ensuing possession but the defense held again and forced King's to punt as well.
"Defensively, we knew we had to get the ball back to our offense without giving up our field position," Pukszyn said. "Fortunately we were able to do that. At that point we wanted to be able to manage clock and be able to at least tie the game with a field goal if not score."
The Greyhounds took over at their own 23-yard line with 1:35 remaining.
"That drive was one of my favorites of the year," stated Hayes. "The mood in the huddle was the pretty much the same as it always is which is confident and saying that we are going to score on every drive. We figured this is what we've been practicing for and preparing for all camp. Now lets buckle down here and do what we have to do to win this thing, but quickly."
Hayes, who completed 18-of-30 passes for 196 yards, found sophomore wide receiver Aaron Hudson for a 17 yard completion on the opening play of the drive, and after a spike to stop the clock, Hayes found sophomore wide receiver Justice Anderson wide open down the right numbers for a 54 yard gain, moving into the red zone with 1:09 to play.
"That play was very satisfying especially because I was struggling up to that point in the game," Hayes noted. "I got it in my head that I wouldn't let it affect me and that I just have to keep focusing on the next play. It ended up being a really well timed play call by Coach Tim McGorry. As I went through my progression, Justice was my first read and he came into my line of vision wide open because of a lapse in coverage in the defense. I threw it to him and he made a nice catch and run towards the end zone. Personally, I think should have scored, but being the nice guy that he is, I guess he wanted to boost Negron's stats instead of his own. But that play was awesome to watch on film the next day."
"The throw and catch from Mike to Justice created a huge swing in momentum," explained Pukszyn. "We needed to get our emotions in check so we didn't hurt ourselves inside the 10. The offensive staff did that, and we were able to capitalize with a TD, which is always the goal down in that area of the field."
After a timeout, Hayes completed a five-yard pass to junior wide receiver Liam Nolan to the one-yard line. Hayes spiked the ball to kill the clock again, and he would handoff to Negron on the next play as he ran off the right side into the end zone for a one-yard touchdown. Wachter added the extra point for a 21-17 lead with just 51 seconds to play as Moravian went 62 yards on six plays in just 44 seconds.
The Greyhounds' defense forced three incomplete passes and made the Monarchs turnover the ball on downs with 26 seconds left on the clock. Hayes and the Greyhounds took a knee three times to run out the clock for the season opening victory.
"That opening win was vital for us because it gave all of the guys the confidence that we can really do something special this season and make history for Moravian football," commented Hayes. "That last drive proved to everyone that we are a relentless team even when we are down in the game and on ourselves. We just keep pushing each other and we are confident that each and every one of our teammates has our back and will do anything for the guy next to him at any moment. That is one of the reasons why we were so successful and that is why I believe we will continue to be successful in the years to come."
Pukszyn saw the emotion in his squad after the game as well.
"The players were excited for each other. The saw all the hard work they put in over past 6/7 months come full circle with a win on the road," finished Pukszyn.
You can read the original game story at http://moraviansports.com/sports/fball/2015-16/releases/20150905vrfmgj.
Game number six of the countdown will be released on Friday, July 8.
