Hayes Sets Game & Career Passing Marks as Greyhounds Top Juniata, 42-30
HUNTINGDON, Pa. --- Senior quarterback Mike Hayes returned to action after missing a game with an injury to complete 34-of-51 passes for a school record 516 yards and four touchdowns and break the Moravian College career passing mark as he led the Greyhounds to a 42-30 win at Juniata College in Centennial Conference action Saturday.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
14 | 21 | 7 | 0 | 42 |
|
|
7 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 30 |
Team Stats
Juniata College
| Game Statistics | Moravian University | Juniata College |
|---|---|---|
| Passing Yards | 516 | 285 |
| Rushing Yards | 151 | 195 |
| Turnovers | 0 | 2 |
| Time of Poss. | 29:11 | 30:49 |
HUNTINGDON, Pa. --- Senior quarterback Mike Hayes returned to action after missing a game with an injury to complete 34-of-51 passes for a school record 516 yards and four touchdowns and break the Moravian College career passing mark as he led the Greyhounds to a 42-30 win at Juniata College in Centennial Conference action Saturday.
The Hounds snapped a three-game losing streak with the victory to improve to 5-4 on the year and 4-4 in Centennial Conference play.
"We started fast today and we were able to run the ball effectively down the stretch," noted Head Coach Jeff Pukszyn. "Mike has been outstanding and his preparation this week showed today. He is an outstanding leader. Defensively we came up with a huge takeaway when we needed it the most. I am very proud of our kids, especially this senior group who have been outstanding in their leadership."
Hayes, who had not played in the last five and a half quarters after suffering an injury at Franklin & Marshall College on October 22, set a school mark with his 34 completions and tied the single game record with four touchdowns. Hayes has now thrown for 6,306 yards, the third quarterback in school history to reach the 6,000-yard milestone, and he broke Rob Light's mark of 6,203 yards on a 65-yard touchdown strike in the third quarter.
Moravian's offense tied a school record set earlier this season with 34 first downs in the contest, and Moravian had 667 yards of total offense on 90 plays, the second time this season and in school history with over 600 yards in one game. The record of 672 yards was set against McDaniel College on September 10.
Senior wide receiver Liam Nolan caught a career-high 10 passes for 182 yards, the fourth most receiving yards in a game in school history, to go along with one touchdown, and Nolan became the ninth Greyhound to reach 1,500 career receiving yards, now with 1,576. Junior wide receiver Aaron Hudson caught seven passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns, and Hudson has three 100-yard receiving games in the last four contests. Junior wide receiver Kyle Ferryman grabbed four receptions for 63 yards with and his first career touchdown while junior wide receiver Justice Anderson caught four passes for 38 yards and ran in a two-yard touchdown. Senior wide receiver Jalen Snyder-Scipio added three catches to raise his school-record total to 155, and he contributed 33 yards.
Senior running back Chris Negron led Moravian's rushing attack with 129 yards on 23 carries, his 20th career 100-yard game as Negron raised his school-record total to 4,258 yards. He also caught two passes for 19 yards against the Eagles while freshman running back Roberto Diez had four carries for 11 yards to go with two catches for 17 yards. Hayes added seven rushing attempts for six yards for a school-record total of 522 yards of total offense in the game while junior defensive lineman Jorden Stout added two carries for three yards and a touchdown while adding four tackles with one and a half for loss and a pass break-up on defense. Junior tight end/punter Aaron Brown caught two passes for 43 yards, and he punted five times for an average of 36.8 yards with a long of 51 and a pair of punts downed inside the five-yard line.
Senior linebacker Edward Delia led the Greyhounds' defense with 10 tackles, his seventh straight game in double digits, to go along with his third interception of the season. Senior defensive lineman John Snyder and sophomore linebacker Steve Ewald each had six tackles with Ewald adding a pass break-up, and freshman linebacker Joseph Milano made five tackles with a pass break-up.
The Greyhounds received the opening kickoff of the game and needed just nine plays to cover 79 yards to the end zone with Hayes capping the drive with a 19-yard scoring strike to Hudson. Sophomore Kenny Kane made the first of six extra-points on the afternoon for a 7-0 lead just 2:35 into action.
The Blue and Grey's defense forced a punt after five plays, and Moravian's offense took over at its own 20-yard line. Hayes and the Greyhounds needed seven plays to finish off the 80-yard drive with Anderson scoring on a two-yard sweep to push the lead to 14-0 with 8:10 still to play in the first quarter.
Juniata answered back with touchdown late in the first period, and after forcing the only Moravian punt of the first half, the Eagles kicked a field goal two plays into the second quarter to cut the Hounds' advantage to 14-10.
Moravian responded with a nine-play, 65-yard drive with Stout scoring on a fourth-and-goal play from the one-yard line to push the lead to 21-10 before the intermission.
The Eagles punted twice sandwiched around the Blue and Grey turning the ball over on downs in Juniata territory. The Hounds started their next drive at their own 19-yard line with 6:39 on the clock before halftime. With Negron running the ball and Hayes throwing first downs, Moravian would score on a 19-yard pass from Hayes to Ferryman to make the lead 28-10 with 5:19 showing on the scoreboard in the second quarter.
Juniata answered with a quick touchdown to cut into the lead; however, Hayes found Hudson with a 41-yard scoring strike, and Kane's PAT sent the Greyhounds to the locker room with a 35-17 lead.
The teams traded punts early in the third quarter before Juniata was next to score to cut the deficit to 35-24. After the Eagles forced Moravian to punt, Juniata looked to be driving to cut the Blue and Grey's lead even more when senior defensive back Khalil Raymond made his third interception of the season at the Greyhounds' 15-yard line and returned it 20 yards.
Hayes needed just one play to get the Hounds on the scoreboard as he found Nolan streaking down the field with a 65-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown with 2:33 left in the third quarter. Hayes became Moravian's all-time leading passer on the play.
Juniata would score three plays into the fourth quarter to cut the Greyhounds' advantage to 42-30 after the Eagles missed the two-point conversion. Moravian went on a four-minute drive that ended in a punt that was downed at the Juniata two-yard line.
The Eagles were unable to move the ball but a 68-yard punt pushed the Hounds' deep in their own territory. Moravian picked up one first down before a 51-yard punt by Brown was downed at the Juniata five-yard line.
Juniata was able to move the ball down the field towards the red zone before Delia stepped in front of a pass at the Moravian 15-yard line with 3:47 to play. Negron picked up a pair of first downs on the ground, and Hayes hit Snyder-Scipio for another first down as the Greyhounds ran out the clock and seal the win.
Moravian is scheduled to finish out its 2016 regular season on Saturday, November 12 when the Hounds host rival Muhlenberg College at Rocco Calvo Field with kickoff slated for 12:00 p.m. The winner of the game wins the Sodexo Trophy.
