Greyhounds to Host Ursinus College on Take a Kid to the Game Day on October 23 at Rocco Calvo Field

BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian University football squad hosts Ursinus College on Saturday, October 23 in a Centennial Conference contest. Kickoff for the Take a Kid to the Game Day is slated for 1:00 p.m. at Rocco Calvo Field in Bethlehem.

TAKE A KID TO THE GAME DAY: All children 13 and under will get into Saturday's game for free with the purchase of an adult ticket. The Greyhounds will have children's activities set up from 12:00 p.m. until kickoff at 1:00 p.m. and then again at halftime.

THE COACHES: Jeff Pukszyn (Moravian '98) is entering his 11th season as Moravian's head coach after ten years as an assistant coach with the program. Pukszyn joined the Moravian staff as a part-time coach in 1997 after a three-year playing career that saw him named to the All-Middle Atlantic Conference First Team in 1994 and 1996. He was inducted into Moravian's Hall of Fame in 2019. He was also a two-time captain. Pukszyn became part of the coaching staff full-time in 1999 as defensive coordinator and added the titles of assistant head coach in 2001 and special teams coordinator in 2007. In 2015, Pukszyn led the Greyhounds to an 8-3 record and a berth in the inaugural Centennial-MAC Bowl Series while being named both the Centennial Conference and American Football Coaches Association Division III Region 2 Coach of the Year. He has been a part of 271 games for Moravian since 1994 with a 129-141-1 record.

     Ursinus coach Peter Gallagher (West Virginia Wesleyan '96) is in his 20th year as head coach with a 100-97 mark.

THE SERIES: Saturday's meeting will be the 23rd in the series with Moravian leading 11-10-1. The Bears posted a 35-28 victory in 2019 in Bethlehem, and Ursinus also earned a 21-14 victory in Collegeville in 2018. The Greyhounds last victory in the series was a 33-32 win in Collegeville in 2016. Moravian snapped a four-game winning streak by Ursinus with a 31-3 victory in Bethlehem in 2015. The Bears lead the series, 7-5, since Moravian joined the Centennial Conference in 2007. 

GREYHOUNDS IN THE CENTENNIAL CONFERENCE: Moravian joined the Centennial Conference as an associate member in the sport of football in 2007. The Greyhounds were selected seventh in the Centennial Conference preseason coaches and sports information directors poll. Ursinus was picked to finish sixth in the poll. 

BALANCED & EXPERIENCED 'HOUNDS: Of the 84 players on the Moravian roster, 21 are freshmen, 13 are sophomores and 18 are juniors. There are 31 seniors including two fifth-year players on this season's squad, and the Greyhounds return 43 letterwinners and eight starters from 2019. 

CENTENNIAL CONFERENCE WEEKLY/D3FOOTBALL.COM TEAM OF THE WEEK HONORS: Moravian senior defensive back Jackson Buskirk has been named the Centennial Conference Defensive Player of the Week and earned a spot on the D3football.com Team of the Week Presented by Scoutware for his performance in the Greyhounds' 21-14 win over Dickinson College Saturday. Buskirk led the Moravian defense with 10 tackles including seven solo stops in the Homecoming victory. Buskirk also had a pass break-up and forced a fumble in the red zone.

THE QUARTERBACKS: Senior Christopher Mills has completed 99-of-190 passes for 1,223 yards this season with five touchdowns, eight interceptions and a long of 78 yards. He has also carried the ball 23 times and been sacked 15 times. Junior Brad Bryan saw his first career action against Susquehanna University and has a total of five pass attempts and three rushing attempts for eight yards.

OFFENSIVE LINE: Moravian has one returner on the offensive line in senior Frank Sallusti at right guard. The Greyhounds will add four other seniors to the starting offensive line with Jaequan Swint at left tackle, Jack Fineanganofo at left guard, Ryan Kennedy at center and Craig Krug at right tackle. The Greyhounds' front five has an average size of 6-1, 275. Sallusti has one tackle this season, and junior Nate Bendekovits saw playing time at right tackle against Johns Hopkins University and started versus Dickinson College. 

IN THE BACKFIELD: Sophomore Nate Boyle leads the Moravian rushing attack with 366 yards and two touchdowns on 80 carries including a 52-yard run at King's College while senior Carrington Smith has added 116 yards on 40 attempts. Junior Angelo Macera has contributed 36 yards on 10 carries while sophomore Isaac Cherry has 32 yards on 10 carries.

THE WIDE RECEIVERS: The Greyhounds have had 11 different players catch a pass this season led by senior Nick Petros, who has 32 receptions for 353 yards and two touchdowns including a 59-yard score against Dickinson College. Senior Trevor Cunningham has 29 catches for 517 yards and three touchdowns including one of 74 yards at King's College and another for 78 yards at Juniata College while freshman wide receiver Jordan Lewis has 10 receptions for 99 yards. Sophomore running back Nate Boyle has caught nine passes for 56 yards while senior wide receiver Cory Little has seven catches for 53 yards. Sophomore wide receiver Tim Garlick has added three receptions for 79 yards while senior running back Carrington Smith has three catches for nine yards. Junior tight end Ethan Deater has two catches for 14 yards while junior tight end Chris Carpini has two receptions this fall for 15 yards. Junior wide receiver Nick Basenese has one reception for 24 yards while senior defensive back Romello Walters has one catch for four yards while playing on both sides of the ball against Susquehanna University.

DEFENSIVE FRONT: Junior Javi Espinal-Katz leads the Moravian defensive line with 24 tackles including eight and a half tackles for loss, four sacks, two quarterback hurries and three pass break-ups. Senior Brady Hornbaker has 21 stops with six and a half tackles for loss, half a sack and a fumble recovery while senior Collin Frost has 13 stops. Senior Brandon Nemeth has made eight tackles with a half a tackle for loss while junior Riley Brody has made five tackles with one for loss. Sophomore Jabir Abdallah has contributed four tackles and senior Matt Eroh has added two tackles. 

THE LINEBACKER CORPS: Senior Noah Breidinger leads the linebackers and the entire Moravian defense with 39 tackles including three for loss, three passes defended, an interception and a forced fumble. Sophomore Nick Levinski has 25 tackles with two for loss, two sacks and a quarterback hurry while senior Nicholas Azpeitia has added 18 tackles with one tackle for loss, a blocked kick, and a fumble recovery. Senior Francis Lagreca has recorded 13 tackles with one and a half for loss and a half a sack while junior Jack Gawlik has 12 tackles with one and a half tackles for loss, a sack, three pass break-ups and a quarterback hurry. Senior Matt McNally has made seven stops while sophomore Colin Conway has added seven stops with a half a tackle for loss and half a sack while. Freshman Jeremiah Espinosa has also recorded seven tackles while senior Brian Harris has made five tackles. Sophomore Chris Ortalano has added two tackles.

THE DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD: Freshman Chad Newhard leads the defensive backfield with 37 tackles, three tackles for loss, one and a half sacks and an interception he returned six yards. Senior Romello Walters has 36 tackles to go with four pass break-ups, an interception with a 15-yard return for a total of five passes defended, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery, and Walters has also seen action as a linebacker. Senior Jackson Buskirk has recorded 31 tackles with one and a half for loss, an interception returned 29 yards, three passes defended and a forced fumble while senior Justin McRae has added 26 stops with one tackle for loss and two pass break-ups. Senior Connor Lyon has contributed 25 tackles, an interception for a 22-yard return and two passes defended while junior Ethen Aquino has 12 tackles. Graduate student Renard Nicholson has five tackles and a fumble recovery while sophomore Matt Blazofsky has made four tackles and senior Jalen Richardson has four tackles, a half a tackle for loss and three pass break-ups. Junior Stefan Lorick and sophomore Ben Carlin each have three tackles while junior Joe Voitek has made one stop. 

KICKING GAME: Junior Trevor Yacuboski is 5-for-10 on field goal attempts this season with a long of 39 yards, and he is also 7-for-7 on extra-points. Yacuboski has kicked off 17 times for an average of 55.1 yards, and he has punted 16 times for an average of 35.1 yards with eight fair caught, four inside the 20-yard line and one blocked while recording one tackle. Senior Nick Petros has punted 11 times with an average of 34.9 yards per punt, and he has a long of 50 yards, one fair caught and one inside the 20-yard line this season. 

SPECIAL TEAMS: Senior wide receiver Cory Little has returned 11 kickoffs for 256 yards, and he has recorded two tackles while senior defensive back Romello Walters has eight kickoff returns for 221 yards. Senior defensive back Jalen Richardson has returned two kickoffs for 32 yards and junior defensive back Ethen Aquino has one kickoff return for 29 yards. Senior defensive back Connor Lyon has five punt returns for 10 yards while senior linebacker Noah Breidinger has 16 yards on one rushing attempt on a fake punt versus Johns Hopkins University. Freshman wide receiver Nick Weston has made three tackles while senior long snapper R.J. Guffy has recorded a pair of tackles. Junior wide receiver Nick Basenese, junior running back Angelo Macera and senior wide receiver Joe LePoidevin each have one tackle on special teams.

MILESTONE WATCH: The Greyhounds have four players closing in on milestones for their careers. Senior wide receiver Nick Petros is second in school history with 2,142 receiving yards, and he needs 558 yards to break the school record. Petros is second in program history with 152 receptions and needs eight to set the school record, and he is first with 19 career touchdown receptions. He is tied for sixth with a 35.8 career punting average on 149 punts (sixth all-time) for 5,332 yards (fifth in school history). Senior quarterback Christopher Mills became the seventh Greyhound to throw for 4,000 yards, moving past the milestone at Juniata College. Mills, who is now sixth in program history with 4,361 yards, is also sixth all-time with 347 completions, sixth with 617 pass attempts and seventh with 30 touchdown passes. Senior wide receiver Cory Little became the fifth player in school history with 1,000 kickoff return yards in a career, now with 1,064 yards, and he is sixth with 44 kickoff returns. Senior defensive back Jackson Buskirk has moved into sixth in the Moravian record books with 167 career solo tackles. Buskirk has registered 253 career stops.

THE CENTENNIAL CONFERENCE STATISTICAL RANKINGS: The Greyhounds are sixth in total offense in the Centennial Conference after six games at 292.0 yards per game. Moravian is eighth in rushing offense at 88.2 yards per contest and sixth in passing offense at 203.8 yards per outing. The Hounds are ninth in the conference in scoring at 11.7 points per game, and the squad ranked seventh in scoring defense at 27.0 points per contest. Moravian is currently fifth in the conference in total defense, allowing just 323.2 yards per game. The Greyhounds are seventh in rushing defense at 111.3 yards per outing and fourth in passing defense at 211.8 yards per contest. Individually, freshman running back Nate Boyle is third in the Centennial Conference at 73.2 rushing yards per game while senior wide receiver Trevor Cunningham is sixth in receptions per game with 5.8 and second in receiving yards per game at 103.4. Senior wide receiver Nick Petros ranks seventh in receptions per game at 5.3 and tenth in receiving yards per game at 58.8. Senior quarterback Christopher Mills is seventh in the conference in passing efficiency with a 106.4 rating while senior defensive back Connor Lyon is tied for sixth in punt returns with five and senior wide receiver Cory Little is third in kickoff returns with an average of 23.3 yards per runback. Junior kicker Trevor Yacuboski is tied for eighth in kick scoring at 3.7 points per game. Defensively, senior linebacker Noah Breidinger is tied for 15th in the conference at 6.5 tackles per game while senior defensive back Romello Walters is tied for 21st at 6.0 tackles per contest, tied for first in the conference with two forced fumbles and second in kickoff returns with an average of 27.6 yards per return. Freshman defensive back Chad Newhard is tied for 19th with 6.2 stops per outing.

THE NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS: The Greyhounds have three players ranked in the top 50 in the latest NCAA Division III statistics. Senior wide receiver Trevor Cunningham is 26th in receiving yards per game at 103.4 while junior kicker Trevor Yacuboski is tied for 50th in field goals made per contest at 0.83. Senior defensive back Romello Walters is tied for third in forced fumbles per game at 0.50, and he is 14th in kickoff returns with an average of 27.6 yards per return.

OVERTIME 'HOUNDS: Moravian has played a total of 11 overtime games since the NCAA instituted the rule for the 1996 season and is 8-3 all-time in the extra-session after defeating Gettysburg College, 16-13, on September 11, 2021. Five of those ten overtime games have been against Juniata College with the Greyhounds going 4-1 in those games. Moravian's contest in Huntingdon in 2008 marked the first time in the Greyhounds' have needed more than one overtime session in a game. The 2008 season also marked the third year that Moravian has played at least two overtimes games in one season, the other years were 1999 when the Greyhounds played three overtime games and 1997 when Moravian played two overtime contests. 

SCOUTING URSINUS: The Bears enter the game at 4-2 overall and 3-2 in Centennial Conference action after an 18-14 win over McDaniel College. Ursinus is led on the field by junior quarterback Jack Psenicska, who is 111-of-195 for 1,468 yards to go with 15 touchdowns and seven interceptions. His top targets have been junior wide receiver Kevin DePrince, who has 29 catches for 295 yards and three touchdowns, senior wide receiver Octavious Carter, who has 28 receptions for 306 yards and six scores and senior running back Samuel Ragland, who has 23 catches for 214 yards. Junior wide receiver Billy Cook has 12 receptions for 136 yards and two scores while senior wide receiver Zachary Throne has 11 catches for 200 yards and two touchdowns Ragland also leads the Bears' rushing attack with 605 yards and seven touchdowns on 122 carries while freshman running back Tony Holden has 61 yards on 20 rushing attempts. Holden has returned 10 kickoffs for 205 yards while freshman running back Zay Brooks has five kickoff returns for 157 yards and Carter has returned five kickoffs for 61 yards. Senior wide receiver Dash Dulgerian has seven punt returns for 69 yards. Cook has punted 25 times for an average of 38.4 yards per punt to go with a long of 59 yards, nine inside the 20-yard line, one fair caught and two touchbacks. Junior kicker Dakota Wherrity is 22-for-23 on extra-points for Ursinus, however; he has missed both of his field goal attempts. Junior linebacker Brett Gross leads the Bears with 47 tackles to go with one and a half tackles for loss, two interceptions and four passes defended while senior linebacker Jonathan Klee has contributed 45 tackles with five for loss, one sack and a fumble recovery. Sophomore defensive back Ryan DiVergilis has 33 stops with two and a half for loss, two interceptions, five passes defended and a fumble recovery while junior defensive back Anthony Trazzera has 32 tackles with one pass break-up. Senior linebacker Brendan Shadle has made 25 tackles with one for loss and four pass break-ups while freshman defensive back Aaron Anderson and junior defensive lineman Ethan Belville each had 23 tackles with Anderson adding three tackles for loss, three interceptions and five passes defended and Belville contributing 11 tackles for loss, five sacks and three forced fumbles. 

THE LAST TIME THEY MET: In Bethlehem in 2019, Moravian running back Roberto Diez ran for a career high 129 yards and three touchdowns to surpass 1,000 yards for his career; however, the Greyhounds were unable to maintain a halftime lead, falling to visiting Ursinus College, 35-28, in Centennial Conference action at Rocco Calvo Field. Diez's afternoon paced the Greyhounds to 257 yards of total offense on 64 plays including 163 yards on the ground. Running back/quarterback Sherwin Stewart added 10 yards on four carries while quarterback Christopher Mills had eight yards on two attempts and running back Carrington Smith contributed six yards on two carries. Mills completed 12-of-26 passes for 104 yards after missing a week due to an injury. Wide receiver Eddie Olsen caught four passes for 42 yards while wide receiver Nick Petros had four receptions for 29 yards and punted five times for an average of 49.0 yards with a long of 65 yards. Tight end Nick Cregar had two catches for 15 yards while wide receiver Cory Little had two receptions for 18 yards and an 87-yard kickoff return to set up Diez's final touchdown of the game. Defensive back Renard Nicholson led the Moravian defense with 10 tackles to go with two stops for loss while linebacker Romello Walters had seven tackles, two passes defended and an interception return 79 yards for a touchdown in his first game on defense after starting the season as a wide receiver. Defensive back Jackson Buskirk and linebacker Noah Breidinger each had seven tackles with Buskirk making one tackle for loss and Breidinger recovering a fumble. Defensive lineman Shane Mastro had six tackles with a half a sack while defensive lineman Austin Heisler made five tackles with one and a half sacks and two tackles for loss. Linebacker Tanner Barr also had five stops. The first four drives of the game ended with punts before the Greyhounds took over near midfield with 7:03 left in the first quarter. Diez would cap an eight-play, 49-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown run. Junior Brendan Morgans made the extra-point to put the Hounds up 7-0 with 3:03 to play in the first quarter. On the second play of the second quarter with the Bears facing a fourth-and-13, Walters stepped in front of a pass, made the interception then weaved his way 79 yards for the Hounds' second takeaway and first defensive touchdown of the season. Morgans split the uprights with the PAT to set the Moravian lead at 14-0 with 14:40 left in the opening half. The Bears would get on the score board with 59 seconds before the intermission on an eight-yard touchdown run by Stacey Gardner to cut the Blue and Grey's advantage to 14-7 at the break. Two plays into the second half, Breidinger jumped on a fumble to set the Moravian offense up at the Ursinus 33-yard line. The Greyhounds moved down to the one-yard line before Mills' fourth down pass to Olsen was knocked away in the end zone. Ursinus answered and scored on a 68-yard touchdown pass from Thomas Garlick to Octavious Carter to tie the contest at 14-14 with 8:28 left in the third quarter. Moravian put together a 14-play, 74-yard drive to retake the lead on its next possession with Diez scoring on a one-yard run on third and goal to put the Hounds back ahead. Morgans' extra-point made it 21-14 Greyhounds with 30 seconds left in the third quarter. Samuel Ragland scored on a 38-yard touchdown on a third-and-three play early in the fourth quarter as Ursinus knotted the score again at 21-21 with 13:43 remaining. The Bears forced Moravian into a three-and-punt before scoring on a six-yard from by Garlick to take a 28-21 advantage with 8:46 to play. Garlick would extend the lead to 35-21 with 3:29 showing on the clock when he raced 76 yards for the Bears' final score of the game. Little would return the ensuing kickoff 87 yards to set the Greyhounds up at the 12-yard line. Two plays later, Diez raced out to the right and dove inside the pylon for the 12-yard touchdown with Morgans making the PAT to pull Moravian within a touchdown. However, the Bears recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock to end the game.