Greyhounds Return from Bye Week with Trip to Juniata on October 21

BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian University football returns from its bye week with a Landmark Conference game at Juniata College on Saturday, October 21. Kickoff is slated for 12:00 p.m. at Goodman Field at Knox Stadium in Huntingdon.

THE COACHES: Jeff Long (Muhlenberg '14) is in his first season as Moravian's head coach with a 3-3 record, and he is just the fifth head coach for the Hounds' program since 1955 when Rocco Calvo began his legendary career guiding the Greyhounds. The Blue and Grey have played 830 games over 96 seasons, and Long is the 13th coach since the program resumed action in 1930 after a 25-year break. Moravian's first football game was played in 1898. Long has spent the last six seasons with the Blue Streaks including the last three years as defensive coordinator. He began his time at John Carroll as the defensive line coach and has also been a secondary coach and linebackers coach. Prior to coaching at John Carroll, Long spent two seasons as a defensive line coach at Wilkes University, and he also worked as a scouting intern for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2015.
     Juniata coach Blake Treadwell (Michigan State '14) is in his first year as head coach with a record of 1-5.

THE SERIES: Saturday's meeting will be the 68th in the series with Moravian holding a 36-29-2 lead. The Greyhounds posted a 51-7 win in Bethlehem last fall while the Eagles earned a 24-17 victory in Huntingdon back in 2021. The series has had a history of close games with a streak of five straight years in which the game ended in a regulation tie from 1995 until 1999. Four of those games went to overtime with three won by Moravian.

GREYHOUNDS IN THE LANDMARK CONFERENCE: After 15 seasons as an associate member of the Centennial Conference, the Greyhounds are moving to the Landmark Conference this fall with all of Moravian's other sports with the Landmark Conference hosting its inaugural season in 2023 after adding Lycoming College and Wilkes University as full members and Keystone College as an associate member. The Hounds were selected fifth in the preseason coaches poll while the Eagles were picked seventh. 

BALANCED & EXPERIENCED 'HOUNDS: Of the 75 players on the Moravian roster, 23 are freshmen, 23 are sophomores and 18 are juniors. There are 11 seniors on this season's squad, and the Greyhounds return 47 letterwinners and 14 starters from 2022. 

THE QUARTERBACKS: Junior Jared Jenkins has completed 152-of-232 passes for 1,618 yards to go with 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions this season. Jenkins has been sacked nine times, and he has gained 107 yards and scored a touchdown on 39 rushing attempts. Jenkins is also 5-for-11 on two-point conversion passes and has run for a two-point conversion. Junior Carter Hallgren has attempted two passes this fall while senior defensive back/punter Colin Conway is 1-of-2 for 18 yards and an interception.

THE BACKFIELD: Senior running back Nate Boyle leads the Moravian rushing attack with 449 yards and five touchdowns on 122 carries, and he has run for a two-point conversion and thrown for a two-point conversion. Sophomore running back Camron Tinajero has 30 carries for 106 yards while freshman quarterback Avery Koser has run for 21 yards on four attempts. Freshman running back Mike Willis has 17 yards on five attempts and freshman running back LJ Cooper has gained 14 yards on six attempts.

THE OFFENSIVE LINE: Moravian has three returning starters in juniors left tackle Reins Leedy, center Brandon Guffy and right guard Paul DeFalco. Junior Dalton Kucher earned the starting left guard spot while freshman Eli Thompson is starting at right tackle. The Hounds' line averages 6-2, 277, and the quintet has allowed just four sacks this season. Senior Riley Craft and freshman Mason Ludlow saw action on the line in the game at Utica with Ludlow also starting against The Apprentice School, SUNY Morrisville and Keystone College. Freshman Hezakyah Hynson started at The Catholic University of America.

THE WIDE RECEIVERS: The Greyhounds have had 12 different players catch a pass in 2023 led by senior Jordan Bingham, who has grabbed 41 passes for 466 yards and five touchdowns in his first season at Moravian after transferring from Valparaiso University. Senior wide receiver Brad Bryan has 31 receptions for 447 yards and six touchdowns while senior wide receiver Tim Garlick has 21 catches for 149 yards and a touchdown. Junior wide receiver Jordan Lewis has caught 16 passes for 207 yards and three touchdowns while junior wide receiver Bryan Monge has added 15 receptions for 106 yards. Sophomore running back Camron Tinajero has 11 catches for 54 yards while senior running back Nate Boyle has caught 10 passes for 110 yards. Freshman wide receiver Nick Coffaro has caught three passes for 49 yards and a touchdown while sophomore wide receiver Tre Crenshaw has grabbed two passes for 14 yards. Junior wide receiver Nick Weston has one reception for 11 yards. while freshman quarterback Avery Koser has one catch for five yards and a score and freshman linebacker Jackson Lake. Bingham has three two-point conversion catches including one on a pass from Boyle to win the game versus Apprentice in the final 20 seconds. Bryan, Garlick and Boyle have also caught two-point conversion passes.

DEFENSIVE FRONT: Junior nose guard Jeremy McGuigan leads the Moravian defensive lineman with 25 tackles with two sacks, two and a half tackles for loss, a fumble recovery and a blocked kick while sophomore defensive tackle Nathan Carr has made 17 stops with a sack, one and a half tackles for loss and a forced fumble. Sophomore defensive end Drew Bailey has contributed 13 tackles with two for loss while sophomore defensive end EJ Harvey has 13 tackles with two and a half sacks and two and a half tackles for loss. Freshman defensive lineman Logan Arteaga, junior defensive tackle Prince Sokpo and freshman defensive end EJ Boney have all made three tackles.

THE LINEBACKER CORPS: Sophomore Clay Basile leads linebackers and the team with 43 tackles to go with four tackles for loss, two and a half sacks, two pass breakups and a fumble recovery while senior Chris Ortalano has contributed 37 tackles, two and a half tackles for loss, a sack and a pair of pass breakups. Sophomore Ethan O'Neill has added 32 stops with a sack, two tackles for loss, an interception, two passes defended and a fumble recovery while freshman Jackson Lake (Emmaus, Pa./Emmaus HS) has 17 tackles and a pass breakup. Sophomore Jashon Teller has made 12 stops and added a pass break-up and two and a half tackles for loss while sophomore Damere Rooker has 11 tackles with a sack and one and a half tackles for loss. Sophomore Josh Ruela has contributed seven tackles while junior Jeremiah Espinosa has recorded seven tackles with one for loss. Sophomore Cael Markle has six stops while freshman Cavin King has posted four tackles.

THE DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD: Junior safety Isaiah Johnson leads the Moravian defensive backs with 31 tackles and five pass breakups while senior safety Zach Scillia has 18 stops, an interception and two passes defended. Senior safety Colin Conway has added 26 tackles to go with three pass breakup while sophomore cornerback Shea Endean has contributed 14 tackles, a forced fumble, two interceptions including an 82-yard touchdown return versus Keystone College and five passes defended. Freshman cornerback Elijah Fajardo has made nine tackles, a half a tackle for loss and two pass breakups while sophomore cornerback Matt Capobianco has eight tackles, and interception and five passes defended and freshman defensive back Anderson Louis Jeune has foru tackles and a fumble recovery.

KICKING GAME: Senior defensive back Colin Conway has punted 27 times for an average of 40.4 yards per punt with three fair caught, 12 inside the 20-yard line and a long of 59 yards while junior quarterback Jared Jenkins has punted once for 22 yards. Senior running back Nate Boyle is 6-for-7 on extra-points this fall while sophomore wide receiver Sean Murphy has attempted on PAT this season. Freshman defensive back Anderson Louis Jeune has kicked off 11 times for an average of 48.5 yards, and he missed an extra-point attempt while freshman quarterback Avery Koser has kicked off 13 times for an average of 55.0 yards and one touchback. Freshman linebacker Jackson Lake has kicked off three times for an average of 44.0 yards while Boyle has one kickoff for 39 yards and Jenkins has a free kick for 35 yards.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Freshman wide receiver Nick Coffaro has returned 10 kickoffs for 195 yards with a long of 50 yards, and he has also made a pair of tackles on special teams and returned two punts. Senior wide receiver Jordan Bingham has added three kickoff returns for 63 yards and a special teams tackle while sophomore running back Camron Tinajero has three kickoff returns for 31 yards. Freshman defensive back Anderson Louis Jeune has returned two kickoffs for nine yards while junior wide receiver Bryan Monge has one kickoff return for 18 yards. Freshman linebacker Jackson Lake has returned one kickoff for 28 yards while sophomore running back Parker Miller has one kickoff return for eight yards and four special teams tackles. Freshman quarterback Avery Koser and freshman running back Mike Willis each have four tackles on special teams while junior wide receiver Nick Weston has two tackles. Junior wide receiver Will Castel has five punt returns for 38 yards.

MILESTONE WATCH: The Greyhounds have five players closing in on milestones for his career. Senior running back Nate Boyle became the 26th player in school history to reach 1,000 career rushing yards when he reached the milestone versus Juniata College, and Boyle has 1,869 yards on 467 career carries to sit in 12th all-time in yards and seventh in rushing attempts. Boyle has 16 career touchdowns (15 rushing, one receiving) to sit in a tie for 12th in touchdown scoring, and he is 16th all-time with 106 points including two-point conversions and extra points. Boyle needs 131 yards to become the 12th Greyhound to reach 2,000 career rushing yards. Junior quarterback Jared Jenkins has become the 16th Greyhound to reach 2,000 career passing yards with 2,210 yards on 193-of-305 to go with 22 career touchdown passes. Jenkins needs 790 yards to become the 10th quarterback in program history to throw for 3,000 yards. Senior wide receivers Brad Bryan and Tim Garlick are both closing in on 1,000 career receiving yards with Bryan needing 205 yards and Garlick needing 269 yards. Senior punter/defensive back Colin Conway set the school record for punt average in a single game with three or more punt attempts when he averaged 53.3 yards per punt on three kicks in the Hounds' game with SUNY Morrisville. 

SCOUTING JUNIATA COLLEGE: The Eagles are 1-5 on the season after a 56-0 loss at No. 12 Susquehanna University last Saturday. Juniata is led on the field by graduate student quarterback Noah Wright, who is 55-for-109 for 594 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions. Junior Calvin German has completed 28-of-46 passes for 191 yards with two scores and an interception. Their top targets have been senior wide receiver Austin Nash, who has 17 catches for 158 yards, junior wide receiver Quintin Stephens, who has 15 receptions for 141 yards and a score, senior wide receiver Christian Gatlos, who has caught 13 passes for 96 yards and a touchdown, junior running back Hunter Wolfley, who has 12 receptions for 81 yards, and junior wide receiver Sean Hakanson, who has 10 catches for 137 yards and a touchdown. Wolfley leads the Eagles' rushing attack with 282 yards and five touchdowns on 76 carries while sophomore Joey Menke has added 220 yards and a score on 41 attempts and Wright has 23 yards on 36 attempts. Stephens has returned four punts for 12 yards while Menke has eight kickoff returns for 146 yards. Sophomore punter Wyatt Buell is averaging 34.9 yards per punt on 44 kicks with 12 fair caught, seven inside the 20-yard line, three touchbacks and a long of 56 yards. Sophomore kicker Alex Mullin is 9-for-9 on extra points while freshman kicker Junseo Deckard is 1-for-1 on field goals with a long of 29 yards. Sophomore defensive back Ethan Shank leads the Juniata defense with 50 tackles to go with two interceptions, four passes defended and a half a tackle for loss. Junior linebacker Michael Grapin has contributed 45 stops with four and a half tackles for loss, a half a sack, two pass breakups and a fumble recovery and return of 13 yards while senior linebacker Dontey Rogan has added 40 tackles with seven for loss, three and a half sacks and a pair of forced fumbles. Sophomore linebacker Aaron Rothermel has made 38 tackles with six for loss, two and a half sacks and a pass break-up while junior defensive back Walker Bredickas has 26 stops with two for loss and a pass break-up. Senior defensive lineman Ian Brunner has registered 23 tackles with seven for loss, three sacks, an interception and a blocked kick while freshman linebacker Logan Cree has 21 tackles and sophomore defensive back Dawson Booher has made 20 stops with three and a half for loss, a sack, two interceptions, five passes defended and a forced fumble.

THE LAST TIME THEY MET: In Bethlehem last fall, The Greyhounds jumped out to a 28-0 first half lead on the way to a 51-7 victory over visiting Juniata College in Centennial Conference action Saturday afternoon at Rocco Calvo Field. Juniata opened the game with possession of the ball and punted while Moravian also punted on its initial possession. After another punt from the Eagles, the Greyhounds put together a six-play, 50-yard drive to get onto the scoreboard on an 18-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Carter Hallgren to wide receiver Jordan Lewis. Sam Bingaman split the uprights with the extra-point as the Hounds took a 7-0 lead with 6:12 to play in the first quarter. Moravian's defense forced Juniata into two more punts while the Blue and Grey had one punt. The Greyhounds took over at their own 41-yard line late in the first quarter and began to drive. Hallgren finished off the 13-play, 59-yard drive with a 21-yard scoring strike to wide receiver Tim Garlick. Bingaman's PAT made it 14-0 with 11:21 to go in the second quarter. During the drive, running back Nate Boyle became the 26th player in school history to reach 1,000 career rushing yards on a six-yard run, The Hounds forced another three-and-punt from the Eagles. Moravian took over at its own 30-yard line and put together a 13-play, 70-yard drive that was capped by Boyle finding the end zone on a one-yard touchdown run. Bingaman added the extra-point for a 21-0 lead with 5:16 until the intermission. Late in the quarter, the Blue & Grey took over possession at their own 42-yard line with 41 seconds until halftime. Moravian needed just 30 seconds for a four-play, 58-yard drive with Hallgren finding Boyle with a 21-yard touchdown pass. Bingaman hit the PAT to send the Hounds to the locker room with a 28-0 advantage. Moravian started the second half with possession and turned in a nine-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 19-yard touchdown scamper by Boyle, and Bingaman's fifth extra-point of the afternoon made it 35-0 with 10:29 to play in the third quarter. The teams traded possessions for the remainder of the quarter with Juniata punting on the last play of the third period. The Greyhounds got back on the scoreboard four plays into the fourth quarter as Boyle bounced a fourth down rush out to a 51-yard touchdown run to finish off the 59-yard drive. Bingaman added another PAT for a 42-0 edge with 12:42 remaining. Defensive back Isaiah Johnson would get the Hounds the ball back in three plays when he made his first career interception. Trevor Yacuboski finished off a six-play, 10-yard drive with a 30-yard field goal with 8:31 on the clock to extend the advantage to 45-0. After another Juniata punt, quarterback Nick Reardon connected with wide receiver Nick Weston on his first pass of the game, and the play went for a 61-yard touchdown run as Weston outran the Eagles' defense. Yacuboski's extra-point sailed wide, leaving the score at 51-0 with 5:33 remaining. Juniata drove down and picked up its first points of the day on a touchdown run with 1:11 to go. Moravian nearly scored again with running back Camron Tinajero. ripping off a 65-yard run on the first play of the game's last possession before the Greyhounds knelt down twice to run out the clock. The Greyhounds racked up 530 yards of total offense on 76 plays to go with 28 first downs, and Moravian controlled the clock for 32:11 of action in the game. The Hounds limited the Eagles to 237 yards on 67 plays. Hallgren completed 21-of-34 passes for 223 yards to go with his three touchdowns and an interception while Reardon was 1-for-1 for 61 yards with his first career touchdown pass. Garlick caught a career-high 11 passes for 143 yards and a touchdown while wide receiver Brad Bryan had six receptions for 29 yards. Weston caught one pass for 61 yards and a touchdown while Lewis added one catch for 18 yards and a score. Wide receiver Brandon Grace caught one aerial for eight yards while tight end Sean Foley had his first career reception for four yards. Boyle ran for a career-high 183 yards and three touchdowns on 25 attempts, and he also caught one pass for 21 yards and another score. Tinajero had 65 yards on one carry while Angelo Macera added eight yards on eight attempts and Bryan had two carries for seven yards. Yacuboski punted four times for an average of 47.0 yards with a long of 64 yards to go with his field goal, and he also kicked off five times while Bingaman went 6-for-6 on extra points and kicked off four times with an average of 58.0 yards. Wide receiver Will Castel returned a pair of punts for 15 yards while defensive back Jalen Richardson returned a kickoff for 12 yards. Linebacker Nick Levinski led the Moravian defense with 10 tackles including one and a half tackles for loss and a sack while Richardson contributed six tackles. Defensive back Chad Newhard also made six stops while defensive lineman Jack Gawlik had five tackles, one and a half stops for loss, a sack and a pass break-up. Linebacker Chris Ortalano posted four tackles while defensive back Carrington Smith, defensive lineman Jeremy McGuigan, linebacker Colin Conway and defensive back Romello Walters all made three stops with Conway breaking up three passes, Walters adding two pass break-ups and McGuigan had a tackle for loss and a quarterback hurry. 

OVERTIME 'HOUNDS: Moravian has played a total of 12 overtime games since the NCAA instituted the rule for the 1996 season and is 9-3 all-time in the extra-session including a pair of overtimes wins in 2021. Five of those 12 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 2021 season marked the fourth year that Moravian has played at least two overtimes games in one season, the other years were 2008 when the Hounds played two overtime contests, 1999 when the Greyhounds played three overtime games and 1997 when Moravian played two overtime contests.

THE LANDMARK CONFERENCE STATISTICAL RANKINGS: The Greyhounds rank third in the Landmark Conference in total offense at 390.0 yards per game after six weeks, and the Hounds are second in passing offense at 272.7 yards per contest and fourth in rushing offense at 117.3 yards per outing. The Blue & Grey are second the Landmark Conference in time of possession at 33:18 per outing, and the squad is third in scoring offense at 29.0 points per game. Moravian is fourth in total defense at 430.2 yards per game. Junior quarterback Jared Jenkins is first in the Landmark Conference in passing yards per game at 269.7, and he is second in passing efficiency with a 142.2 rating. Senior running back Nate Boyle is fourth in the conference in rushing yards at 74.8 yards per outing and he is tied for fourth in the Landmark in scoring at 7.0 points per contest while senior wide receiver Jordan Bingham is third in receiving yards at 77.7 per outing, and he is tied for sixth in scoring at 6.0 points per game. Senior wide receiver Brad Bryan ranks fourth in the conference in receiving yards at 74.5 per contest and he is tied with Boyle for fourth in scoring at 7.0 points per game. Freshman wide receiver Nick Coffaro is third in the Landmark Conference in kickoff return average at 19.5 yards per return on 10 returns. Senior defensive back/punter Colin Conway is second in conference in punting with an average of 40.4 yards per punt. Sophomore linebacker Clay Basile is seventh in the Landmark at 7.2 tackles per game and tied for seventh in sacks per contest at 0.42 while junior defensive back Isaiah Johnson and senior linebacker Chris Ortalano are tied for 14th at 6.2 tackles per contest. Johnson is second in the conference in passes defended at 1.0 per game while sophomore defensive backs Shea Endean and Matt Capobianco are tied for sixth with 0.83 passes defended a game with Endean tied for the conference lead in interceptions per outing at 0.33. Sophomore defensive lineman EJ Harvey is second in sacks per game at 0.63 while junior defensive lineman Jeremy McGuigan is tied for fifth at 0.50 sacks per outing.

THE NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS: The Greyhounds rank 20th in time of possession at 33:18 per game, and Moravian is 20th in net punting at 36.82 yards per punt, 21st in fourth down defense at 20.0 percent (2-of-10) 30th in the nation in fourth-down conversions at 64.0 percent (16 of 25) and 37th in completion percentage at 64.8 percent (153-of-236). Junior quarterback Jared Jenkins ranks 12th in the nation in completions per game at 25.33, 20th in points responsible per game at 20.0, 22nd in passing touchdowns with 17, 23rd in total points responsible for at 120, 30th in passing yards per game at 269.7, 31st in passing yards with 1,618, and 35th in total offense at 287.5 yards per game and 38th in completion percentage a 65.5 percent (152-of-232). Senior punter Colin Conway is 25th in the nation with an average of 40.4 yards per punt while senior wide receiver Jordan Bingham is 30th in receptions per game at 6.8. Senior wide receiver Brad Bryan is tied for 52nd in touchdown receptions with 6 while senior running back Nate Boyle is 88th in rushing yards with 449 and 89th in rushing yards per game at 74.8.