Greyhounds Set to Host Wilkes for Senior Day & Final Regular Season Game of 2023 on November 11

BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian University football squad closes out the 2023 season and the inaugural Landmark Conference campaign as the Hounds host Wilkes University for Senior Day on Saturday, November 11. Kickoff is slated for 12:00 p.m. at Rocco Calvo Field in Bethlehem.

THE COACHES: Jeff Long (Muhlenberg '14) is in his first season as Moravian's head coach with a 4-5 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.
     Wilkes coach Jonathan Drach (Western Michigan '04) is in his sixth year with the Colonels with a 30-20 record.

THE SERIES: Saturday's meeting will be the 48th in the series and first game since 2010 with Moravian leading the series 30-16-1. The Greyhounds captured the last meeting with a 26-14 victory in Edwardsville on November 20, 2010 to win the ECAC Division III Southeast Bowl Championship. The Colonels won the last regular season meeting between the programs with a 17-0 victory in Edwardsville on October 21, 2006 before the Hounds left the Middle Atlantic Conference to be an associate member of the Centennial Conference.

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.

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 Colonels were picked second. 

THE QUARTERBACKS: Junior Jared Jenkins has completed 225-of-349 passes for 2,561 yards to go with a school record 25 touchdowns and 11 interceptions this season. Jenkins has been sacked 21 times, and he has gained 114 yards and scored a touchdown on 71 rushing attempts. Jenkins is also 6-for-14 on two-point conversion passes and has run for a two-point conversion. Junior Carter Hallgren is 1-for-4 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 748 yards and eight touchdowns on 188 carries, and he has run for three two-point conversions, caught a two-point conversion and thrown for a two-point conversion. Sophomore running back Camron Tinajero has 41 carries for 174 yards and a touchdown 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 starting each game since. Craft also played at Juniata College and Lycoming College. Freshman Hezakyah Hynson started at The Catholic University of America and also saw action against the Eagles.

THE WIDE RECEIVERS: The Greyhounds have had 12 different players catch a pass in 2023 led by senior Jordan Bingham, who has grabbed a school record 69 passes for 830 yards and nine touchdowns in his first season at Moravian after transferring from Valparaiso University. Senior wide receiver Brad Bryan has 47 receptions for 656 yards and eight touchdowns while senior wide receiver Tim Garlick has 32 catches for 242 yards and two touchdowns. Junior wide receiver Jordan Lewis has caught 24 passes for 285 yards and three touchdowns, and he has thrown a two-point conversion while junior wide receiver Bryan Monge has added 20 receptions for 194 yards and a touchdown. Senior running back Nate Boyle has caught 14 passes for 215 yards while sophomore running back Camron Tinajero has 11 catches for 54 yards. Freshman wide receiver Nick Coffaro has caught three passes for 49 yards and a touchdown while sophomore wide receiver Tre Crenshaw has grabbed three passes for 12 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 has a reception for 18 yards on a fake punt. Bingham has four two-point conversion catches including one on a pass from Boyle to win the game versus The Apprentice School 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 45 tackles with three sacks, three and a half tackles for loss, a fumble recovery and a blocked kick while sophomore defensive tackle Nathan Carr has made 26 stops with a sack, two tackles for loss, a pass breakup and a forced fumble. Sophomore defensive end EJ Harvey has 25 tackles with two and a half sacks, three tackles for loss and a pass breakup while sophomore defensive end Drew Bailey has contributed 20 tackles with two for loss and a sack. Junior defensive tackle Prince Sokpo has recorded ten stops with a half a tackle for loss while freshman defensive end EJ Boney has made six tackles with a half a talk for loss while freshman defensive lineman Logan Arteaga has added three stops. 

THE LINEBACKER CORPS: Sophomore Clay Basile leads linebackers and the team with 69 tackles to go with five tackles for loss, two and a half sacks, two pass breakups and a fumble recovery while senior Chris Ortalano has contributed 66 tackles, two and a half tackles for loss, a sack and a trio of pass breakups. Sophomore Ethan O'Neill has added 41 stops with a sack, three and a half tackles for loss, an interception, two passes defended and a fumble recovery while freshman Jackson Lake has 17 tackles and a pass breakup. Sophomore Damere Rooker has 15 tackles with a sack and one and a half tackles for loss while sophomore Jashon Teller has made 14 stops and added two pass breakups and two and a half tackles for loss. Junior Jeremiah Espinosa has recorded 13 tackles with one for loss, a quarterback hurry and a fumble recovery while freshman Cavin King has posted ten tackles and a forced fumble. Sophomore Josh Ruela has contributed seven tackles while sophomore Cael Markle has six stops. Freshman Pasquale Festa has made four tackles while junior Chad Newhard has recorded two tackles. 

THE DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD: Junior safety Isaiah Johnson leads the Moravian defensive backs with 40 tackles and six pass breakups while senior safety Colin Conway has added 29 tackles to go with three pass breakups. Senior safety Zach Scillia has 18 stops, an interception and two passes defended while sophomore cornerback Shea Endean has contributed 20 tackles, a forced fumble, two interceptions including an 82-yard touchdown return versus Keystone College and five passes defended. Freshman defensive back Aidan Lane has 18 stops, two passes defended and an interception while sophomore cornerback Matt Capobianco has 17 tackles, an interception and six passes defended. Freshman cornerback Elijah Fajardo has made 14 tackles, a half a tackle for loss and three pass breakups while freshman defensive back Anderson Louis Jeune has five tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Freshman safety Antonio Bowen has added four stops, a pass breakup and a fumble recovery.

KICKING GAME: Senior defensive back Colin Conway has punted 39 times for an average of 39.2 yards per punt with four fair caught, 14 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 10-for-11 on extra-points this fall while sophomore wide receiver Sean Murphy has attempted on PAT this season. Freshman quarterback Avery Koser has kicked off 26 times for an average of 55.3 yards and three touchbacks while 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. 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 Nick Coffaro has returned 15 kickoffs for 263 yards with a long of 50 yards, and he has also made a pair of tackles on special teams and returned two punts. Senior Jordan Bingham has added three kickoff returns for 63 yards and a special teams tackle while senior wide receiver Brad Bryan has three kickoff returns for 54 yards and sophomore Camron Tinajero has three kickoff returns for 31 yards. Freshman Avery Koser has a pair of kickoff returns for 22 yards while freshman Anderson Louis Jeune has returned two kickoffs for nine yards. Junior Bryan Monge has one kickoff return for 18 yards. Freshman Jackson Lake has returned one kickoff for 28 yards while sophomore running back Parker Miller has one kickoff return for eight yards and five special teams tackles. Koser and freshman Mike Willis each have four tackles on special teams while junior wide receiver Nick Weston has four tackles. Junior wide receiver Will Castel has 14 punt returns for 94 yards.

MILESTONE WATCH: The Greyhounds have six players closing in on milestones for his career. Senior running back Nate Boyle became the 12th player in school history to reach 2,000 career rushing yards when he reached the milestone at Juniata College, and Boyle has 2,168 yards on 533 career carries to sit in ninth all-time in yards and sixth in rushing attempts. Boyle has 19 career touchdowns (18 rushing, one receiving) to sit ninth in touchdown scoring, and he is seventh all-time with 134 points including two-point conversions and extra points. Boyle needs 10 yards to move into eighth and 65 yards to jump to seventh all-time in career rushing. Junior quarterback Jared Jenkins has become the 10th Greyhound to reach 3,000 career passing yards with 3,158 yards on 266-of-422 to go with 30 career touchdown passes. Jenkins needs 406 yards to move into ninth all-time, and he has set the single season school record for touchdown passes with 25 this fall. Senior wide receiver Brad Bryan became the 22nd Greyhound to reach 1,000 career receiving yards, now with 1,004 while senior wide receiver Tim Garlick needs 176 yards to reach 1,000 career yards. Senior wide receiver Jordan Bingham set the school record for catches in a season with 69 receptions in 2023. 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 WILKES UNIVERSITY: The Colonels are 3-6 overall and 3-2 in Landmark Conference action after a 40-35 loss to The Catholic University of America last Saturday. Junior quarterback Isaiah Rodrigues leads the Wilkes offense on the field having completed 118-of-202 passes for 1,486 yards with 14 touchdowns and three interceptions. His top targets have been junior wide receiver Devin Higgins, who has 29 receptions for 408 yards and two touchdowns, junior wide receiver Jimmy Johnson, who has 27 catches for 322 yards and two scores, sophomore wide receiver Justin Moore, who has 12 receptions for 215 yards and three touchdowns, and junior wide receiver Zane Grover, who has caught 10 passes for 171 yards and four touchdowns. Junior running back Elijah Jules leads the Colonels rushing attack with 695 yards on 114 carries to go with two touchdowns, and he also has 23 catches for 174 yards. Freshman running back JayJay Jordan has run for 397 yards and six touchdowns on 38 carries while junior quarterback Xavier Powell has 299 yards and five scores on 45 carries, and he has completed 9-of-21 passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns. Jordan has returned 32 kickoffs for 679 yards while Grover has returned 14 punts for 94 yards. Sophomore kicker Nick Volpone has made 33-of-35 extra-points and 2-of-5 field goal attempts with a long of 32 yards. Junior punter Alex Orlando has punted 37 times for an average of 41.8 yards with three touchbacks, five fair caught and a long of 58 yards, and he has kicked off 46 times for an average of 49.5 yards. Sophomore linebacker Tallen Murray leads the Wilkes' defense with 84 tackles to go with five and a half tackles for loss, two interceptions and a quarterback hurry while senior linebacker Brandon Holcomb has 64 stops with four for loss, a pass breakup and two quarterback hurries. Junior defensive end Angel Ramos has made 60 tackles with ten for loss, eight and a half sacks, four quarterback hurries and a forced fumble while junior defensive tackle Steele Hess has 51 tackles with two and a half for loss and a sack. Junior defensive back Jesse Addesso and senior defensive back John Washington both had 44 tackles this fall with Addesso adding four tackles for loss, five pass breakups, a quarterback hurry and a forced fumble and Washington contributing five tackles for loss, two pass breakups, a fumble recovery and a blocked kick.

THE LAST TIME THEY MET: The schools have not met since November 20, 2010 when the Greyhounds earned a 26-14 victory at Wilkes to win the 2010 ECAC Division III Southeast Bowl Championship. Quarterback Matt Johnson completed 19-of-26 passes for 184 yards with four touchdowns, and he also ran for 25 yards on 13 attempts to be named as the Most Valuable Player of the game. Wide receiver Rocco Del Priore caught six passes for 63 yards and ran for nine yards on six carries while wide receiver Shawn Sylvainus had five receptions for 53 yards and two touchdowns. Wide receiver Ryan Onushco caught three passes for 40 yards while running back/linebacker Evan Bauer had one catch for a four-yard touchdown, and he also had three tackles, an interception and two passes defended. Running back Joe Tegan led the Hounds' rushing attack with 45 yards on 16 carries while wide receiver Alex Hersch had one rushing attempt for 15 yards and three receptions for 27 yards. Defensive back Daniel Burley led Moravian's defense with 12 tackles while linebacker Jake Hildebrand recorded ten tackles. Defensive back Thomas Bailey and linebacker Philip Bortz both had seven stops with Bortz making an interception he returned 50 yards. Defensive backs Travis King and D.J. Wacker both had six tackles with King adding a forced fumble and a pass breakup. Defensive lineman Allen Petros had four tackles with four for loss and three sacks. Linebacker Ryan Hartzell and defensive back Michael Burke added interceptions as the Greyhounds had four interceptions in the contest. 

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 second in the Landmark Conference in total offense at 405.8 yards per game, and the Hounds are second in passing offense at 286.3 yards per contest and sixth in rushing offense at 119.4 yards per outing. The Blue & Grey are second the Landmark Conference in time of possession at 32:32 minutes per outing, and the squad is second in first downs per contest at 22.6 and third in scoring offense at 28.0 points per game. Moravian is fourth in total defense at 413.2 yards per game. Junior quarterback Jared Jenkins is first in the Landmark Conference in passing yards per game at 284.6, and he is second in passing efficiency with a 143.4 rating and first in total offense at 297.2 yards per game. Senior running back Nate Boyle is second in the conference in rushing yards at 83.1 yards per outing and he is third in the Landmark in scoring at 7.6 points per contest and eighth in total offense at 83.1 yards per outing while senior wide receiver Jordan Bingham leads the conference in receiving yards at 92.2 yards per contest, and he is fourth in scoring at 7.6 points per game. Senior wide receiver Brad Bryan ranks fourth in the conference in receiving yards at 72.9 per contest and he is tied for sixth in scoring at 5.8 points per game. Freshman wide receiver Nick Coffaro is eighth in the Landmark Conference in kickoff return average at 17.5 yards per return on 15 returns while junior Will Castel is tied for fourth in punt return average at 6.7 yards a return on 14 returns. Senior defensive back/punter Colin Conway is second in conference in punting with an average of 39.2 yards per punt. Sophomore linebacker Clay Basile is sixth in the Landmark at 7.7 tackles per game while senior linebacker Chris Ortalano is eighth in tackles at 7.3 per outing. Junior defensive back Isaiah Johnson is tied for 19th at 5.7 tackles per contest, and he is sixth in the conference in passes defended at 0.86 per game. Sophomore defensive backs Shea Endean and Matt Capobianco are tied for eighth with 0.67 passes defended a game with Endean tied for fifth in interceptions per outing at 0.22. Sophomore defensive lineman EJ Harvey is tied for sixth in sacks per game at 0.36 while junior defensive lineman Jeremy McGuigan is tied for eighth at 0.33 sacks per outing.

THE NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS: The Greyhounds rank 25th in net punting at 35.92 yards per punt, 26th in time of possession at 32:32 minutes per game, 30th in fourth down defense at 33.3 percent (4-of-12), 31st in passing offense at 286.3 yards per game, 39th in first downs with 203 and 45th in completion percentage at 63.9 percent (227-of-355). Junior quarterback Jared Jenkins ranks 11th in passing yards with 2,561, 12th in completions per game at 25.0, 15th in passing yards per game at 286.4, 22nd in passing touchdowns with 25, 23rd in total offense at 297.2 yards per game, 24th in total points responsible for at 170, 28th in points responsible per game at 18.9, 42nd in completion percentage a 64.5 percent (225-of-349) and 72nd in passing efficiency with a 143.4 rating. Senior punter Colin Conway is 31st with an average of 39.2 yards per punt while senior wide receiver Jordan Bingham is ninth in receptions per game at 7.7, 26th in receiving yards with 830, 33rd in receiving yards per game at 92.2 and 44th in receiving touchdowns with nine. Senior wide receiver Brad Bryan is tied for 67th in touchdown receptions with eight while senior running back Nate Boyle is 54th in rushing yards with 748, 58th in rushing yards per game at 83.1, 73rd in rushing touchdowns with eight and 85th in scoring at 7.6 points per game. Junior wide receiver Will Castel is tied for 55th in punt return average at 6.7 yards a return.