Moravian Set for Final Non-Conference Game of 2024 Schedule at SUNY Morrisville on September 28

BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian University football squad heads to SUNY Morrisville for its final non-conference game of the 2024 season on Saturday, September 28. Kickoff is slated for 12:00 p.m. at Drake Field at SUNY Morrisville Stadium in Morrisville, N.Y. 

THE COACHES: Jeff Long (Muhlenberg '14) is entering his second season as Moravian's head coach. Last fall in his debut campaign, Long led the Greyhounds to a 5-8 overall record and a 3-3 slate in the inaugural Landmark Conference season. He coached eight Landmark All-Conference selections including five First Team honorees. 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.

     SUNY Morrisville coach Ed Raby, Jr. (Alma '12) is in his fourth year as head coach with a record of 14-19. 

THE SERIES: Saturday's meeting is the second between the schools with SUNY Morrisville holding a 1-0 edge after a 20-19 victory at Rocco Calvo Field in Bethlehem last fall. 

GREYHOUNDS IN THE LANDMARK CONFERENCE: The Greyhounds will compete in the Landmark Conference this fall for the second straight season. The Hounds were selected third in the preseason coaches poll. The Landmark Conference has announced it will be adding an eighth team in 2025 with Western Connecticut State University becoming an associate member. 

BALANCED & EXPERIENCED 'HOUNDS: Of the 103 players on the Moravian roster, 51 are freshmen, 16 are sophomores and 15 are juniors. There are 16 seniors and four graduate students on this season's squad, and the Greyhounds return 43 letterwinners and 13 starters from 2023.

2024 CAPTAINS: The Hounds have named graduate student wide receiver Jordan Bingham, senior quarterback Jared Jenkins, senior offensive lineman Reins Leedy, senior defensive lineman Jeremy McGuigan and junior running back Isiah Rico as captains for the 2024 season. 

THE QUARTERBACKS: Senior Jared Jenkins has completed 65-of-99 passes for 684 yards with four touchdowns and one interception, and Jenkins has run the ball 26 times while being sacked ten times. Freshman Declan McCarthy is 2-for-3 for 42 yards, and he has 55 yards on nine rushing attempts.

THE BACKFIELD: Junior Isiah Rico leads the rushing attack with 77 yards on 29 attempts while graduate student Joey Richmond has added 67 yards on 17 carries. Junior Camron Tinajero has 32 yards and two touchdowns on six attempts while freshman wide receiver Jacob Sutton has run the ball twice.

THE OFFENSIVE LINE: Moravian has four returning starters on the offensive line in seniors Reins Leedy, Brandon Guffy and Paul DeFalco and sophomore Mason Ludlow, and the quartet is joined by freshman Jake Englehart. Senior Dalton Kucher also has starting experience while junior Drew Brizan saw action a year ago. 

THE WIDE RECEIVERS: The Greyhounds have 11 players that have caught a pass in 2024 led by graduate student Jordan Bingham, who has 26 receptions for 235 yards. Senior Diego Del Castillo has 13 catches for 197 yards and two touchdowns while senior Bryan Monge has added seven receptions for 84 yards and a score. Sophomore Avery Koser has six catches for 74 yards while sophomore Nick Coffaro has five catches for 27 yards. Freshman Josh Ludlow has two receptions for 35 yards while junior running back Isiah Rico also has two receptions for 33 yards and graduate student running back Joey Richmond has two catches for 16 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Jacob Sutton has one reception for eight yards while has one catch for five yards while junior wide receiver Ryan Frinzi has added one reception for three yards. 

DEFENSIVE FRONT: Senior Jeremy McGuigan leads the defensive linemen with 11 tackles, a pass break-up and a blocked kick versus Utica (N.Y.) University while junior Nathan Carr has nine tackles with three for loss. Graduate student Ian Brunner has posted six tackles with a forced fumble and a blocked kick versus Utica while junior EJ Harvey has four stops. Senior Drew Bailey has contributed three tackles while freshman Ryan Burns, sophomore EJ Boney and sophomore Logan Arteaga have all recorded two stops. Freshman Matthew Martinez and freshman Hunter Johnson each have one tackle.

THE LINEBACKER CORPS: Freshman Malachi McNeil-Harrison leads the linebackers with 20 stops on the year with three tackles for loss, three sacks, three passes defended, a forced fumble and an interception on the final play versus Utica. Senior Chad Newhard has made 19 tackles including one for loss while junior Clay Basile has also contributed 19 tackles with two for loss and a pass break-up. Senior Chris Cacace has eight tackles with one for loss, a sack and a pass break-up while junior Ethan O'Neill has recorded 13 tackles. Junior Jashon Teller has made 11 stops with a tackle for loss while graduate student Declan Coors has three tackles with a tackle for loss. Senior Jeremiah Espinosa and freshman Sahmad Bailey both have one stop. 

THE DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD: Sophomore Aidan Lane leads the defensive backs with 21 tackles including one for loss and two pass break-ups while sophomore Antonio Bowen has contributed ten stops to go along with an interception and a fumble recovery. Senior Isaiah Johnson has added ten tackles, a tackle for loss, a sack and two pass break-ups while junior Shea Endean has eight stops and six pass break-ups. Sophomore Anderson Louis Jeune has added five tackles with a pass break-up while junior Dorian Gray has four tackles with a pass break-up. Sophomore Elijah Fajardo has made two stops.

KICKING GAME: Freshman Ryan Child is 1-for-4 on extra-points of the season. Freshman Jack Corrigan has punted 15 times this fall for an average of 45.1 yards with a long of 71 yards on his second career attempt, and he has seven punts of more than 50 yards and three longer than 60 yards. Corrigan has four touchbacks, one fair caught and four punts inside the 20-yard line, and he has kicked off eight times for an average of 57.8 yards and two touchbacks. 

SPECIAL TEAMS: Freshman wide receiver Josh Ludlow has eight kickoff returns for 180 yards while freshman wide receiver Jacob Sutton has two kickoff return for 43 yards. Senior wide receiver Will Castel has three punt returns for six yards while graduate student wide receiver Jordan Bingham has added one tackle on special teams. Freshman long snapper Connor Pennington and junior running back Parker Miller both have one tackle on special teams.

MILESTONE WATCH: The Greyhounds have a pair of student-athletes closing in on milestones for their careers. Graduate student wide receiver Jordan Bingham became the 23rd player in program history to reach 1,000 career receiving yards, now with 1.065 yards, and he needs 435 yards to become the 12th player to 1,500 yards. Bingham also has 95 career receptions in 12 games and needs five catches to become the 12th player in program history with 100 career receptions. Senior quarterback Jared Jenkins is ranked eighth in program history with 4,013 passing yards, and he needs 987 yards passing to become the sixth player in to reach 5,000 yards. Jenkins is also seventh all-time in completions with 350, eighth in program history with 553 pass attempts and tied for sixth in school history with 35 touchdown passes. Freshman punter Jack Corrigan booted the fourth-longest punt in school history on his second attempt versus Muhlenberg College in the opener with the ball traveling 71 yards, and he has three punts over 65 yards and seven of his 15 punts have been longer than 50 yards.

SCOUTING SUNY MORRISVILLE: The Mustangs enter the game at 1-1 overall after a 28-27 loss to The Catholic University of America last Saturday. SUNY Morrisville is led on the field by senior quarterback Alek Britten, who has completed 27-of-49 passes for three touchdowns and an interception and run for 31 yards and a score on 13 carries. Britten's top targets have been senior tight end Quamel Jarvis, who as 12 catches for 203 yards and two touchdowns, senior wide receiver Connor Marriott, who has four receptions for 66 yards, and senior wide receiver Joey Chirugi, who has three catches for 44 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore running back Isaac Sylvain leads the Mustangs' rushing attack with 195 yards on 39 carries while senior running back Alex McBurnie has added 101 yards and a touchdown on 20 attempts. Senior defensive back Omar Jarvis has three kickoff returns for 60 yards while junior Xavier Gaines has two kickoff returns for 39 yards. Senior Cole Owen is 4-for-4 on extra-points, 0-for-2 on field goal attempts and is averaging 56.3 yards on seven kickoffs with one touchback. Senior Edson Jean-Baptiste is averaging 38.0 yards on 11 punts with a long of 45 yards, four inside the 20-yard line and one fair caught. Freshman linebacker Camerin Camacho leads the SUNY Morrisville defense with 24 tackles including four for loss, one and a half sacks and a quarterback hurry. Junior linebacker Dillon English has added 15 tackles with three for loss while Omar Jarvis has 12 tackles with one pass break-up. Senior defensive back Evan Salvaggio has contributed 11 tackles with two pass break-ups while junior defensive back Scotty Howard has two of the Mustangs' five interceptions this season to go with four passes defended. 

THE LAST TIME THEY MET: In Bethlehem last fall, Moravian fell behind 20-0 in the first half before nearly rallying for a second straight week, eventually falling to visiting SUNY Morrisville, 20-19, in non-conference action at Rocco Calvo Field on Homecoming. The Greyhounds opened the contest with the ball for the fourth consecutive week. The Hounds picked up one first down before defensive back/punter Colin Conway connected on a career long 59-yard punt that was downed at the half-yard line. The Mustangs went deep on their first play and hit a 99-yard catch and run touchdown for a 7-0 lead just over five minutes into action. Moravian's next possession saw the Blue & Grey pick up two first downs, one on a run by Conway after a bad snap on a punt, but the squad eventually turned the ball over one downs. Morrisville had to punt on its next drive, however, the Hounds muffed the punt and the Mustangs retained possession at the 15-yard line. Three plays later, SUNY Morrisville make it 13-0 on a one-yard touchdown run. The Hounds were forced to punt after three plays on the next possession while the Mustangs scored for the third straight drive with a 10-play, 86-yard drive capped with another one-yard touchdown run. The score gave Morrisville a 20-0 lead with 10:05 until the intermission. Moravian got onto the scoreboard with its next possession as the Greyhounds drove 90 yards in 15 plays. Running back Nate Boyle finished off the possession with a one-yard touchdown run, and he also kicked the extra point to cut the deficit to 20-7 for the Blue & Grey with 2:38 before halftime. The Mustangs had possession to start the second half and would get into field goal range but the 37-yard attempt sailed wide right into the strong wind on the rainy afternoon. The Greyhounds faced a fourth-and-8 play at the Morrisville 24-yard line after driving down the field. Quarterback Jared Jenkins rolled out and fired a 24-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Brad Bryan. Jenkins tried to hit Bryan with a two-point conversion pass but missed to keep the score at 20-13 for the Mustangs with 3:28 to go in the third quarter. Morrisville looked as if it would extend the lead on the first play of the next drive but defensive back Shea Endean raced down the field and forced a fumble at the Hounds' four-yard line after a 64-yard run. Linebacker Clay Basile covered the ball in the end zone for a touchback. Moravian was unable to capitalize on the turnover with Conway having another punt downed inside the 15-yard line. Moravian's defensive forced the Mustangs to punt early in the fourth quarter as the Hounds took over on their own 25-yard line. The Greyhounds needed seven plays to get into the endzone as Jenkins and Bryan connected again, this time on a 33-yard touchdown pass to make it a one-point game. Boyle, kicking into the wind, missed the extra-point to keep it 20-19 for Morrisville with 8:51 to go. The Blue & Grey defense made SUNY Morrisville punt and took over at its own 40-yard line with 4:41 to play. Moravian faced a fourth-and-17 when Jenkins was intercepted to give the Mustangs the ball. Morrisville would run out the clock, taking a knee at the one-yard line. The Greyhounds finished the contest with 316 yards on 64 plays, and Moravian controlled the clock for 31:05, the third game this fall that the Blue & Grey have won the time of possession battle. Jenkins completed 20-of-28 passes for 198 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, and he also ran for five yards on two carries. Bryan caught six passes for 85 yards and the two scores while senior wide receiver Tim Garlick had four receptions for 25 yards. Wide receiver Jordan Bingham grabbed three passes for 39 yards while wide receiver Tre Crenshaw added two catches for 14 yards and wide receiver Jordan Lewis had a catch for 22 yards. Boyle gained 63 yards on 26 carries and he also caught two passes for 12 yards while running back Camron Tinajero had 13 yards on four rushing attempts, two receptions for a yard and a kickoff return for 10 yards. Avery Koser gained 18 yards on three rushing attempts to round out the Moravian rushing attack. Conway punted three times for an average of 53.3 yards with all three punts ending up inside the 20-yard line, and he also gained 19 yards on his rushing attempt. Wide receiver Nick Coffaro returned three kickoffs for 52 yards. Linebacker Chris Ortalano led the Greyhounds' defense with eight tackles including two and a half for loss and a sack while linebacker Damere Rooker and defensive back Isaiah Johnson each had seven stops with Rooker adding a sack. Linebacker Ethan O'Neill, defensive back Zach Scillia and Basile all had five stops with Scillia adding a pass breakup and Basile contributing a fumble recovery and a half a tackle for loss. Linebacker Jashon Teller added four tackles with one for loss while defensive lineman Jeremy McGuigan made three stops.

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 fifth in the Landmark Conference in total offense at 316.3 yards per game after week three, and the Hounds are fourth in passing offense at 242.0 yards per contest. Moravian's defense is third in the conference at 360.3 yards per game, and the squad is second in passing defense at 228.7 yards per outing and third in points per game allowed at 24.3. The Blue & Grey lead the Landmark Conference in net punting at 36.8 yards per punt, red zone defense at 63.6 percent and fewest penalty yards per game at 42.7. Senior quarterback Jared Jenkins is fifth in the Landmark Conference in passing yards per game at 228.0, and he is sixth in passing efficiency with a 135.0 rating. Graduate student wide receiver Jordan Bingham is first in receptions per game at 8.7 and tied for fourth in reception yards per game at 78.3 while senior wide receiver Diego Del Castillo is seventh in receiving yards at 65.7 and tied for fifth in receptions per contest at 4.3. Freshman wide receiver Josh Ludlow is fifth in the Landmark Conference in kickoff return average at 22.5 yards per return on five attempts while senior wide receiver Will Castel is fourth in punt return average at 2.0 yards per return with three returns. Freshman punter Jack Corrigan leads the Landmark Conference in punting with an average of 45.1 yards per punt. Sophomore defensive back Aidan Lane is tied for eighth with 7.0 tackles per contest while freshman linebacker Malachi McNeil-Harrison is second in the conference at 1.0 sacks per game, and he is tied for sixth in tackles for loss at 1.0 per outing and tied for 11th in stops per game at 6.7. Senior linebacker Chad Newhard and junior linebacker Clay Basile are both tied for 16th at 6.3 tackles per outing. Junior Nathan Carr is tied for sixth in tackles for loss with 1.0 per outing. Junior defensive back Shea Endean leads the conference lead in passes defended with 2.0 per contest while McNeil-Harrison is tied for sixth at 1.0 passes defended per outing. McNeil-Harrison and sophomore defensive back Antonio Bowen are tied for third in interceptions per game at 0.33.

THE NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS: Freshman punter Jack Corrigan ranks fifth in the nation in NCAA Division III with an average of 45.1 yards per punt. Graduate student wide receiver Jordan Bingham is 14th in the country in receptions per game at 8.7 while senior quarterback Jared Jenkins is 19th in completions per game at 21.67 and 38th in passing yards with 684. Junior defensive back Shea Endean is tied for 14th in the nation in passes defended with 2.0 per contest.