Greyhounds Return from Bye Week to Host Juniata in Homecoming Game on October 26

BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian University football squad returns from its bye week with a Landmark Conference game versus Juniata College. Kickoff for the Greyhounds' annual Homecoming contest is slated for 1:30 p.m. at Rocco Calvo Field in Bethlehem.

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 an 8-8 overall record and a 5-3 slate in Landmark Conference action. He coached eight Landmark All-Conference selections including five First Team honorees. Long has spent the previous 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 second year as head coach with a record of 2-14.

THE SERIES: Saturday's meeting will be the 69th in the series with Moravian holding a 37-29-2 lead. The Greyhounds earned a 44-13 victory in Huntingdon last fall and posted a 51-7 win in Bethlehem in 2022 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: 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 while the Eagles were picked seventh. 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 102 players on the Moravian roster, 50 are freshmen, 16 are sophomores and 15 are juniors. There are 17 seniors and four graduate students on this season's squad, and the Greyhounds return 41 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 133-of-196 passes for 1,604 yards with 14 touchdowns and two interceptions, and Jenkins has run the ball 47 times for 58 yards while being sacked 17 times. Freshman Declan McCarthy is 2-for-4 for 42 yards, and he has 68 yards on 12 rushing attempts and one reception for a yard while senior Carter Hallgren is 1-for-2 for a yard to go with a two-point conversion completion, and he also has one rushing attempt for seven yards and a touchdown.

THE BACKFIELD: Graduate student Joey Richmond leads the Moravian rushing attack with 200 yards and a touchdown on 45 carries while junior Isiah Rico has added 103 yards and a touchdown on 36 attempts. Junior Camron Tinajero has 63 yards and three touchdowns on 13 attempts while sophomore Cole Maholtz has 56 yards on 23 carries. Freshman Jed Bendekovits has run for 23 yards and a touchdown on five attempts and freshman wide receiver Jacob Sutton has run the ball six times for four yards.

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 17 players that have caught a pass in 2024 led by graduate student Jordan Bingham, who has 39 receptions for 385 yards and a touchdown. Senior Diego Del Castillo has 29 catches for 495 yards and seven touchdowns while sophomore Avery Koser has 15 catches for 188 yards and two touchdowns. Freshman Josh Ludlow has 11 receptions for 164 yards and two touchdowns while senior Bryan Monge has added 10 receptions for 129 yards and a score. Sophomore Nick Coffaro has eight catches for 75 yards while graduate student running back Joey Richmond has five catches for 29 yards and a touchdown and junior running back Isiah Rico has three receptions for 40 yards. Senior Will Castel has two catches for 65 yards while freshman Jacob Sutton has two receptions for 18 yards. Junior running back Camron Tinajero has four catches for 11 yards while junior Ryan Frinzi has added two receptions for 10 yards, and he also has five rushing attempts for 40 yards. Freshman Justin Wistuba has caught one pass for 17 yards while senior wide receiver Nick Weston has one reception for five yards and freshman Gavyn Gennarelli has one reception for a yard.

DEFENSIVE FRONT: Senior Jeremy McGuigan leads the defensive linemen with 22 tackles, two and a half tackles for loss, a sack, a pass break-up and a blocked kick versus Utica (N.Y.) University while junior Nathan Carr has 18 tackles with seven and a half for loss and one and a half sacks. Junior EJ Harvey has 13 stops with a half a tackle for loss while graduate student Ian Brunner has posted ten tackles with a forced fumble, a quarterback hurry and a blocked kick versus Utica. Freshman Ryan Burns has made seven tackles while senior Drew Bailey has contributed six tackles and a quarterback hurry. Freshman Hunter Johnson has six tackles with one for loss while sophomore Logan Arteaga have has recorded four stops. Sophomore EJ Boney has made two tackles while freshman Matthew Martinez has one tackle.

THE LINEBACKER CORPS: Freshman Malachi McNeil-Harrison leads the linebackers and the entire defense with 37 stops on the year with nine and a half tackles for loss, five sacks, four passes defended, a forced fumble and an interception on the final play versus Utica. Junior Clay Basile has contributed 35 tackles with four for loss, a pass break-up and a quarterback hurry while senior Chris Cacace has 30 tackles with two and a half for loss, one and a half sacks and a pass break-up. Senior Chad Newhard has made 25 tackles including two for loss while junior Ethan O'Neill has recorded 24 tackles. Junior Jashon Teller has added 11 stops with a tackle for loss while graduate student Declan Coors has 11 tackles with a tackle for loss and a pass break-up. Senior Jeremiah Espinosa has added seven tackles and a pass break-up while freshman Sahmad Bailey has one stop.

THE DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD: Sophomore Aidan Lane leads the defensive backs with 29 tackles including one for loss, an interception versus The Catholic University of America and three passes defended while sophomore Antonio Bowen has contributed 21 stops to go along with a tackle for loss, two interceptions, four passes defended and a fumble recovery. Junior Shea Endean has 17 stops and eight pass break-ups while senior Isaiah Johnson has added 14 tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack, four pass break-ups and a blocked extra-point at SUNY Morrisville. Sophomore Cleveland Harding has registered nine stops and a pass break-up while junior Dorian Gray has eight tackles with a pass break-up while sophomore Anderson Louis Jeune has added five tackles with a pass break-up. Freshman Antonio Rivera also has five stops while sophomore Elijah Fajardo has posted four tackles. 

KICKING GAME: Freshman Ryan Child is 10-for-14 on extra-points of the season. Freshman Jack Corrigan has punted 26 times this fall for an average of 43.7 yards with a long of 71 yards on his second career attempt, and he has eight punts of more than 50 yards and four longer than 60 yards. Corrigan has four touchbacks, one fair caught and nine punts inside the 20-yard line, and he has kicked off 26 times for an average of 56.3 yards and six touchbacks. Corrigan is 2-for-2 on extra points and has had his only field goal attempt of the year blocked.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Freshman wide receiver Josh Ludlow has ten kickoff returns for 240 yards and three punt returns for 19 yards while freshman wide receiver Jacob Sutton has two kickoff return for 43 yards. Freshman defensive back Antonio Rivera has one kickoff return for 23 yards while graduate student linebacker Declan Coors has returned one kickoff for six yards and graduate student running back Joey Richmond has a kickoff return to 15 yards. Senior wide receiver Will Castel has three punt returns for six yards while graduate student wide receiver Jordan Bingham and Ludlow have both added two tackles on special teams. Freshman long snapper Connor Pennington and junior running back Parker Miller each 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 1,215 yards, and he needs 285 yards to become the 12th player to 1,500 yards. Bingham also has become the 12th player to reach 100 career receptions with 108 catches, which is tenth in program history, and he reached the milestone in just in 13 games. Senior quarterback Jared Jenkins is ranked sixth in program history with 4,938 passing yards, and he needs 62 yards passing to become the sixth player in to reach 5,000 yards. Jenkins is also third all-time in completions with 417, seventh in program history with 649 pass attempts and third in school history with 45 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 four punts over 65 yards and eight of his 20 punts have been longer than 50 yards.

SCOUTING JUNIATA COLLEGE: The Eagles enter the game at 1-5 overall and 0-2 in Landmark Conference action after a 66-21 loss to No. 8 Susquehanna University on the road last Saturday. Senior quarterback Calvin German leads the Juniata offense on the field having completed 123-of-187 passes for 1,444 yards with 12 touchdowns and three interceptions, and he has also run for 29 yards and a touchdown on 42 attempts. German's top targets have been senior wide receiver Quintin Stephens, who has 38 receptions for 509 yards and seven touchdowns, senior wide receiver Sean Hakanson, who has caught 30 passes for 426 yards and four scores, and senior running back Hunter Wolfley, who has 14 catches for 65 yards. Wolfley also leads the Eagles' rushing attack with 725 yards and nine touchdowns on 94 carries while sophomore running back/linebacker Dillon Wakefield has added 97 yards on 25 attempts. Freshman running back Mandel Edelin has returned 11 kickoffs for 204 yards while Stephens has eight kickoff returns for 175 yards and freshman wide receiver JJ Asante has seven kickoff returns for 130 yards. Junior Alex Mullin is 19-for-22 on extra-points and 1-for-3 on field goals with a long of 33 yards. Junior Wyatt Buell is averaging 35.8 yards per punt on 36 attempts with a long of 54 yards, 11 fair caught, 11 inside the 20-yard line and two touchbacks. Junior defensive back Ethan Shank has a team-high 54 tackles with two and a half for loss, a sack, three pass break-ups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery while sophomore defensive back Cole Claycomb has made 35 tackles with one and a half for loss and four pass break-ups. Junior linebacker Aaron Rothermel has recorded 34 stops with two for loss and a pass break-up while senior linebacker Gunner Lesher has 30 tackles with two and a half for loss and a sack. 

THE LAST TIME THEY MET: In Huntingdon last fall, The Greyhounds came off the bye week and continued its strong offensive season with a 44-13 victory at Juniata College in Landmark Conference action. The Greyhounds received the opening kickoff for the seventh consecutive game this season and picked up a pair of first downs before punting. The Eagles moved into the red zone on their first possession but missed a 33-yard field goal attempt to keep the contest scoreless. The Hounds drove 80 yards in 11 plays for the first points of the afternoon as running back Nate Boyle ran for a 23-yard touchdown. Moravian went for two as quarterback Jared Jenkins threw a backward pass to wide receiver Jordan Lewis, who lofted a pass to Boyle in the end zone for an 8-0 lead with 3:12 left in the first quarter. Juniata needed just three plays to answer as the Eagles connected on a 75-yard touchdown pass to cut the score to 8-7. After both squads punted, the Eagles intercepted Jenkins and turned the miscue into nine-yard touchdown run as Juniata moved ahead 13-8 with 9:14 left in the second quarter after missing the extra point. The Blue & Grey needed just five plays to cover the 83 yards to retake the lead. Jenkins hit wide receiver Jordan Bingham with a 43-yard reception on the drive while Boyle ran the other four plays including a 22-yard touchdown. Boyle also made the extra-point to give the Hounds a 15-13 edge with seven minutes remaining in the first half. Moravian's defense forced a punt after three plays to get the ball right back for the offense. The Hounds used six plays to go 60 yards as Jenkins connected with Bingham on a six-yard scoring pass. Boyle split the uprights with the extra-point for a 22-13 lead with 2:27 before the intermission. The Greyhounds' defense forced another quick punt to set the offense up near midfield. Jenkins capped the half with a 26-yard touchdown strike with just 0.8 seconds left in the half. Boyle made his third extra-point of the half to send Moravian to the locker room with a 29-13 lead. The score was the fifth of the season for the Greyhounds in the final minute of the half, and the third straight game that the Hounds have scored on the final play of the first half. Both teams punted on their first possession of the second half, and the Eagles next possession ended on downs. Moravian stretched its lead as the Greyhounds capped off a seven-play, 81-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown pass from Jenkins to wide receiver Tim Garlick. Jenkins had found Boyle with a 58-yard completion on the play before the score. Boyle made the extra-point to extend the advantage to 36-13 with 4:09 on the clock in the third quarter. Boyle scampered for five yards on the first play of the fourth quarter to become the 12th player in school history to reach 2,000 career rushing yards. However, the drive would stall with an incomplete pass on fourth and goal. The Greyhounds finished off the scoring with 5:42 remaining as Jenkins connected with Bingham on a five-yard touchdown. Boyle ran in a two-point conversion to set the final score at 44-13. The Greyhounds gained 546 yards and had 29 first downs on 81 plays in the game while controlling the clock for 35:54 of the contest. Jenkins completed 28-of-40 passes for 351 yards with four touchdowns and an interception. Boyle finished with 143 yards on 22 carries with a pair of touchdowns to go along with one reception for 58 yards, and he was also 4-for-4 on PATs and scored a pair of two-point conversions. Boyle is 12th in program history with 2,012 yards on 489 carries, and he has 17 rushing touchdowns and a total of 126 points in his career. Running back Camron Tinajero added 57 yards on eight rushing attempts. Bingham caught a career-high 12 passes, one shy of the single game school record, for a career-best 162 yards and three touchdowns as he had the 11th best yardage day in program history, and his three scores are one shy of the single game mark. Wide receiver Brad Bryan caught seven passes for 66 yards while Garlick had six receptions for 52 yards and a score. Lewis snagged one catch for five yards while wide receiver Bryan Monge had one reception for eight yards. Quarterback/kicker Avery Koser kicked off seven times with an average of 58.0 yards and two touchbacks, and he also returned two kickoffs for 22 yards. Wide receiver Will Castel had five punt returns for 43 yards. Defensive back/punter Colin Conway averaged 29.3 yards on four punts with a long of 45 yards. Linebacker Chris Ortalano led the Moravian defense with 11 tackles and a pass breakup while defensive back Isaiah Johnson and linebacker Clay Basile both had seven stops with Basile adding a half a tackle for loss. Defensive back Matt Capobianco recorded five tackles while linebacker Jeremiah Espinosa made four tackles. Conway, defensive back Aidan Lane, defensive back Shea Endean, defensive back Elijah Fajardo and defensive lineman Drew Bailey all made three stops with Bailey registering a sack and Fajardo adding a pass breakup. Linebacker Jashon Teller recovered a fumble late in the game for the Hounds to go with a pair of tackles and a pass breakup. 

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 fourth in the Landmark Conference in total offense at 376.3 yards per game, and the Hounds are second in passing offense at 274.5 yards per contest. Moravian's defense is first in the conference at 294.2 yards per game, and the squad is second in rushing defense at 114.7 yards per contest, second in passing defense at 186.4 yards per outing and first in points per game allowed at 17.8. The Blue & Grey lead the Landmark Conference in defensive pass efficiency at a 109.0 rating, opponents first downs at 18.0 per game, and red zone defense at 61.1 percent. Senior quarterback Jared Jenkins leads the Landmark Conference in passing yards per game at 267.3, and he is first in completions with 133, second in attempts with 196, second in yards with 1,604, second in touchdowns with 14 and third in passing efficiency with a 158.1 rating. Graduate student wide receiver Jordan Bingham is first in receptions per game at 6.5 and sixth in reception yards per game at 64.2 while senior wide receiver Diego Del Castillo is third in receiving yards at 82.5 and sixth in receptions per contest at 4.8. Freshman wide receiver Josh Ludlow is third in the Landmark Conference in kickoff return average at 24.0 yards per return on five attempts. Graduate student running back Joey Richmond is tenth in the conference at 33.3 yards per outing. Freshman punter Jack Corrigan is second in the Landmark Conference in punting with an average of 43.7 yards per punt. Freshman linebacker Malachi McNeil-Harrison is first in the conference at 0.83 sacks per game, and he first in tackles for loss at 1.58 per outing and eighth in stops per game at 6.2. Junior linebacker Clay Basile is tied for 11th with 5.8 tackles per contest while senior linebackers Chris Cacace and Chad Newhard are tied for 23rd at 5.0 tackles per outing. Junior Nathan Carr is third in tackles for loss with 1.25 per outing while junior defensive back Shea Endean is second the conference in passes defended with 1.33 per contest and junior defensive back Isaiah Johnson is tied for fourth at 0.67 passes defended per game. McNeil-Harrison and sophomore defensive back Antonio Bowen are both tied for fourth at 0.67 passes defended per outing, and Bowen is third in interceptions per game at 0.33.

THE NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS: Moravian is tied for 28th in NCAA Division III in blocked kicks with the Greyhounds blocking three kicks so far this fall. The Hounds are also tied for 14th in fewest passes intercepted with two and 15th in red zone defense at 57.9%, allowing scores on just 11 of opponents' 18 trips to the red zone. Moravian is also tied for 11th on opponent fourth down conversion at 20.0 percent and 30th in passing yards per game at 275.3 yards per contest. Freshman punter Jack Corrigan ranks fourth in the nation in NCAA Division III with an average of 43.7 yards per punt. Graduate student wide receiver Jordan Bingham is 34th in the country in receptions per game at 6.5 while senior quarterback Jared Jenkins is 13th in completions per game at 22.0, 21st in passing yards with 1,609, 20th in passing yards per game at 268.2 yards per outing, 27th in total offense at 277.8 yards per outing and 47th in pass efficiency with a 158.6 rating. Freshman linebacker Malachi McNeil-Harrison is tied for 43rd in sacks per game with an average of 0.83 while junior defensive back Shea Endean is tied for 44th in the nation in passes defended with 1.33 per contest. Freshman wide receiver Josh Ludlow is 57th in kickoff returns at an average of 24.0 yards per return. Senior wide receiver Diego Del Castillo is 58th in receiving yards at 495, and he is tied for 27th in touchdown receptions with seven and 58th in receiving yards per game at 82.5.