Moravian Heads to Wilkes to Close Out 2024 Regular Season on November 16

BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian University football squad closes out the 2024 regular season with a trip to Wilkes University for Senior Day on Saturday, November 16 in Landmark Conference action. Kickoff is slated for 12:00 p.m. at Schmidt Stadium at Ralston Athletic Complex in Edwardsville.

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 David Beiver (East Stroudsburg '09) is in his first year with the Colonels with a 6-3 record.

THE SERIES: Saturday's meeting will be the 49th in the series with Moravian leading the series 30-17-1. The Colonels posted a 41-6 win in Bethlehem last fall as the teams played for the first time as Landmark Conference opponents while 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. 

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 Warriors were picked second. The Landmark Conference has announced it will be adding an eighth team in 2025 with Western Connecticut State University becoming an associate member.

LANDMARK CONFRENCE/D3FOOTBALL.COM WEEKLY HONORS: Moravian senior defensive lineman Jeremy McGuigan was selected as the Landmark Conference Football Defensive Athlete of the Week and as a member of the D3football.com Team of the Week for his performance last week. McGuigan helped the Greyhounds to a 34-23 win over Lycoming College as the Greyhounds clinched a berth in the 2024 Chesapeake Challenge Bowl Series, the program's first berth in the postseason since 2015. McGuigan had four tackles with two and a half sacks, two and a half tackles for loss, a fumble recovery and a pass break-up in the victory.

POSTSEASON ACTION: Moravian and Wilkes have captured the Landmark Conference berths to the 2024 Chesapeake Challenge Bowl Series with the Old Dominion Athletic Conference to be played in Salem, Virginia on Saturday, November 23. The postseason appearance is the first for the Greyhounds since a berth in the 2015 Centennial/MAC Bowl Series, also the last time Moravian had a winning record. 

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.

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 210-of-312 passes for 2,384 yards with 26 touchdowns and five interceptions, and Jenkins has run the ball 76 times for 160 yards while being sacked 23 times. Freshman Declan McCarthy is 2-for-7 for 42 yards, and he has 91 yards on 22 rushing attempts and one reception for a yard while senior Carter Hallgren is 4-for-9 for 30 yards to go with a pair of two-point conversion completions, and he also has three rushing attempts for five yards and a touchdown.

IN THE BACKFIELD: Graduate student Joey Richmond leads the Moravian rushing attack with 422 yards and four touchdowns on 81 carries with a long of 65 yards versus Juniata College while junior Isiah Rico has added 147 yards and a touchdown on 44 attempts. Freshman Jed Bendekovits has run for 123 yards and a touchdown on 21 attempts while junior Camron Tinajero has 101 yards and three touchdowns on 24 attempts. Sophomore Cole Maholtz has 61 yards on 26 carries while freshman 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 19 players that have caught a pass in 2024 led by graduate student Jordan Bingham, who has 65 receptions for 691 yards and eight touchdowns. Senior Diego Del Castillo has 37 catches for 633 yards and nine touchdowns while sophomore Avery Koser has 27 catches for 266 yards and three touchdowns. Freshman Josh Ludlow has 19 receptions for 225 yards and three touchdowns while senior Bryan Monge has added 12 receptions for 145 yards and a score. Sophomore Nick Coffaro has 10 catches for 97 yards while graduate student running back Joey Richmond has 11 catches for 90 yards and a touchdown and junior running back Isiah Rico has 11 receptions for 98 yards and a score. Senior Will Castel has three catches for 100 yards while freshman Jacob Sutton has two receptions for 18 yards. Junior running back Camron Tinajero has seven catches for 30 yards while junior Ryan Frinzi has added two receptions for 10 yards, and he also has seven rushing attempts for 41 yards. Freshman Justin Wistuba has caught one pass for 17 yards while freshman tight end Nick Haurin has one catch for 10 yards. Senior wide receiver Nick Weston has one reception for five yards while freshman Gavyn Gennarelli has one reception for a yard and freshman running back Jed Bendekovits has two catches for eight yards.

DEFENSIVE FRONT: Senior Jeremy McGuigan leads the defensive linemen with 35 tackles, five and a half tackles for loss, four sacks, two pass break-up, a fumble recovery and a blocked kick versus Utica (N.Y.) University while junior Nathan Carr has 30 tackles with eight and a half for loss and two and a half sacks. Junior EJ Harvey has 22 stops with three and a half tackles for loss, one sack, a pass break-up and a forced fumble while Freshman Hunter Johnson has 17 tackles with three and a half for loss, a half a sack and a pass break-up. Graduate student Ian Brunner has posted 15 tackles with a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, a quarterback hurry and a blocked kick versus Utica while sophomore Logan Arteaga have has recorded nine stops with one for loss. Freshman Ryan Burns has made eight tackles while senior Drew Bailey has contributed eight tackles, one tackle for loss and a quarterback hurry. Sophomore EJ Boney has made two tackles while freshman Matthew Martinez has two tackles, half a sack and half a tackle for loss and senior Prince Sokpo has one stop.

THE LINEBACKER CORPS: Junior Clay Basile leads the linebackers with 46 tackles with four and a half for loss, a pass break-up, a forced fumble and a quarterback hurry Freshman Malachi McNeil-Harrison has added 42 stops on the year with nine and a half tackles for loss, five sacks, five passes defended, a forced fumble and an interception on the final play versus Utica while junior Ethan O'Neill has recorded 39 tackles with three and a half for loss and one sack. Senior Chris Cacace has 40 tackles with three for loss, two sacks, and interception with an 11-yard return at Susquehanna University and two passed defended while senior Chad Newhard has made 35 tackles including two and a half for loss and a half a sack. Graduate student Declan Coors has 20 tackles with two tackles for loss and a pass break-up while junior Jashon Teller  has added 16 stops with one and a half tackles for loss and half a sack. Senior Jeremiah Espinosa has contributed eight tackles and a pass break-up while freshman Sahmad Bailey has one stop. 

THE DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD: Sophomore Aidan Lane leads the defensive backs and the entire Moravian defense with 50 tackles including two and a half for loss, an interception versus The Catholic University of America, four passes defended and a forced fumble while sophomore Antonio Bowen has contributed 26 stops to go along with a tackle for loss, two interceptions, four passes defended and a fumble recovery. Senior Isaiah Johnson has added 23 tackles, three tackles for loss, a sack, six pass break-ups, two fumble recoveries and a blocked extra-point at SUNY Morrisville while junior Shea Endean has 17 stops, an interception with a 19-yard return and nine passes defended. Sophomore Cleveland Harding has registered 15 stops and a pass break-up while junior Dorian Gray has 12 tackles with one for loss, a sack and a pass break-up. Freshman Antonio Rivera has eight stops while sophomore Elijah Fajardo has posted eight tackles and sophomore Anderson Louis Jeune has added five tackles with a pass break-up. 

KICKING GAME: Freshman Ryan Child is 10-for-14 on extra-points of the season. Freshman Jack Corrigan has punted 37 times this fall for an average of 43.0 yards with a long of 71 yards on his second career attempt, and he has 11 punts of more than 50 yards and six longer than 60 yards. Corrigan has four touchbacks, three fair caught and 12 punts inside the 20-yard line with two blocked, and he has kicked off 43 times for an average of 52.4 yards and seven touchbacks. Corrigan is 11-for-13 on extra points and has had his only field goal attempt of the year blocked. 

SPECIAL TEAMS: Freshman wide receiver Josh Ludlow has 11 kickoff returns for 257 yards and seven punt returns for 40 yards while freshman wide receiver Jacob Sutton has six kickoff return for 128 yards. Freshman defensive back Antonio Rivera has two kickoff return for 23 yards while graduate student linebacker Declan Coors has returned two kickoffs 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 while freshman defensive lineman Hunter Johnson was credited with an 18-yard punt return on a blocked punt.

MILESTONE WATCH: The Greyhounds have a trio of student-athletes closing in on milestones for their careers. Graduate student wide receiver Jordan Bingham became the 12th player in program history to reach 1,500 career receiving yards, now with 1,521 yards, and he needs 79 yards to become the ninth player to 1,600 yards. Bingham also has become the 12th player to reach 100 career receptions with 134 catches, which is fifth in program history, and he reached the milestone in just in 18 games. Bingham is also tied for third with 17 career touchdown receptions after tying the school record with four touchdowns catches at Susquehanna University, and he has 112 career points on 17 touchdowns and five two-point conversions. Bingham has eight touchdown catches this fall while senior wide receiver Diego Del Castillo has nine touchdown receptions, just two shy of the single season mark of 11. Bingham has 65 catches in 2024 after setting the single season record with 69 in 2023. Senior quarterback Jared Jenkins is ranked fourth in program history with 5,718 passing yards, and he needs 282 yards passing to become the fourth player in to reach 6,000 yards. Jenkins is also second all-time in completions with 494, sixth in program history with 765 pass attempts and first in school history with 57 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 six punts over 65 yards and 11 of his 38 punts have been longer than 50 yards.

SCOUTING WILKES UNIVERSITY: The Colonels enter the game at 6-3 overall and 4-1 in Landmark Conference action after a 40-15 win over The Catholic University of America last Saturday. Senior quarterback Xavier Powell leads the Wilkes' offense on the field having completed 109-of-193 passes for 1,619 yards to go with15 touchdowns and eight interceptions, and he has run for 387 yards and three touchdowns on 64 attempts. Powell's top targets have been senior wide receiver Devin Higgins, who has 26 receptions for 346 yards and three touchdowns, senior wideout Justin Moore, who has 18 catches for 364 yards and two touchdowns, senior wide receiver Jimmy Johnson, who has 15 receptions for 241 yards and three scores, and senior wide receiver Zane Grover, who has added 15 catches for 179 yards and three touchdowns. Senior running back Elijah Jules leads the Colonels' rushing attack with 947 yards and 12 touchdowns on 146 carries to go with ten receptions for 107 yards. Sophomore wide receiver Terry Rahmel has returned 11 kickoffs for 275 yards with one touchdown while graduate student wide receiver Shawn McCullough has eight kickoff returns for 134 yards. Grover has seven punt returns for 49 yards. Sophomore Brayden Snyder has kicked off 54 times for an average of 52.9 yards with six touchbacks while junior kicker Nick Volpone is 34-for-34 on extra-points and 6-for-7 on field goal attempts with a long of 32 yards. Senior Alex Orlando has punted 26 times for an average of 43.46 yards with eight fair caught, 13 inside the 20-yard line, five of more than 50 yards with a long of 56 yards. Junior linebacker Tallen Murray leads the Wilkes' defense with 66 tackles including five for loss, three sacks, a pass break-up, two quarterback hurries and a blocked kick. Sophomore defensive back Rob Barbieri has made 55 tackles with one and a half for loss, two interceptions and five passes defended while senior defensive lineman Angel Ramos has added 43 tackles with 11 and a half for loss, six sacks, a quarterback hurry and a forced fumble. Senior defensive back Donnell Mackay-Woodson leads the Colonels with seven interceptions with 257 return yards with three of his interceptions going for touchdowns including a long return of 98 yards.

THE LAST TIME THEY MET: In Bethlehem last fall, Moravian fell to visiting Wilkes University, 41-6, in Landmark Conference action on Rocco Calvo Field to close out the 2023 campaign. The Hounds had the opening possession of the game and drive down to the Wilkes' 38-yard line before quarterback Jared Jenkins was intercepted in the end zone. The Colonels punted on their next possession while the Blue & Grey closed in on the red zone before Jenkins was sacked and stripped of the ball to give Wilkes possession. The Colonels converted the turnover into points with a six-play, 72-yard drive capped off with a 44-yard touchdown pass. Moravian defensive lineman Nathan Carr blocked the extra-point to keep the score at 6-0 with 2:41 left in the first quarter. Moravian's next drive was just one play as Jenkins was intercepted, and Wilkes returned the ball 29 yards for a touchdown and a 13-0 advantage with 2:27 on the clock in the opening stanza. The Greyhounds moved into Wilkes' territory again before turning the ball over on downs. The Colonels needed just five plays to cover the 71 yards to the end zone with Wilkes scoring on a 37-yard run to make it 20-0 with 11:18 until the intermission. The next three possessions ended in punts with two by the Hounds. Wilkes scored again on a nine-yard touchdown pass to make it 27-0 with 1:30 before halftime. Moravian needed just six plays to get into the end zone as Jenkins hit Brad Bryan with a 46-yard touchdown pass. The Blue & Grey went for two points but missed to set the score at 27-6 as the teams headed to the locker room. Wilkes had possession to start the second half, and the Colonels drove 69 yards in nine plays to extend their lead to 34-6 on a 10-yard touchdown pass. Wilkes finished off the scoring just two and a half minutes later when the Colonels intercepted Jenkins again and returned the ball 52 yards for a touchdown to make it 41-6 with 8:12 to go in the third quarter. Neither squad threatened to score again in the contest. The Hounds completed the game with 337 yards on 73 plays while controlling the clock for 32:24 of the contest. Jenkins was 19-for-32 for 176 yards with a touchdown, but he was intercepted three times and fumble once on a sack. Running back Nate Boyle ran for 149 yards on 25 carries, and he had three receptions for 26 yards in his final career game. Bryan caught six passes for 85 yards and his touchdown while wide receiver Tim Garlick added six receptions for 47 yards. Wide receiver Jordan Lewis had two catches for 17 yards while running back Camron Tinajero made two catches for 11 yards. Wide receiver Bryan Monge had one reception for eight yards while wide receiver Nick Coffaro added a catch for seven yards. Tinajero also returned five kickoffs for 81 yards while Coffaro had two kickoff returns for 48 yards. Wide receiver Will Castel returned a pair of punts for 13 yards. Punter/defensive back Colin Conway punted four times for an average of 35.0 yards with a long of 50 yards and two inside the 20-yard line, and he also had a pair of tackles. Linebacker Clay Basile led the Moravian defense with 11 tackles including a tackle for loss while linebacker Chris Ortalano, defensive back Shea Endean and defensive back Aidan Lane all had five tackles with Endean making a tackle for loss and Lane adding an interception. Defensive lineman Jeremy McGuigan had four tackles while linebacker Damere Rooker added three tackles with a half a tackle for loss. Linebacker Jeremiah Espinosa, linebacker Cael Markle and linebacker Ethan O'Neill all had 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 fourth in the Landmark Conference in total offense at 400.0 yards per game, and the Hounds are second in passing offense at 272.9 yards per contest and fourth in scoring at 27.0 points per outing. Moravian's defense is first in the conference at 319.0 yards per game, and the squad is second in rushing defense at 118.7 yards per contest, second in passing defense at 200.3 yards per outing and second in points per game allowed at 21.3. The Blue & Grey lead the Landmark Conference in defensive pass efficiency at a 119.1 rating, net punting at 38.9 yards per punt and red zone defense at 68.0 percent. Senior quarterback Jared Jenkins leads the Landmark Conference in passing yards per game at 264.9, and he is first in completions with 210, third in attempts with 312, first in yards with 2,384, first in touchdowns with 26 and second in passing efficiency with a 155.8 rating. Graduate student wide receiver Jordan Bingham is first in receptions per game at 7.2 and fourth in reception yards per game at 76.8 while senior wide receiver Diego Del Castillo is sixth in receiving yards at 70.3 and tied for sixth in receptions per contest at 4.1. Freshman wide receiver Josh Ludlow is third in the Landmark Conference in kickoff return average at 23.4 yards per return on 11 attempts. Graduate student running back Joey Richmond is ninth in the conference at 46.9 rushing yards per outing. Freshman punter Jack Corrigan is second in the Landmark Conference in punting with an average of 42.8 yards per punt. Freshman linebacker Malachi McNeil-Harrison is second in the conference at 0.63 sacks per game, and he second in tackles for loss at 1.19 per outing and tied for 15th in stops per game at 5.3 while senior defensive lineman Jeremy McGuigan is eighth in the conference in sacks with 0.44 per contest. Sophomore defensive back Aidan Lane is tied for 13th at 5.6 tackles per outing while junior linebacker Clay Basile is tied for 18th with 5.1 tackles per contest. Junior Nathan Carr is third in tackles for loss with 1.06 per outing while junior defensive back Shea Endean is second the conference in passes defended with 1.00 per contest. Junior defensive back Isaiah Johnson is tied for third in passes defended at 0.67 per contest while sophomore defensive back Antonio Bowen is tied for fifth in interceptions per game at 0.22.

THE NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS: Moravian is tied for 37th in NCAA Division III in blocked kicks with the Greyhounds blocking four kicks so far this fall. The Hounds are also tied for 38th in fewest passes intercepted with five and 42nd in red zone defense at 67.9%, allowing scores on just 17 of opponents' 26 trips to the red zone. Moravian is sixth in opponent fourth down conversion at 21.1 percent, 13th in net punting at 38.95 yards per punt and 35th in passing yards per game at 273.4 yards per contest. Freshman punter Jack Corrigan ranks fifth in the nation in NCAA Division III with an average of 42.8 yards per punt. Graduate student wide receiver Jordan Bingham is 13th in the country in receptions per game at 7.2, 76th in receiving yards with 691, 79th in receiving yards per game at 76.8 and tied for 34th in receiving touchdowns with eight while senior quarterback Jared Jenkins is ninth in completions per game at 23.22, 23rd in passing yards with 2,384, 22nd in passing yards per game at 265.4 yards per outing, 27th in total offense at 283.2 yards per outing, 14th in passing touchdowns with 26, 54th in pass efficiency with a 156.1 rating. 32nd in points responsible per game at 17.6, 28th in points responsible for with 158 and 87th in yards per pass attempt at 7.68. Freshman linebacker Malachi McNeil-Harrison is tied for 86th in sacks per game with an average of 0.63 while junior defensive back Shea Endean is tied for 89th in the nation in passes defended with 1.00 per contest. Freshman wide receiver Josh Ludlow is 61st in kickoff returns at an average of 23.4 yards per return. Senior wide receiver Diego Del Castillo is tied for 54th in touchdown receptions with nine and 88th in yards per reception at 17.11.