Greyhounds Set to Open 2025 Season at Muhlenberg Under the Lights on September 5

BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian University football team travels to rival Muhlenberg College to kickoff the 2025 season with a non-conference game on Friday, September 5. Kickoff is slated for 7:00 p.m. at Frank Marino Field at Scotty Wood Stadium in Allentown.

THE COACHES: Jeff Long (Muhlenberg '14) is entering his third season as Moravian's head coach. In his debut campaign, Long led the Greyhounds to a 4-6 overall record and a 3-3 slate in the inaugural Landmark Conference season. Last fall, Long guided the Hounds to a 7-4 mark, a 4-2 Landmark Conference record and the 2024 Cape Charles Bowl Championship with a win over Shenandoah (Va.) University. He has coached 21 Landmark All-Conference selections including seven First Team honorees. Long 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.
     Muhlenberg coach Nate Milne (Hobart '03) is in his eighth year as head coach with of 60-13 mark.

THE SERIES: Friday's meeting will be the 73rd between the schools with Muhlenberg leading 37-33-2. The Mules recorded a 33-7 victory in Bethlehem last September as Muhlenberg earned its 13th straight win in the series, the Mules' longest winning streak between the schools. Muhlenberg 53-12 win in Allentown to start out the 2023 regular season as the rivalry switch to the season opener. The Greyhounds' last win in the series a 14-13 triumph in 2010 in Bethlehem.

GREYHOUNDS IN THE LANDMARK CONFERENCE: The Greyhounds will compete in the Landmark Conference this fall for the third straight season. The Hounds were selected second in the preseason coaches poll.

2025 CAPTAINS: The Hounds have named has named graduate student quarterback Jared Jenkins, senior defensive lineman Nathan Carr, senior defensive back Isaiah Johnson and junior wide receiver Avery Koser as captains for the 2025 season. Jenkins, who was named to the Landmark All-Conference Second Team last fall after making the All-Conference First Team in 2023, completed 265-of-387 passes last year for 2,892 yards and 33 touchdowns. In 24 career games, Jenkins is 550-of-841 for 6,221 yards with a school record 64 touchdowns and 24 interceptions, and he has run for 366 yards and three touchdowns. Jenkins set school records for completions, attempts, yards and touchdowns in a season in 2024, and he also has the school mark career completions. Carr recorded 33 tackles last season with eight and a half tackles for loss and two and a half sacks. In 25 career games, Carr has posted 61 tackles with 11 tackles for loss, three and a half sacks, one forced fumble, one pass break-up and one blocked kick. Johnson had 31 tackles a year ago with four tackles for loss, a sack, six pass break-ups, two fumble recoveries and a blocked kick. Johnson has played in 29 career contests with the Hounds, and he has 107 tackles, 16 passes defended, one interception, five tackles for loss, one sack, two fumble recoveries and a blocked kick. Koser caught 39 passes in 2024 for 345 yards and four touchdowns, and he has 41 career receptions for 356 yards and five touchdowns in 20 career games.

BALANCED & EXPERIENCED 'HOUNDS: Of the 104 players on the Moravian roster, 33 are freshmen, 32 are sophomores and 14 are juniors. There are 20 seniors and five graduate students on this season's squad, and the Greyhounds return 58 letterwinners and 15 starters from 2025. 

THE QUARTERBACKS: Graduate Jared Jenkins completed 266-of-388 passes for a school record 2,887 yards with a school record 33 touchdowns and seven interceptions, and Jenkins ran the ball 99 times for 222 yards while being sacked 29 times. Sophomore Declan McCarthy was 3-for-8 for 46 yards, and he had 101 yards on 24 rushing attempts and one reception for a yard. 

IN THE BACKFIELD: Graduate student Joey Richmond led the Moravian rushing attack with 474 yards and five touchdowns on 95 carries with a long of 65 yards versus Juniata College while senior Isiah Rico added 161 yards and a touchdown on 50 attempts. Sophomore Jed Bendekovits ran for 146 yards and a touchdown on 29 attempts while senior Camron Tinajero had 101 yards and three touchdowns on 24 attempts. Junior Cole Maholtz added 61 yards on 26 carries while sophomore Jacob Sutton ran the ball six times for four yards.

THE OFFENSIVE LINE: Moravian has two returning starters on the offensive line in junior Mason Ludlow, and sophomore Jake Englehart. Senior Drew Brizan has seen action and moved into the starting lineup while sophomores Dylan Nolter and Ali Wezza round out the starting lineup.

THE WIDE RECEIVERS: The Greyhounds have nine players returning that caught a pass in 2024 led by senior Diego Del Castillo, who had 54 catches for 795 yards and 11 touchdowns. Junior Avery Koser contributed 39 catches for 345 yards and four touchdowns while sophomore Josh Ludlow had 23 receptions for 249 yards and three touchdowns. Senior running back Isiah Rico has 17 receptions for 121 yards and a score while graduate student running back Joey Richmond added 12 catches for 84 yards and a touchdown. Senior running back Camron Tinajero posted seven catches for 30 yards while sophomore running back Jed Bendekovits has seven catches for 46 yards. Sophomore running back Jacob Sutton had two receptions for 18 yards while sophomore tight end Nick Haurin had one catch for 10 yards while sophomore Gavyn Gennarelli had one reception for a yard.

DEFENSIVE FRONT: Senior Nathan Carr leads the returning defensive lineman with 33 tackles with eight and a half for loss and two and a half sacks. Senior EJ Harvey had 27 stops with four and a half tackles for loss, one sack, a pass break-up and a forced fumble last season while sophomore Hunter Johnson had 26 tackles with five and a half for loss, a half a sack and a pass break-up. Junior Logan Arteaga recorded 10 stops with one for loss while junior EJ Boney made two tackles.

THE LINEBACKER CORPS: Senior Clay Basile leads the returning linebackers with 57 tackles with four and a half for loss, a pass break-up, a forced fumble and a quarterback hurry. Sophomore Malachi McNeil-Harrison added 50 stops last 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 senior Chris Cacace had 46 tackles with three for loss, two sacks, and interception with an 11-yard return at Susquehanna University and two passed defended. Senior Ethan O'Neill recorded 41 tackles with four for loss and one and a half sacks while graduate student Declan Coors had 22 tackles with two tackles for loss and a pass break-up. Senior Jashon Teller added 23 stops with two and a half tackles for loss, a half a sack and a quarterback hurry while sophomore Sahmad Bailey has one stop.

THE DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD: Junior Aidan Lane led the defensive backs and the entire Moravian defense with 60 tackles a year ago including two and a half for loss, three interceptions, six passes defended and a forced fumble while junior Antonio Bowen contributed 26 stops to go along with a tackle for loss, three interceptions, five passes defended and a fumble recovery. Senior Isaiah Johnson added 31 tackles, three tackles for loss, a sack, six pass break-ups, two fumble recoveries and a blocked extra-point at SUNY Morrisville while senior Shea Endean had 20 stops, an interception with a 19-yard return and nine passes defended. Senior Dorian Gray had 24 tackles with one for loss, a sack and a pass break-up while junior Cleveland Harding registered 17 stops, and interception and three passes defended. Sophomore Antonio Rivera had eight stops while junior Anderson Louis Jeune added five tackles with a pass break-up.

KICKING GAME: Sophomore Jack Corrigan punted 45 times this fall for an average of 42.3 yards with a long of 71 yards on his second career attempt, and he had 11 punts of more than 50 yards and six longer than 60 yards. Corrigan had five touchbacks, three fair caught and 14 punts inside the 20-yard line with two blocked, and he has kicked off 53 times for an average of 53.0 yards and 11 touchbacks. Corrigan was 20-for-22 on extra points and has had his only field goal attempt of the year blocked.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Sophomore wide receiver Josh Ludlow had 11 kickoff returns for 257 yards and 10 punt returns for 63 yards while sophomore running back Jacob Sutton had six kickoff return for 128 yards. Sophomore defensive back Antonio Rivera had two kickoff return for 23 yards while graduate student linebacker Declan Coors has returned four kickoffs for 16 yards. Graduate student running back Joey Richmond has a kickoff return to 15 yards while Ludlow added two tackles on special teams. Sophomore long snapper Connor Pennington and senior tight end Parker Miller each had one tackle on special teams while sophomore defensive lineman Hunter Johnson was credited with an 18-yard punt return on a blocked punt.

MILESTONE WATCH: The Greyhounds has one student-athlete closing in on milestones for his careers. Graduate student quarterback Jared Jenkins is ranked second in program history with 6,221 passing yards, and he needs 424 yards passing to become the school record holder. Jenkins is first all-time in completions with 550, fourth in program history with 841 pass attempts and first in school history with 64 touchdown passes.

SCOUTING MUHLENBERG COLLEGE: The senior trio of Dante Mahaffey, Marcus McClaine, and Blaze Curry has been named captains of the 2025 Muhlenberg football team. McClaine started all 11 games at safety in 2024 and totaled 42 tackles in addition to creating a pair of turnovers. He took home Centennial Conference football defensive player of the week honors after tallying a 42-yard interception return and a blocked punt in the Mules' 21-0 shutout of Montclair State. In that game, McClaine's turnovers set up scoring drives from the 16 and the 2-yard line.  Curry enters his third season as a consistent presence along the defensive line, having appeared in all 11 games each of the past two seasons, like McClaine. He's finished second on the team in tackles for loss in both campaigns, putting up 8.5 in 2023 and six in 2024. Last year, Curry finished third on the Mules in sacks with four and recorded a tackle for loss in seven of 11 games.  Rounding out the group is quarterback and linebacker Mahaffey, who emerged as a starter on the defensive side of the ball towards the second half of last season.  The highlight of his 2024 was a 10-tackle, 1.5 tackle for loss performance in a win over Gettysburg. Mahaffey also stood out in the classroom, earning a spot on the Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll each of the past two years. In 2025, Mahaffey returns under center for a Muhlenberg offense that paced the conference with 57 touchdowns and 37.2 points per game last season. The Mules are coming off a campaign in which they went 8-3 and ended the season with a 33-7 defeat of Widener as part of the Centennial-Middle Atlantic Conference Bowl Series.

THE LAST TIME THEY MET: In Bethlehem last fall, Moravian dropped a 33-7 decision to rival No. 21 Muhlenberg College at Rocco Calvo Field as the squads faced off in the 2024 season opener as part of the Sodexo Crosstown Clash. The Greyhounds had the opening possession of the game, and both squads punted on their first drive. Moravian's second possession began inside the Mules' 10-yard line. Quarterback Jared Jenkins found wide receiver Jordan Bingham for a first down on the opening play of the drive. Eleven plays later, Jenkins finished the 92-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Diego Del Castillo. Kicker Ryan Child made the extra-point as the Blue & Grey took a 7-0 lead with 4:38 to play in the first quarter. Muhlenberg answered with a nine-play, 80-yard drive to find the end zone on a seven-yard touchdown pass. However, the Mules missed the extra-point as the Hounds remained ahead 7-6 with just over a minute left in the opening period. The Greyhounds next possession ended in a punt with Jack Corrigan booting a 71-yard punt on his second career kick. Muhlenberg began at Moravian 20-yard line after the touchback and used 16 plays and took over six and a half minutes off the clock before scoring on a two-yard touchdown run. The Mules fumbled the snap on the extra-point attempt and the two-point attempt run failed after the loose ball, setting the score at 12-7 Muhlenberg with 6:44 until the intermission. The Mules recovered an onside kick, but the possession ended with a punt. Jenkins was intercepted on Moravian's drive before Muhlenberg ran out the clock to head to the intermission leading 12-7. The Mules opened the second half with a 100-yard kickoff return to stretch the advantage to 19-7. The Blue & Grey punted on their first possession of the half. Muhlenberg countered with a nine-play; 77-yard drive that finished with a 1-yard touchdown pass to extend the edge to 26-7. The Greyhounds looked as if they were going to cut into the deficit with a 15-play drive into the red zone; however, Moravian failed on three straight plays at the one-yard line to turn the ball over on downs. The Mules needed one play; a 99-yard touchdown pass to make the advantage 33-7 with 1:42 left in the third quarter. Early in the fourth quarter Moravian moved into the red zone before turning the ball over on downs. Del Castillo was selected by the media in attendance as the Hounds' Sean Keville '94 Most Valuable Player of the Game. The Greyhounds 252 yards of total offense with Jenkins going 16-for-26 for 180 yards and a touchdown, and he added 11 yards on eight carries. Running back Joey Richmond led Moravian with 37 yards on six carries while running back Isiah Rico added nine yards on nine attempts to go with one catch for 20 yards. Quarterback Declan McCarthy completed 1-of-2 passes for 12 yards, and ran for eight yards on two rushing attempts. Bingham caught five passes for 46 yards while Del Castillo had three receptions for 59 yards and a touchdown. Wide receiver Bryan Monge had three catches for 23 yards while wide receiver Nick Coffaro added three receptions for 12 yards. Wide receiver Avery Koser had a catch for 19 yards while running back Jacob Sutton caught one pass for eight yards. Wide receiver Josh Ludlow returned five kickoffs for 117 yards while wide receiver Will Castel returned a punt for two yards. Corrigan punted four times for an average of 48.2 yards with a long of 71 yards. Linebacker Clay Basile led the Moravian defense with 11 tackles while defensive back Aidan Lane added 10 stops with one tackle for loss. Defensive back Antonio Bowen contributed seven tackles and an interception while defensive back Isaiah Johnson, linebacker Malachi McNeil-Harrison and defensive lineman Jeremy McGuigan all made five stops with Johnson adding a pass break-up. Defensive back Dorian Gray, linebacker Chad Newhard, defensive lineman Nathan Carr and defensive back Shea Endean each recorded four tackles with Gray breaking up a pass and Carr making a tackle for loss. Linebacker Chris Cacace and linebacker Ethan O'Neill both recorded three tackles with Cacace breaking up a pass.

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.