Hounds Set to Host Ursinus in 2025 Home Opener at Rocco Calvo Field on September 20

BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian University football squad plays its first home contest of the 2025 season as the Hounds host Ursinus College a non-conference game on Saturday, September 20. Kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m. at Rocco Calvo Field in Bethlehem.

THE COACHES: Jeff Long (Muhlenberg '14) is in his third season as Moravian's head coach with an overall record of 11-12. 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.
     Ursinus coach Pete Gallagher (West Virginia Wesleyan '96) is in his 25th year with the Bears.

THE SERIES: Saturday's meeting will be the 25th in the series with Ursinus leading the series 12-11-1. The Bears posted a 44-17 win in Collegeville on October 22, 2022 in the squads' last meeting before Moravian switch from an associate member of the Centennial Conference to the Landmark Conference. The Greyhounds last victory in the series was a 33-32 win in Collegeville in 2016. 

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.

BALANCED & EXPERIENCED 'HOUNDS: Of the 103 players on the Moravian roster, 33 are freshmen, 31 are sophomores and 14 are juniors. There are 20 seniors and five graduate students on this season's squad, and the Greyhounds return 57 letterwinners and 15 starters from 2025. 

THE QUARTERBACKS: Graduate Jared Jenkins has completed 23-of-34 passes for 238 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions, and Jenkins has run the ball four times for three yards. Sophomore Declan McCarthy is 4-for-16 passing for 39 yards, and he has four yards on ten rushing attempts while being sacked once. Sophomore quarterback RJ Hart is 2-for-3 for six yards while sophomore punter/kicker Jack Corrigan has completed his only pass attempt for 29 yards on a fake punt play at Muhlenberg College.

IN THE BACKFIELD: Sophomore Jed Bendekovits leads the Moravian rushing attack with 46 yards on 18 carries while graduate student Joey Richmond has 30 yards on 12 attempts. Freshman Dorian Thomas has gained 18 yards on seven carries while senior Camron Tinajero has eight yards on six attempts and senior Isiah Rico has added two yards on one carry.

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. Junior Hezakyah Henson and freshmen Dante Downey and Marquis Labossiere have seen action this fall.

THE WIDE RECEIVERS: The Greyhounds have had ten different players catch a pass in 2025 led by junior Avery Koser, who was named the Sean Keville '94 MVP at Muhlenberg in the season opener. Koser has seven receptions for 108 yards and two touchdowns while sophomore Josh Ludlow has seven catches for 84 yards. Sophomore Gavyn Gennarelli has four catches for 17 yards while senior running back Isiah Rico has three catches for 32 yards. Senior Knaheim Bragg has three receptions for 19 yards while senior running back Camron Tinajero has caught two passes for 11 yards. Sophomore Chris Brown has one catch for six yards while sophomore wide receiver Tanner Clancy has one reception for five yards. Graduate student tight end Jalen Jones has one catch for a yard and sophomore linebacker Malachi McNeil-Harrison has added one reception for 29 yards on a fake punt at Muhlenberg.

DEFENSIVE FRONT: Sophomore Kaelyb Barahona leads the defensive lineman with nine tackles including a half a tackle for loss while senior Nathan Carr has added seven tackles with one and a half stops for loss and a fumble recovery. Senior Jashon Teller has made five tackles while senior EJ Harvey has four tackles with one and a half for loss. Sophomore Hunter Johnson has two tackles, one tackle for loss, one pass break-up and a quarterback hurry while junior Logan Arteaga has made two tackles with one for loss. Junior EJ Boney and freshman Kenny Dim both have one tackle.

THE LINEBACKER CORPS: Senior Clay Basile and senior Chris Cacace both have ten tackles to lead the linebackers while senior Ethan O'Neill has recorded seven stops. Sophomore Malachi McNeil-Harrison also has seven tackles including one and a half for loss while freshman Jamie Gutridge has added four stops with two and a half tackles for loss and half a sack. Graduate student Declan Coors has three tackles a pass break-up while sophomore linebacker Jack Tosh has made three tackles with half a tackle for loss and a half a sack. Sophomore Connor Pennington has contributed three tackles while senior Vincent Hoffman and freshman Dante Harrison both have one tackle.

THE DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD: Junior Aidan Lane leads the defensive backs and the Greyhounds' defense with 16 tackles including one tackle for loss. Senior Dorian Gray has made seven tackles while senior defensive back Lorenzo Feliciano has contributed six stops with a half a tackle for loss. Senior Isaiah Johnson and freshman Kam White both have five tackles. Sophomore Antonio Rivera has made four stops while senior Shea Endean has three stops. Junior Anderson Louis Jeune, junior Antonio Bowen and freshman Keller Rupp all had two tackles with Rupp adding a tackle for loss while freshman Knowledge Young has recorded one stop.

KICKING GAME: Sophomore Jack Corrigan has punted 14 times this fall for an average of 39.8 yards with a long of 75 yards to tie the school record. Corrigan has one touchback, two fair caught, and two inside the 20-yard line, and he has kicked off five times for an average of 63.4 yards. Corrigan is 2-for-3 on extra points. 

SPECIAL TEAMS: Freshman running back Dorian Thomas has seven kickoff returns for 160 yards while sophomore wide receiver Josh Ludlow has two kickoff returns for 85 yards. Sophomore wide receiver Ryan Bender has one kickoff return for 11 yards while graduate student linebacker Declan Coors has one return for nine yards. Junior wide receiver Avery Koser has made a pair of special teams tackles while graduate student tight end Jalen Jones has one tackle.

MILESTONE WATCH: The Greyhounds has two student-athlete closing in on milestones for his careers. Graduate student quarterback Jared Jenkins is ranked second in program history with 6,459 passing yards, and he needs 186 yards passing to become the school record holder. Jenkins is first all-time in completions with 573, fourth in program history with 875 pass attempts and first in school history with 67 touchdown passes. Sophomore punter Jack Corrigan has tied the school record with a 75-yard punt in the 2025 season opener, and he has three career punts of more than 70 yards.

SCOUTING URSINUS COLLEGE: The Bears are 2-0 on the season after a 42-14 win versus Kean (N.J.) University last Saturday. Junior quarterback Tristan Machado leads the Ursinus offense having completed 36-of-61 passes for 516 yards with six touchdowns, and he has added four yards on three rushing attempts. Senior quarterback Alan Paturzo has competed 3-of-6 passes for 22 yards. Junior wide receiver Aidan Donohue has caught eight passes for 76 yards with one touchdown to go with eight punt returns from 68 yards while junior wide receiver Aidan Roselle has seven receptions for 138 yards. Junior wide receiver Ryder Zulkowski has added six catches for 132 yards and a touchdown while senior wide receiver Cody House has five receptions for 40 yards and a touchdown and senior wide receiver Markel Roberts-Jackson has four catches for 59 yards and two scores. Junior running back Jason Bernard leads the rushing attack with 136 yards and five touchdowns on 31 attempts while junior running back Brooklyn Jones has added 62 yards and a touchdown on eight carries. Sophomore running back Keigan Jones has ten yards on five carries and he has also returned five kickoffs for 124 yards. Junior kicker/punter Jordan Carr is 11-for-12 on extra-points, and he is averaging 64.1 yards on 14 kickoffs with five touchbacks to go with an average of 39.1 yards per punt on eight attempts with three inside the 20 yards line, one fair caught and a long of 48 yards. Senior defensive ed Aaron Rios leads the Bears' defense with 13 tackles including four tackles for loss, two sacks and three quarterback hurries. Junior defensive back Kendall Robinson also has made 13 stops to go with an interception and three passes defended while sophomore defensive back Jake Ziegler has 11 tackles with a half a tackle for loss and two pass break-ups. Junior linebacker Matt Agar has contributed ten tackles with one for loss, one sack, two interceptions, three passes defended and a quarterback hurry while sophomore defensive back Nick Strusowski has an interception returned for a touchdown, four passes defended and five tackles. Junior linebacker Taylor Megee and junior defensive lineman Jaheim Oates both have made nine tackles with Megee recording one tackle for loss and Oates adding a half a tackle for loss and a quarterback hurry while senior defensive back Anthony Esposito has seven tackles with one for loss and two pass break-ups.

THE LAST TIME THEY MET: On October 22, 2022, Moravian dropped a 44-17 game at Ursinus in Centennial Conference action. The Bears received the opening kickoff and used a nine-play, 80-yard drive to take a 7-0 lead on a short touchdown pass. The Greyhounds were forced to punt on their first two possessions, and between the punts, Ursinus found the end zone again with a rushing touchdown to extend its advantage to 14-0 with 8:07 to play in the opening quarter. Moravian's third possession ended in a punt as well; however, the Bears fumbled the return, and linebacker Joshua Ruela covered the loose ball for the Hounds. After three plays, kicker Sam Bingaman came on and drilled a 32-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 14-3 with 5:37 left in the first quarter. The Bears found the end zone again on a short touchdown pass to make it 21-3 with 1:17 still in the first quarter. The Blue & Grey had an eight-play drive before punting while Ursinus punted for the first time on the afternoon on its next drive. Moravian took over at the Ursinus 41-yard line and needed six plays to find the end zone as wide receiver Jordan Lewis connected on a 17-yard scoring strike to wideout Tim Garlick. The pass was the first of Lewis' career. Bingaman made the extra-point to make it 21-10 with 5:26 until the intermission. Ursinus needed just five plays to score again on a 25-yard touchdown pass as the Bears headed to halftime with a 28-10 lead/ The Hounds began the second half with the ball and punted after three plays as punter Trevor Yacuboski pinned Ursinus at its own two-yard line. The Bears went 98 yards on 13 plays with a 32-yard scoring strike to stretch the advantage to 38-10 with 6:08 to play in the third quarter. Moravian countered with an 11-play. 65-yard drive that ended with running back Nate Boyle finding the end zone on the first play of the fourth quarter on a three-yard touchdown run. Bingaman added the extra-point to make it 38-17. Ursinus answered again with a 24-yard touchdown to push the Bears' lead to 44-17 as Ursinus scored the final points of the afternoon with 12:02 to play. Moravian had an edge in time of possession as the Greyhounds held the ball for 30:56, and the Hounds had 172 yards on 59 plays in the contest. Brad Bryan made his first career start at quarterback after moving back to the position this week due to injuries, and he completed 5-of-11 passes for 37 yards. Quarterback Sean Murphy also played and connected on 4-of-7 passes for 47 yards to go with 14 yards and four rushing attempts. Boyle carried the ball 26 times for 75 yards as he moved into 19th in school history at 1,307 yards, and Boyle also scored his sixth touchdown of the season and ninth of his career. Lewis caught three passes for 49 yards to go with his touchdown pass while wide receiver Bryan Monge had three receptions for 25 yards. Garlick grabbed two passes for 24 yards and a touchdown catch while Boyle caught on pass for four yards. Yacuboski punted five times with an average of 40.8 yards including a career-long punt of 68 yards, tied for the second longest in school history while Bingaman was 1-for-1 on field goals with a long of 32 yards, made both his extra-points and kicked off four times for an average of 52.8 yards with one touchback. Defensive back Jalen Richardson led Moravian's defense with 10 tackles, and he returned four kickoffs for 68 yards. Defensive back Romello Walters had a pair of kickoff returns for 42 yards to go with seven tackles while running back Camron Tinajero had two kickoff returns for 42 yards. Linebackers Clay Basile and Jeremiah Espinosa both had seven tackles with Espinosa adding one and a half tackles for loss and Basile making a half a tackle for loss. Defensive back Zach Scillia made six stops while defensive linemen Drew Bailey and Javi Espinal-Katz both made five tackles with Bailey adding a sack and Espinal-Katz breaking up a pass. Defensive lineman Jack Gawlik had four tackles with a sack, and defensive lineman Jeremy McGuigan added a sack in his two tackles. Linebacker Nick Levinski and defensive back Carrington Smith both had three tackles with a half a tackle for loss from Levinski. 

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.

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 are sixth in the Landmark Conference in total offense at 211.5 yards per game, and the squad is sixth in rushing yards per game at 55.5 and fourth in passing at 156.0. Defensively, the Hounds are sixth overall at 417.5 yards allowed per game including sixth in rushing defense at 207.5 and fifth in passing at 210.0. Sophomore running back Jed Bendekovits is tenth in the conference in rushing yards as 23.0 yards per game while junior wide receiver Avery Koser is sixth in receiving yards per contest at 54.0, and Koser is also tied for sixth in scoring at 6.0 points per game. Sophomore wide receiver Josh Ludlow leads the conference in kickoff returns with an average of 42.5 yards per return while freshman running back Dorian Thomas is third at 22.9 yards per return. Sophomore Jack Corrigan ranks third in the Landmark Conference in punting average at 39.8 yards while junior defensive back Aidan Lane is tied for seventh at 7.0 tackles per game and senior defensive back Lorenzo Feliciano is tied for second at 1.0 passes defended per game.