Greyhounds Top Juniata as Defense Forces 4 Turnovers
HUNTINGDON, Pa. --- Sophomore quarterback Mike Hayes tossed a 15-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Jalen Snyder-Scipio with 9:56 remaining to snap a tie and lead the Moravian College football team to a 27-21 victory at Juniata College in Centennial Conference action Saturday on Goodman Field at Knox Stadium.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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7 | 14 | 0 | 6 | 27 |
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14 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
Team Stats
Juniata College
| Game Statistics | Moravian University | Juniata College |
|---|---|---|
| Passing Yards | 192 | 257 |
| Rushing Yards | 191 | 160 |
| Turnovers | 2 | 4 |
| Time of Poss. | 25:25 | 34:35 |
HUNTINGDON, Pa. --- Sophomore quarterback Mike Hayes tossed a 15-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Jalen Snyder-Scipio with 9:56 remaining to snap a tie and lead the Moravian College football team to a 27-21 victory at Juniata College in Centennial Conference action Saturday on Goodman Field at Knox Stadium.
The Greyhounds won their second straight game to finish a three-game road trip, and the squad is now 5-4 overall and 4-4 in Centennial action. The five wins assure the program of its first .500 season since 2010 after winning just two games in each of the last three seasons.
"I thought the guys did a tremendous job today," commented Head Coach Jeff Pukszyn. "All week we talked about their attitude and effort, and both showed up today. We got down, and the offense came right back and we ended up tied with the offense getting the defenses' back. In the second half, the defense played really, really hard. We didn't score in the first couple of possessions after halftime but the defense kept getting the offense the ball. It was a total team effort today and I'm proud of our guys."
Moravian moved the ball well behind Hayes, picking up 383 yards on 70 plays including 191 on the ground on 45 rushing attempts. Hayes completed 14-of-25 passes for 192 yards with one touchdown and one interception, and he ran for 19 yards and a touchdown on five carries.
Snyder-Scipio caught six passes for 68 yards with his score. Sophomore wide receiver Liam Nolan added five catches for 66 yards while junior tight end Andrew Racobaldo caught two passes for 47 yards.
Sophomore running back Chris Negron led the Hounds' rushing attack with 77 yards and a pair of touchdowns to give him nine for the season and a total of 18 career touchdowns, tied for sixth in school history. Negron also moved into 10th in Moravian career rushing yardage, now with 1,869 yards, 10th in rushing attempts with 36, a tie for ninth with 16 rushing touchdowns and a tie for ninth with 108 career points.
Freshman running back Eli Redmond added 72 yards on 15 carries as he moved into second in school history among freshman running backs with 719 yards.
"The great thing about Chris and Eli is that neither one cares that they might not reach 1,000 yards this season, Pukszyn said. "They are great competitors but also such great teammates. When you have two guys like that and you ride the hot hand a little bit, the other guy is on the sideline and the biggest cheerleader. Eli was doing a good job carrying the ball, and Chris was his biggest fan during that stretch. When Chris is in the game, Eli does the same thing. Those two make each other better and they are great character people."
Moravian's defense forced four turnovers in the game including three interceptions with two in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
"I think the defensive line were the unsung heroes of the game today," Pukszyn stated. "We only rushed three guys and dropped eight into coverage today because of how much Ward Udinski throws the ball. We had some pressures and flushed him out of the pocket but those guys did a phenomenal job up front."
Juniata scored on the opening drive to take an early 7-0 lead just 2:40 into the contest.
On the Greyhounds opening possession, the Hounds faced a fourth-and-eight when junior defensive back/punter Jimmy McCarthy faked a punt and ran off the right side for 24 yards and a first down. Moravian would respond after the fake and tie the game on a one-yard touchdown run by Negron. Sophomore Gonzalo Hurtado made the extra-point to tie the game at 7-7 with 8:42 to go in the first quarter.
The Eagles answered right back with another touchdown run to pull back in front, 14-7, with 4:57 in the opening quarter.
Moravian scored on its second possession with Hayes running in for a seven-yard touchdown off the left side after being unable to find an open wide receiver. Hurtado's extra-point was wide to the right, keeping the score at 14-13 Juniata with 13:42 left in the first half.
The Greyhounds would get the ball right back when sophomore defensive back Noah Miller forced a fumble at the Juniata 19-yard line and junior linebacker Tim McCabe covered the ball. Four plays later, Negron ran in for his second one-yard touchdown of the game. The Hounds lined up for the PAT, but switched formations before the snap with McCarthy running in the two-point conversion for a 21-14 lead with 12:16 left in the second quarter.
The teams each punted on their next possession. McCarthy had a five yard return on the Juniata punt and booted a 30-yard punt at the end of the Greyhounds' possession. McCarthy punted three times in the game for an average of 32.3 yards.
"Jimmy's probably a little tired after this game," stated Pukszyn. "We always give Jimmy the option on the punt to take off is he sees and opening, and he picked the perfect opportunity to do it today. Also, once we missed an extra-point, we knew we needed to get two points on the next score. We thought the shift to faking was a better shot than just lining up for two points. Jimmy kept the ball in his hands and scored, another heads up play. He played really well defensively as well with a huge interception. He's a tremendous athlete and a huge competitor and he showed that today for 60 minutes."
The Eagles had the final possession of the second quarter but the half ended when senior defensive back Chris McGrath knocked down a pass at the goal line.
Moravian opened the second half with the ball and was moving down field when Racobaldo has hit on a long reception and fumbled at the Juniata 22-yard line. The Greyhounds' defense would hold and force a punt.
The Hounds picked up two first downs before punting. The Eagles moved down the field and tied the game at 21-21 on a short touchdown run with 3:04 to play in the third quarter.
Moravian moved down into the red zone on its next possession but on the second play of the fourth quarter, Hayes had a pass tipped an intercepted in the end zone.
However, it would take just three plays to get the ball back when McGrath intercepted a pass at the Juniata 47-yard line and returned it 13 yards.
"I'm proud of Chris," commented Pukszyn. "He is doing a great job in the back, and really read the quarterback today. That is one thing we talked about this week in reading the quarterback's intentions. When you're playing against who I think is the offensive player of the year in the conference, you have to do as much as you can to disguise some things to put yourself in spots to be successful."
The Greyhounds turned the takeaway into points again with Hayes' touchdown pass to the back right corner of the end zone to Snyder-Scipio, who got a foot down before falling out of bounds. McCarthy, the Hounds' holder, had the snap on the extra-point attempt sail over his head. McCarthy ran the ball down and nearly completed a two-point conversion attempt to senior linebacker Chris Souders. Moravian had a 27-21 lead after the score.
Juniata took over at its own 30-yard line, and the Eagles were moving down the field when McCarthy made his team-leading fifth interception at the Moravian 10-yard line, stopping the drive in the red zone.
The Hounds took over with 3:40 to play after the interception but were unable to pick up a first down with McCarthy punting for 37 yards.
The Eagles had one last chance, starting at their own 47-yard line. Juniata moved to the Moravian 39-yard line before McGrath made his second interception of the game and returned it to the Moravian 35-yard line. Negron picked up one first down before the Greyhounds were able to run out the clock for the victory.
Junior defensive back Anthony Orlando led the Greyhounds with 12 tackles including 11 solo stops and one of the Hounds' two sacks. Senior linebacker Kevin Bracken added eight tackles while McGrath had seven stops to go with his three passes defended and two interceptions. Senior defensive back Ricky Sinnig and junior defensive lineman Dan Bracken each had five tackles with Sinning breaking up one pass and Dan Bracken adding a sack and one pass break-up.
Udinski completed 28-of-42 passes for 257 yards but was intercepted three times. Udinski also ran for 112 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries while Aaron O'Brien caught 10 passes for 94 yards for the Eagles.
Moravian will close out its 2014 season on Saturday, November 15 when the Greyhounds host rival Muhlenberg College in Centennial action at Rocco Calvo Field. Kickoff is slated for 12:00 p.m. in the Matte Award game.
