Hayes' Career Afternoon Leads Greyhounds to 50-35 Win over King's to Start 2016
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Senior quarterback Mike Hayes completed 23-of-37 passes for a career-high 354 yards along with three touchdowns as the Moravian College football team opened its 2016 season with a 50-35 non-conference win over King’s College at Rocco Calvo Field Saturday afternoon.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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7 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 35 |
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14 | 19 | 7 | 10 | 50 |
Team Stats
King's (Pa.) College
| Game Statistics | King's (Pa.) College | Moravian University |
|---|---|---|
| Passing Yards | 391 | 354 |
| Rushing Yards | 70 | 167 |
| Turnovers | 2 | 1 |
| Time of Poss. | 28:35 | 31:25 |
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Senior quarterback Mike Hayes completed 23-of-37 passes for a career-high 354 yards along with three touchdowns as the Moravian College football team opened its 2016 season with a 50-35 non-conference win over King's College at Rocco Calvo Field Saturday afternoon.
"It is important to win at home, and home field advantage makes the difference at the Division III level I think," stated Head Coach Jeff Pukszyn, who picked up his 20th career victory. "The other great thing I saw out of our team today was winning the special teams battle. It was nice to see that we were able to get some field goals including using two different kickers in situations."
Hayes, whose passing total is the sixth best game in school history, is the first Moravian quarterback to throw for over 300 yards since Jerry Venturino had 329 yards at Widener University on October 1, 2005, and the first player with more than 350 yards in a game since Rob Petrosky threw for 377 yards at Widener University on September 11, 1997. The Greyhounds went over 350 yards passing in a game for the first time since September 30, 2000 when the program had 353 yards versus Widener. Hayes tied his career highs with 23 completions and three touchdowns while completing passes to eight different receivers.
"I think Mike is doing a great job as a three-year starter and that is what you want to see. Mentally he is there and physically he has prepared himself," commented Pukszyn. "I keep using the analogy that he is a great point guard for this offense. He disturbs the ball, and he is smart with the ball, which is what we need and what we saw from Mike today. People want to follow Mike because he is a great leader.
"He's about giving the assists, not scoring the touchdowns," continued Pukszyn. "Every now and then, he'll get into the end zone but to be able to dish the ball and distribute is phenomenal. It goes to show you that he is not greedy. He was taking what was being given to him today with high percentage throws."
The Hounds received the opening kickoff and would go 62 yards on 12 plays to score on the opening drive of the season, and Moravian would get points on its first six possessions of the year. Hayes moved the Blue and Grey down the field with three passes of more than ten yards before senior running back Chris Negron ran in for a four-yard touchdown. Sophomore Kenny Kane added the extra-point to give the Greyhounds a 7-0 lead 4:31 into the game.
Negron finished the game with his 15th career 100-yard game as he picked up 116 yards on 25 carries, raising his career totals to 3,451 yards, just 404 yards shy of the school record, 672 attempts, also second in school history, 32 rushing touchdowns, tied for second in school history, and 35 overall touchdowns, second all-time.
"Chris is going to will it to get done every week," Puksyzn said. "He is an outstanding worker. He is a great leader out there and brings the energy. He's also a vocal guy, and gets the guys amped up out there. He's also tough to get down after the first hit and he picked up a bunch of yards today after initial contact."
King's would answer back with a touchdown on its first possession of the game to knot the score at 7-7 with 6:10 to play if the first quarter.
Moravian answered back with a 13-play drive covering 75 yards. Hayes hit junior tight end/punter Aaron Brown with a 32-yard pass to move the Hounds past midfield. Negron ran for 18 yards to put the offense in the red zone before junior defensive lineman Jorden Stout scored on a one-yard run on a third down play, his third career touchdown in the goal line package. Kane's extra-point pushed Moravian back ahead 14-7 with 29 seconds left in the opening quarter.
The Hounds defense forced a punt on the second play of the second quarter as Moravian took over at its own 31-yard line.
Hayes started the drive with a 14-yard completion to senior wide receiver Jalen Snyder-Scipio. Snyder-Scipio had six catches for 65 yards in the game as he moved within two catches of tying the school career mark of 140 receptions, and he became the eighth player to reach 1,500 receiving yards, now with 1,547. Later in the drive, Hayes connected on a 17-yard pass to senior wide receiver Liam Nolan, who caught six passes for 90 yards to become the 18th player in school history to reach 1,000 career receiving yards, now with 1,028. However, the drive stalled inside the 20-yard line with Kane eventually coming in and connected on his first career field goal, hitting from 33 yards for a 17-7 lead with 12:17 before halftime.
Moravian's defense forced another three-and-out, and senior linebacker Edward Delia made a tackle on a fake punt to set up the Greyhounds at the King's 47-yard line. Hayes needed one play to get the Blue and Grey back into the end zone as he found junior wide receiver Aaron Hudson streaking down the right seam. Kane's extra-point was wide left to set the score at 23-7 with 9:42 left in the second quarter.
King's would drive down the field and score another touchdown to get within 23-14 with 6:01 until the intermission.
Moravian's efficient first half offense needed just four plays to hit pay dirt again. Hayes had a 17-yard pass to Nolan before a six-yard run from Negron. Hayes then had a 28-yard pass to freshman running back Sal Pagano before Brown made a leaping grab in the end zone for a 23-yard touchdown to push the lead to 30-14 with 4:34 on the clock.
After the Monarchs had a three-and-out, Moravian moved into scoring position again on a 38-yard pass from Hayes to Hudson, who caught three passes for 90 yards. Kane would finish the drive with a 25-yard field goal for a 33-14 lead just 53 seconds before the intermission.
When the team's returned to the field, King's had possession of the ball for three plays before Delia intercepted a pass and returned it 13 yards to set up Moravian at the 25-yard line. Hayes finished off the possession with a five-yard scoring strike to Hudson. Kane's extra-point gave Moravian a 40-14 lead just 3:15 into the second half.
The Greyhounds' defense would force the Monarchs to turn the ball over on downs when King's moved to the Moravian 23-yard line but the Hounds would give the ball back when Hayes was intercepted. The Monarchs marched down the field after the Greyhounds' only miscue of the game for a touchdown to cut the lead to 40-21.
The Blue and Grey would be forced to punt on their next possession of the game for the first time in the season, and King's drove down for another touchdown to cut the lead to 40-28 with 1:05 left in the third quarter.
Moravian's next drive at the start of the fourth quarter saw Negron take over with seven carries on the possession to move into scoring position. Kane came on to kick a 21-yard field goal with 9:44 left in the contest to push the lead to 43-28. Kane's three field goals on the afternoon are tied for the second most in a game in school history, and he is the first Greyhound to kick three field goals in a game since Brian Reckenbeil on October 18, 2008. Kane's 14 points are also the second most by a kicker in a game in school history.
"That is something that we've been missing for a long time here," noted Pukszyn. "Kenny has done a great job of working hard and competing with our other kicker Jon Miller. To be able to go out there in his first time on a college field and kick three field goals is phenomenal, and I couldn't be more proud of him."
King's began marching down the field on its next possession and reached the red zone before sophomore defensive end Josh Williams broke through the line for a sack while knocking the ball loose. Senior defensive end Chuka Onukwugha scooped up the ball at the King's 23-yard line and rumbled 77 yards for a touchdown. Kane's final kick of the afternoon pushed the Moravian advantage to 50-28 with 7:14 remaining.
"As a former defensive lineman, I'm glad it was Chuka that scooped up that ball and not one of the defensive tackles," joked Pukszyn. "We had some trouble containing on defense today but on that play we did it right, pushing the pocket and getting the ball on the turf. Chuka was in a spot to be successful and he was on that play."
King's scored one more time before Moravian ran out the clock on a pair of first downs by Negron.
Moravian racked up 521 yards of total offense including 167 on the ground while controlling the clock for 31:25. Freshman Roberto Diez had 28 yards on four carries while Hayes added 24 yards on seven attempts while being sacked once. Junior wide receiver Justice Anderson had three catches for 12 yards while Brown pulled in two catches for 55 yards.
Senior defensive lineman John Snyder had eight tackles with one sack; two and a half tackles for loss and one pass break-up.
"That is what you want out of a senior nose guard," Pukszyn said of Snyder's play. "I think he is one of the best in the conference. He is a great worker and captain, and again the guy is on a mission in his senior year. It is great to see and he is producing on a high level."
Sophomore linebacker Owen Perih also made eight tackles while Delia, sophomore defensive back Nick Zambelli and senior defensive back Khalil Raymond all had seven stops. Delia added three passes defended including his interception. Freshman defensive back Alkiohn Dunkins and senior defensive back Noah Miller each had six tackles and two pass break-ups while freshman defensive back Nick Johnson broke up a pass. Williams finished with two sacks while sophomore linebacker Steve Ewald had five stops with one for loss.
"We played a lot of different guys on defense today like Khalil getting his first start," commented Pukszyn. "Dunkins and Johnson did well as freshmen in our sub package. Senior Chris Lott had a good game in his first career start. There were a lot of good things going on out there, and a lot of players saw a lot of snaps. We can only get better from here. As a coach, I need to do a better job on the defensive side of the ball of putting our players in positions for success. We need to get better in the red zone on defense and it is on us as coaches to make that happen."
Moravian will open its 2016 Centennial Conference season on Saturday, September 10 when the Greyhounds host McDaniel College at Rocco Calvo Field with kickoff set for 1:00 p.m.
