Greyhounds Fall to Susquehanna in Final Minute on 2-Point Conversion
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Moravian College senior quarterback Mike Hayes threw for a career-high 384 yards with a pair of 60-plus yard touchdowns but the Greyhounds gave up a last minute touchdown and two-point conversion and fell to visiting Susquehanna University, 35-34, in Centennial Conference action in Moravian’s annual Homecoming game at Rocco Calvo Field Saturday.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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0 | 7 | 14 | 14 | 35 |
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14 | 13 | 0 | 7 | 34 |
Team Stats
Susquehanna University
| Game Statistics | Susquehanna University | Moravian University |
|---|---|---|
| Passing Yards | 207 | 384 |
| Rushing Yards | 211 | 115 |
| Turnovers | 1 | 1 |
| Time of Poss. | 32:16 | 27:44 |
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Moravian College senior quarterback Mike Hayes threw for a career-high 384 yards with a pair of 60-plus yard touchdowns but the Greyhounds gave up a last minute touchdown and two-point conversion and fell to visiting Susquehanna University, 35-34, in Centennial Conference action in Moravian's annual Homecoming game at Rocco Calvo Field Saturday.
The Hounds had their seven-game home winning streak snapped as they fell to 4-2 overall and 3-2 in the Centennial Conference. The one-point loss is the first for the Blue and Grey since a 24-23 defeat to Dickinson College on September 29, 2007.
"It was a tale of two halves, and no one remembers the first half so we're going to keep talking about the last 30 minutes of this game," commented Head Coach Jeff Pukszyn. "We couldn't get stops on defense. Statistically, we played well on third down defense but they were 100 percent on fourth downs, and that was crucial when we couldn't get off the field and give the ball back to our offense. When our offense did get the ball, we only scored on one possession in the second half. On defense, we didn't get enough takeaways and that hurt us in the second half."
Hayes completed 28-of-37 passes for 384 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Hayes increased his school record total for completions to 489 while raising his totals to 819 attempts, 5,712 yards and 41 touchdowns, all third in school history.
"I though Mike did a good job managing the game today," noted Pukszyn. "He was cool in the pocket and did some things. He probably should have thrown the ball a few more times instead of taking a few sacks. He is playing a high level and that is what you want from your quarterback. We need to support him not only on offense but on defense to get the ball back to him."
Hayes completed his 28 passes to five different receivers with junior wide receiver Aaron Hudson catching a career-high 10 passes for 137 yards including a 62-yard touchdown for a career-high in yardage. Junior wide receiver Justice Anderson added nine receptions for a career-best 172 yards with a 69-yard touchdown catch. Anderson is the first Greyhound receiver to surpass 150 yards in a game since Shawn Sylvainus had 165 yards at Juniata College on October 23, 2010.
"Those guys do a great job in practice and work really hard, and it pays off," Pukszyn said. "We played really fast in the first half but we couldn't keep the tempo in the second half because the defense was on the field too much. I'm proud of their efforts."
Senior wide receiver Liam Nolan caught four passes for 31 yards to raise career totals to 99 receptions for 1,279 yards, which ranks 14th in school history. Nolan's next reception will make him the ninth player in school history with 100 catches. Senior running back Chris Negron added three receptions for 19 yards while junior wide receiver Kyle Ferryman had a pair of catches for 25 yards.
Negron picked up his fifth 100-yard game of the season and the 19th of his career with 107 yards on 29 carries to go along with three touchdowns. Negron, the school record holder in rushing and scoring, became the first Greyhound to reach 4,000 rushing yards in his career with 4,004 yards on 779 attempts, and he now was 38 career rushing touchdowns, 42 overall touchdowns and 252 points. Freshman running back Roberto Diez added 11 yards on three carries.
Senior linebacker Edward Delia led the Moravian defense with 16 tackles including one for loss. Freshman defensive back Alkiohn Dunkins, senior defensive back Noah Miller and sophomore defensive Nick Zambelli each had nine tackles with Dunkins breaking up a pass and Miller making a tackle for loss.
"Ed is a competitor and the first thing he said coming off the field was that he missed a couple of tackles today," Pukszyn said. "That is why he is playing so well. I think guys are playing better around him because of his play. Alkiohn is playing as well as a freshman, and we had three freshmen starting on the offensive line today too."
The Greyhounds received the opening kickoff and put together a 10-play, 76-yard drive with Negron scoring for the first time in three games with a six-yard run. Sophomore kicker Kenny Kane made the extra-point to give the Blue and Grey a 7-0 lead with 11:28 left in the first quarter.
The Moravian defensive forced the River Hawks to punt after three plays. The Greyhounds moved back down into the red zone and would extend the lead when Negron ran in from five yards to cap the 10-play, 68-yard drive. Kane's PAT pushed the lead to 14-0 with 7:17 left in the opening quarter.
The squads traded punts before Susquehanna began to drive at the end of the first quarter and early in the second. The River Hawks would get on the scoreboard with a touchdown at the 12:14 mark to cut Moravian's lead to 14-7.
The Greyhounds responded with an 11-play, 78-yard drive as Negron scored his third touchdown of the game on a nine-yard scamper. Negron reached the end zone for the third time in a game for the third time in his career with a pair of three touchdown games and a six-score contest. Kane's extra-point attempt was blocked to keep the Moravian lead at 20-7 with 6:25 before the intermission.
The teams traded punts again after the score before Susquehanna started to drive again. Moravian senior defensive lineman John Snyder would end the possession when he intercepted the ball after sophomore defensive lineman Josh Williams knocked the pass in the air.
Hayes needed just one play to extend the lead as he hit Hudson in stride on a 62-yard catch and run for one more touchdown before halftime. Kane's PAT made it 27-7 with 52 seconds before the teams headed to the locker room.
Susquehanna took the second half kickoff down the field for a score, and Snyder looked to have blocked the extra-point but the Greyhounds had too many players on the field. The River Hawks would make the second PAT to cut Moravian's lead to 27-14.
The Hounds drove down to just outside of the red zone on their first possession of the second half before turning the ball over on downs when Negron was knocked out of bounds on a short reception.
The River Hawks used the defensive stop to gain momentum and move down to score again to cut the Greyhounds advantage to 27-21 with 2:57 to play in the third quarter.
Moravian drove down just outside the red zone again but Hayes through an incompletion on fourth down to turn the ball back over to Susquehanna early in the fourth quarter. The Greyhounds' defense would force a punt after three plays.
The Hounds took over on its own 26-yard line, and on the third play of the drive, Hayes hit Anderson with a slant pass that he caught about 15-yards down field and out-raced the River Hawks defense the final 54 yards to the end zone for a 69-yard touchdown. Kane made the extra-point to extend the Moravian lead to 34-21 with 11:40 remaining.
The River Hawks answered right back with a touchdown just over two minutes later. Snyder did block that PAT kick to keep Moravian ahead by seven, 34-27, with 9:16 remaining.
The Greyhounds picked up one first down but would end up punting on the next drive.
Susquehanna drove down into the red zone, and the Greyhounds had looked to end the threat on an interception by sophomore linebacker Owen Perih inside the five-yard line. However, the Greyhounds were called for defensive holding on the play to negate the interception. Two plays later, the River Hawks found the end zone and converted the two-point conversion to move ahead 35-34 with just 49 seconds left in the game.
Hayes would get a first down for the Greyhounds but was intercepted throwing deep for Ferryman to end Moravian's final possession of the game.
The Hounds are scheduled to begin a three-game road trip with a Landmark Conference game at Franklin & Marshall College on Saturday, October 22 beginning at 1:00 p.m.
