Hounds Set to Host No. 14/18 Johns Hopkins University on September 25 at Rocco Calvo Field

BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian University football squad hosts No. 14 (AFCA)/No. 18 (D3football.com) Johns Hopkins University on Saturday, September 25 in Centennial Conference action. Kickoff is slated for 2:00 p.m. at Rocco Calvo Field in Bethlehem. 

THE COACHES: Jeff Pukszyn (Moravian '98) is entering his 11th season as Moravian's head coach after ten years as an assistant coach with the program. Pukszyn joined the Moravian staff as a part-time coach in 1997 after a three-year playing career that saw him named to the All-Middle Atlantic Conference First Team in 1994 and 1996. He was inducted into Moravian's Hall of Fame in 2019. He was also a two-time captain. Pukszyn became part of the coaching staff full-time in 1999 as defensive coordinator and added the titles of assistant head coach in 2001 and special teams coordinator in 2007. In 2015, Pukszyn led the Greyhounds to an 8-3 record and a berth in the inaugural Centennial-MAC Bowl Series while being named both the Centennial Conference and American Football Coaches Association Division III Region 2 Coach of the Year. He has been a part of 268 games for Moravian since 1994 with a 128-139-1 record.
     Johns Hopkins coach Greg Chimera (Johns Hopkins '09) is in his third year as head coach with an 11-3 mark. 

THE SERIES: Saturday's meeting will be the 22nd in the series with the Blue Jays holding a 14-7. Johns Hopkins has won the last 11 games in the series including a 41-0 victory in 2019 when the squads last met in Baltimore on a Friday evening. The Greyhounds last win in the series was a 33-10 victory in Bethlehem in 2008, and Moravian captured the 2007 game, 44-41 in Baltimore, the first time in Moravian history that both teams had scored over 40 points in a game.

COACH TO CURE MD: For the 14th year, college football coaches nationwide including the Moravian University staff will join in support of the Coach To Cure MD program, held during games today. The annual effort has raised more than a $2.1 million to battle Duchenne muscular dystrophy (Duchenne). On the weekend of Sept. 25, American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) members will once again wear the traditional Coach To Cure MD logo patch on the sidelines, and college football fans will be asked to donate to research projects supported by Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD), the largest, most comprehensive nonprofit organization in the U.S. focused entirely on Duchenne. Many of those games will recognize a local Duchenne family on the field before or during the game. Coach To Cure MD began in 2008 with more than 200 schools and 2,675 coaches involved. Fourteen years later, that effort has expanded to 620 different schools and more than 11,350 coaches wearing the logo patch on the sidelines and participating in Coach To Cure MD events – a growth of more than 325 percent. Football fans can help support the fight to end Duchenne by either going online to www.CoachtoCureMD.org or by texting the word CURE to 50555 to make a $25 donation on your next mobile phone bill. Duchenne muscular dystrophy is the most common fatal genetic disorder diagnosed during childhood, primarily affecting boys of all races and cultures. People with Duchenne develop progressive muscle weakness that eventually causes loss of mobility, wheelchair dependency, and a decline in respiratory and cardiac function. Currently, there is no cure for Duchenne. But thanks to Coach To Cure MD and the work of Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy, there is hope.

IN THE CENTENNIAL CONFERENCE: Moravian joined the Centennial Conference as an associate member in the sport of football in 2007. The Greyhounds were selected seventh in the Centennial Conference preseason coaches and sports information directors poll. Johns Hopkins was picked to finish second in the poll.

BALANCED & EXPERIENCED 'HOUNDS: Of the 86 players on the Moravian roster, 21 are freshmen, 14 are sophomores and 18 are juniors. There are 32 seniors including two fifth-year players on this season's squad, and the Greyhounds return 43 letterwinners and eight starters from 2019.

THE QUARTERBACKS: Senior Christopher Mills has completed 44-of-87 passes for 543 yards this season with two touchdowns, five interceptions and a long of 74 yards. He has also carried the ball 12 times and been sacked eight times. Junior Brad Bryan saw his first career action against Susquehanna University with one pass attempt and one rushing attempt for four yards.

THE OFFENSIVE LINE: Moravian has one returner on the offensive line in senior Frank Sallusti at right guard. The Greyhounds will add four other seniors to the starting offensive line with Jaequan Swint at left tackle, Jack Fineanganofo at left guard, Ryan Kennedy at center and Craig Krug at right tackle. The Greyhounds' front five has an average size of 6-1, 275. Sallusti has one tackle this season.

IN THE BACKFIELD: Sophomore Nate Boyle leads the Moravian rushing attack with 198 yards and one touchdown on 41 carries including a 52-yard run at King's College while junior Angelo Macera has contributed 35 yards in seven carries. Senior Carrington Smith has added 26 yards on 13 attempts while sophomore Isaac Cherry has 16 yards on four carries.

THE WIDE RECEIVERS: The Greyhounds have had 10 different players catch a pass this season led senior Trevor Cunningham, who has 15 catches for 257 yards and two touchdowns including one of 74 yards at King's College. Senior Nick Petros has 12 receptions for 157 yards while senior wide receiver Cory Little has five catches for 42 yards. Sophomore running back Nate Boyle has caught four passes for 12 yards while freshman wide receiver Jordan Lewis has two receptions for 31 yards. Junior tight end Ethan Deater also has two catches for 14 yards while senior running back Carrington Smith and junior tight end Chris Carpini each have one catch this fall for eight yards. Sophomore wide receiver Tim Garlick has added one reception for 10 yards while senior defensive back Romello Walters has one catch for four yards while playing on both sides of the ball against Susquehanna University.

DEFENSIVE FRONT: Junior Javi Espinal-Katz leads the Moravian defensive line with 11 tackles including four and a half tackles for loss, three sacks, two quarterback hurries and a pass break-up. Senior Collin Frost has eight tackles while senior Brady Hornbaker has eight stops with two tackles for loss and a fumble recovery. Senior Brandon Nemeth has made six tackles with a half a tackle for loss while junior Riley Brody has made three tackles with one for loss. Sophomore Jabir Abdallah has contributed three tackles and senior Matt Eroh has added one tackle.

THE LINEBACKER CORPS: Senior Noah Breidinger leads the linebackers and the entire Moravian defense with 25 tackles including two for loss, one pass break-up and a forced fumble. Sophomore Nick Levinski has 17 tackles with one and a half for loss, one and a half sacks and a quarterback hurry while senior Nicholas Azpeitia has added 11 tackles with a half a tackle for loss and a fumble recovery. Senior Francis Lagreca has recorded eight tackles with one and a half for loss and a half a sack while senior Matt McNally has made seven stops. Sophomore Colin Conway has added six stops with a half a tackle for loss and half a sack while junior Jack Gawlik has six tackles, one and a half tackles for loss, a sack, a pass break-up and a quarterback hurry. Senior Brian Harris has made two tackles while sophomore Chris Ortalano has added one tackle.

THE DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD: Senior Romello Walters leads the defensive backfield with 21 tackles to go with three pass break-ups and a forced fumble. Freshman Chad Newhard has 20 tackles, a half a tackle for loss, a half a sack and an interception he returned six yards against King's College while senior Justin McRae has added 16 stops with one tackle for loss and one pass break-up. Senior Connor Lyon has recorded 10 tackles and one pass break-up while senior Jackson Buskirk also has 10 tackles with one for loss. Junior Stefan Lorick has contributed three tackles while junior Ethen Aquino and sophomores Matt Blazofsky, Ben Carlin, graduate student Renard Nicholson and senior Jalen Richardson each have two tackles this season with Richardson making a team-high three a pass break-ups. Junior Joe Voitek has made one stop. 

KICKING GAME: Junior Trevor Yacuboski is 2-for-5 on field goal attempts this season with a long of 39 yards, and he is also 2-for-2 on extra-points. Yacuboski has kicked off six times for an average of 57.8 yards, punted seven times for an average of 32.7 yards with three fair caught and two inside the 20-yard line, and also recorded one tackle. Senior Nick Petros has punted eight times with an average of 39.8 yards per punt, and he has a long of 50 yards and one inside the 20-yard line this season. 

SPECIAL TEAMS: Senior wide receiver Cory Little has returned six kickoffs for 125 yards, and he has recorded two tackles while senior defensive back Jalen Richardson has returned two kickoffs for 32 yards and junior defensive back Ethen Aquino has one kickoff return for 29 yards. Senior defensive back Connor Lyon has four punt returns for 10 yards. Senior long snapper R.J. Guffy has recorded a pair of tackles while freshman wide receiver Nick Weston, junior wide receiver Nick Basenese, junior running back Angelo Macera and senior wide receiver Joe LePoidevin each have one tackle on special teams.

MILESTONE WATCH: The Greyhounds have three players closing in on milestones for their careers. Senior wide receiver Nick Petros is fourth in school history with 1,946 receiving yards, and he needs 54 yards to become the second wide receiver in school history with 2,000 career yards. Petros is fourth in program history with 132 receptions and needs 28 to set the school record, and he is tied for second with 17 career touchdown receptions, just two shy of setting the school record. He is sixth with a 36.0 career punting average on 145 punts (seventh all-time) for 5,227 yards (sixth in school history). Senior quarterback Christopher Mills enters the week needing 319 yards to become the seventh Greyhound to throw for 4,000 yards after becoming the ninth Hound to reach 3,000 passing yards with a career-best 341 yards versus Dickinson College on November 9, 2019. Mills is also sixth all-time with 292 completions, ninth with 514 pass attempts and eighth with 27 touchdown passes. Senior wide receiver Cory Little needs just 67 kickoff return yards to become the fifth player in school history with 1,000 kickoff return yards in a career, and he is tied for sixth with 39 kickoff returns 

THE CENTENNIAL CONFERENCE STATISTICAL RANKINGS: The Greyhounds are seventh in total offense in the Centennial Conference after the first three weeks of the season at 268.7 yards per game. Moravian is seventh in rushing offense at 87.7 yards per contest and eighth in passing offense at 181.0 yards per outing. The Hounds are eighth in the conference in scoring at 8.7 points per game, and the squad ranked sixth in scoring defense at 23.3 points per contest. Moravian is currently third in the conference in total defense, allowing just 303.0 yards per game. The Greyhounds are third in rushing defense at 74.7 yards per outing and fifth in passing defense at 228.3 yards per contest. Individually, freshman running back Nate Boyle is second in the Centennial Conference at 66.0 rushing yards per game while senior wide receiver Trevor Cunningham is tied for fifth in receptions per game with 5.0, fifth in receiving yards per game at 85.7 and tied for tenth in scoring at 4.0 points per game. Senior quarterback Christopher Mills is sixth in the conference in passing efficiency with a 99.1 rating while senior defensive back Connor Lyon is third in punt returns with four and senior wide receiver Cory Little is third in kickoff returns with an average of 20.8 yards per runback. Defensively, senior linebacker Noah Breidinger is tied third in the conference at 8.3 tackles per game while senior defensive back Romello Walters is tied for 10th at 7.0 tackles per contest. 

THE NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS: The Greyhounds have one player ranked in the top 50 in the latest NCAA Division III statistics. Senior wide receiver Trevor Cunningham is 37th in receiving yards with 257. 

OVERTIME 'HOUNDS: Moravian has played a total of 11 overtime games since the NCAA instituted the rule for the 1996 season and is 8-3 all-time in the extra-session after defeating Gettysburg College, 16-13, on September 11, 2021. Five of those ten 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 2008 season also marked the third year that Moravian has played at least two overtimes games in one season, the other years were 1999 when the Greyhounds played three overtime games and 1997 when Moravian played two overtime contests.

SCOUTING JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: The Blue Jays enter the game at 3-0 overall and 2-0 in Centennial Conference action after a 77-0 victory at Juniata College last Saturday. Johns Hopkins is led on the field by junior quarterback Ryan Stevens, who is 77-for-107 with 1,205 yards, 14 touchdowns and two interceptions. Senior wide receiver Harrison Wellmann has caught a team-high 29 passes for 440 yards and seven scores while graduate student wide receiver Quinn Revere has 19 receptions for 353 yards and four touchdowns and graduate student wide receiver Ryan Hubley has added 16 catches for 284 yards and three scores. Junior running back Danny Wolf leads the Blue Jays' rushing attack with 163 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries while sophomore running back Spencer Uggla has 90 yards and a pair of scores on 17 attempts and freshman running back Jacob Chapman has 73 yards on 18 carries. Hubley has two of the Blue Jays' five kickoff returns while freshman wide receiver EJ Talarico has one kickoff return for 57 yards and one punt return. Senior Kyle Battles is 1-for-3 on field goal attempts with a long of 45 yards, 15-for-17 on extra-points, averaging 61.3 yards per kickoff with six touchbacks and averaging 38.9 yards per punt on seven attempts with a long of 54 yards, one fair caught and two inside the 20-yard line. Junior John Krill is 8-for-8 on extra-points and 1-for-1 on field goals with a long of 36 yards while freshman Joe Zahner has kicked off seven times with an average of 59.4 yards and one touchback. Senior defensive back Nick Seidel leads the Johns Hopkins defense with 18 tackles to go with two pass break-ups while graduate student linebacker Macauley Kilbane has made 17 tackles with one tackle for loss, two interceptions and three passes defended. Senior linebacker Duncan Van Kouteren has contributed 16 tackles with one for loss while graduate student defensive back Finn Zechman has 14 tackles, one interception, six passes defended and a forced fumble. Senior defensive back Ross Andersson has added 13 tackles and an interception while sophomore defensive lineman Like Schuermann leads the Blue Jays with five and a half tackles for loss and three sacks to go with 10 total tackles, a pass break-up, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

THE LAST TIME THEY MET: In Baltimore in 2019, Moravian fell to No. 21 Johns Hopkins University, 41-0, in Centennial Conference action as the Greyhounds played for just the second time in program history on Friday night. Running back Roberto Diez led the Moravian offense with the first 100-yard game of his career as he ran for 105 yards on 21 carries. Quarterback Sherwin Stewart ran for 17 yards on six carries while running back Carrington Smith had eight yards on four attempts. Quarterback David LePoidevin completed 5-of-15 passes for 35 yards with one interception in his first career start. Diez caught one pass for 13 yards while wide receiver Nick Petros had one reception for eight yards. Wide receiver Romello Walters also caught one pass for eight yards while wide receiver Cory Little had one catch for five yards, and he returned five kickoffs for 125 yards. Defensive backs Jalen Richardson and Renard Nicholson led the Greyhounds' defense with seven tackles with Richardson adding a tackle for loss and Nicholson making one pass break-up. Defensive back Jackson Buskirk had six tackles with one for loss while defensive lineman PJ Weierbach added six stops with two for loss and one sack. Linebacker Tim Valentine and linebacker Noah Breidinger each had five tackles. The Blue Jays opened the scoring with the 40-yard field goal by Mike Eberle with 3:45 left in the first quarter. Johns Hopkins then added three touchdowns in the second quarter on an 8-yard touchdown run by Dane Rogerson, a 58-yard pass from David Tammaro to Harrison Wellmann and a six-yard pass from Tammaro to Ryan Hubley to head to the locker room with a 24-0 lead. The Blue Jays scored the only points of the third quarter when Tammaro hit Wellmann with a 15-yard touchdown pass on the first drive of the half. Tammaro score on a three-yard run three and a half minutes into the fourth quarter to push the JHU lead to 38-0. Eberle finished off the scoring for Johns Hopkins with a 45-yard field goal with 3:49 remaining.