Greyhounds Head to Juniata to Close Out First Half of 2021 Campaign on October 2

BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian University football squad closes out the first half of the 2021 season with a trip to Juniata College on Saturday, October 2 for a Centennial Conference contest. Kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m. at Knox Stadium in Huntingdon.

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 269 games for Moravian since 1994 with a 128-140-1 record.
     Juniata coach Josh Carter (Muhlenberg '02) is in his second year as head coach with a 1-3 mark.

THE SERIES: Saturday's meeting will be the 66th in the series with Moravian holding a 35-28-2 lead. The Greyhounds recorded a 32-28 win in Huntingdon in 2019, rallying from an 11-point fourth quarter deficit for the Hounds' sixth straight win in the series. Juniata's last win was a 27-14 victory in Bethlehem in 2013. The series has had a history of close games with a streak of five straight years in which the game ended in a regulation tie from 1995 until 1999. Four of those games went to overtime with three won by Moravian.

GREYHOUNDS 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. Juniata was picked to finish ninth in the poll.

BALANCED & EXPERIENCED 'HOUNDS: Of the 84 players on the Moravian roster, 21 are freshmen, 13 are sophomores and 18 are juniors. There are 31 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 64-of-126 passes for 739 yards this season with two touchdowns, six interceptions and a long of 74 yards. He has also carried the ball 16 times and been sacked 11 times. Junior Brad Bryan saw his first career action against Susquehanna University and has a total of five pass attempts and three rushing attempts for eight 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, and junior Nate Bendekovits saw playing time at right tackle against Johns Hopkins University.

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 senior Carrington Smith has added 37 yards on 23 attempts. Junior Angelo Macera has contributed 36 yards in 10 carries while sophomore Isaac Cherry has 32 yards on nine carries.

THE WIDE RECEIVERS: The Greyhounds have had 10 different players catch a pass this season led  by senior Trevor Cunningham, who has 23 catches for 354 yards and two touchdowns including one of 74 yards at King's College. Senior Nick Petros has 17 receptions for 196 yards while freshman wide receiver Jordan Lewis has eight receptions for 83 yards. Senior wide receiver Cory Little has six catches for 50 yards while sophomore running back Nate Boyle has caught four passes for 12 yards. Junior tight end Ethan Deater 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 13 tackles including five and a half tackles for loss, four sacks, two quarterback hurries and a pass break-up. Senior Collin Frost has 10 tackles while senior Brady Hornbaker also has 10 stops with two and a half tackles for loss and a fumble recovery. Senior Brandon Nemeth has made seven tackles with a half a tackle for loss while junior Riley Brody has made four tackles with one for loss. Sophomore Jabir Abdallah has also contributed four tackles and senior Matt Eroh has added two tackles.

THE LINEBACKER CORPS: Senior Noah Breidinger leads the linebackers and the entire Moravian defense with 31 tackles including two for loss, one pass break-up and a forced fumble. Sophomore Nick Levinski has 19 tackles with one and a half for loss, one and a half sacks and a quarterback hurry while senior Nicholas Azpeitia has added 13 tackles with a half a tackle for loss and a fumble recovery. Senior Francis Lagreca has recorded 11 tackles with one and a half for loss and a half a sack while senior Matt McNally has made seven stops. Junior Jack Gawlik has seven tackles too with one and a half tackles for loss, a sack, three pass break-ups and a quarterback hurry while sophomore Colin Conway has added six stops with a half a tackle for loss and half a sack while. Freshman Jeremiah Espinosa has recorded five tackles while senior Brian Harris has made three tackles. Sophomore Chris Ortalano has added one tackle.

THE DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD: Senior Romello Walters leads the defensive backfield with 29 tackles to go with three pass break-ups and a forced fumble, and Walters has also seen action as a linebacker. Freshman Chad Newhard has 28 tackles, one tackle for loss, a half a sack and an interception he returned six yards against King's College while senior Connor Lyon has recorded 20 tackles and one pass break-up. Senior Justin McRae has added 16 stops with one tackle for loss and one pass break-up while senior Jackson Buskirk has recorded 15 tackles with one for loss, an interception returned 29 yards versus Johns Hopkins University and two passes defended. Junior Ethen Aquino has 12 tackles while junior Stefan Lorick has contributed three tackles. Sophomore Matt Blazofsky has made four tackles while sophomore Ben Carlin and graduate student Renard Nicholson each have three tackles this season. Senior Jalen Richardson has a pair of tackles and three pass break-ups. Junior Joe Voitek has made one stop. 

KICKING GAME: Junior Trevor Yacuboski is 4-for-7 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 10 times for an average of 54.4 yards, and he has punted 13 times for an average of 33.8 yards with seven fair caught and three inside the 20-yard line while recording 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 eight kickoffs for 176 yards, and he has recorded two tackles while senior defensive back Romello Walters has three kickoff returns for 72 yards. 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 while senior linebacker has 16 yards on one rushing attempt on a fake punt versus Johns Hopkins University. Freshman wide receiver Nick Weston has made three tackles while senior long snapper R.J. Guffy has recorded a pair of tackles. 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 second in school history with 1,985 receiving yards, and he needs 15 yards to become the second wide receiver in school history with 2,000 career yards. Petros is fourth in program history with 137 receptions and needs 23 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 123 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 312 completions, seventh with 553 pass attempts and eighth with 27 touchdown passes. Senior wide receiver Cory Little needs just 16 kickoff return yards to become the fifth player in school history with 1,000 kickoff return yards in a career, and he is sixth with 41 kickoff returns

THE CENTENNIAL CONFERENCE STATISTICAL RANKINGS: The Greyhounds are tied for eighth in total offense in the Centennial Conference after the first four weeks of the season at 260.8 yards per game. Moravian is eighth in rushing offense at 76.0 yards per contest and seventh in passing offense at 184.8 yards per outing. The Hounds are tenth in the conference in scoring at 8.0 points per game, and the squad ranked ninth in scoring defense at 31.0 points per contest. Moravian is currently tied for fifth in the conference in total defense, allowing just 339.3 yards per game. The Greyhounds are seventh in rushing defense at 90.0 yards per outing and seventh in passing defense at 249.3 yards per contest. Individually, freshman running back Nate Boyle is third in the Centennial Conference at 66.0 rushing yards per game while senior wide receiver Trevor Cunningham is seventh in receptions per game with 5.8 and fourth in receiving yards per game at 88.5. Senior quarterback Christopher Mills is eighth in the conference in passing efficiency with a 95.8 rating while senior defensive back Connor Lyon is tied for sixth in punt returns with four and senior wide receiver Cory Little is seventh in kickoff returns with an average of 22.0 yards per runback. Defensively, senior linebacker Noah Breidinger is tied seventh in the conference at 7.8 tackles per game while senior defensive back Romello Walters is 12th at 7.3 tackles per contest. 

THE NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS: The Greyhounds have three players ranked in the top 50 in the latest NCAA Division III statistics. Senior wide receiver Trevor Cunningham is 33rd in receiving yards with 354 while junior kicker Trevor Yacuboski is tied for 28th in field goals made per game at 1.0. Junior defensive end Javi Espinal-Katz is tied for 28th as well in sacks per contest at 1.0.

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 JUNIATA: The Eagles enter the game at 0-4 overall and 0-3 in Centennial Conference action after a 48-42 loss at Gettysburg College last Saturday. Juniata has used three quarterbacks with senior Aaron Golberg completing 37-of-71 passes for 398 yards with two interceptions, freshman Jason Clark completing 37-of-63 passes for 333 yards and three interceptions and junior Noah Wright completing 11-of-28 passes for 142 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Sophomore wide receiver Isaiah Collison has caught 25 passes for 304 yards with one touchdown while senior wideout Clay Spencer has 22 receptions for 310 yards and one score. Junior wide receiver Chris Mignanelli has added eight catches for 65 yards while freshman wide receiver Kyhlil Jones and sophomore wide receiver Austin Nash each has six receptions with Jones adding 19 yards and Nash gaining 45 yards. Freshman running back Hunter Wolfley leads the Eagles' rushing attack with 141 yards and four touchdowns on 29 carries while senior running back Charlies DeBose has 81 yards and a touchdown on 25 attempts while junior running back DJ Taylor has 30 yards on 14 carries. Wright has contributed 31 yards on nine attempts while Golberg has 12 yards and a touchdown on nine carries and Clark has a touchdown on 22 attempts. Freshman kicker Beckett Leary is 2-for-5 on field goal attempts with a long of 47 yards, and he is 4-for-7 on extra-points. Wright has punted 21 times for an average of 34.6 yards with four inside the 20-yard line and four fair caught. Jones has returned 19 kickoffs for 339 yards while freshman defensive back William Howell IV has 115 yards on five kickoff returns. Senior defensive back Noah Jacks-Waters leads the Juniata defense with 31 tackles to go with one and a half tackles for loss, one sack, one fumble recovery, one interception and three passes defended. Sophomore defensive back JR Harrison has contributed 30 tackles with two for loss, one sack, a forced fumble and three pass break-ups while graduate student defensive back Adam Grajewski has made 26 stops with one fumble recovery and one pass break-up. Freshman linebacker Michael Grapin also has 26 tackles with a half a tackle for loss and a pair of forced fumbles while senior defensive lineman Ethan Hurst has made 23 stops with a half a tackle for loss. 

THE LAST TIME THEY MET: In Huntingdon in 2019, Moravian rallied from an 11-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to post a 32-28 victory at Juniata College in Centennial Conference action as running back Roberto Diez ran for three touchdowns and wide receiver Nick Petros reached a pair of milestones for the Greyhounds. Diez had three one-yard touchdown runs on the afternoon including two in the fourth quarter as he ran for 63 yards on 16 carries as he moved into 15th in school history with 1,379 yards on 319 carries to go with 13 career touchdowns including seven now in 2019. Petros had 10 catches for 139 yards with a touchdown against the Eagles as he became the 11th player in school history to pass both 100 career receptions and 1,500 career receiving yards. Petros is now tied for eighth with 1,585 yards, tenth with 104 catches and tied for third with 16 touchdowns in his career. Moravian finished the afternoon with 371 yards on 63 plays as quarterback Christopher Mills completed 23-of-32 passes for 265 yards with a touchdown to Petros and an interception. Wide receiver Alex Pierce caught four passes for 46 yards while wide receiver Andrew Lelie added three receptions for 32 yards. Wideout Eddie Olsen caught two passes for 21 yards while wide receiver Cory Little had two receptions for 13 yards and returned four kickoffs for 122 yards. Diez also caught one pass for nine yards while running back/quarterback Sherwin Stewart had one catch for five yards while running for 48 yards on 11 carries. The Greyhounds defense limited the Eagles to 310 yards on 62 plays. Defensive back Tanner Barr and defensive back Jackson Buskirk each had ten tackles to lead the Blue and Grey while defensive back Renard Nicholson had six stops. Linebacker Wes Asche and defensive lineman Brady Hornbaker each had five tackles with Hornbaker adding a half a sack with defensive lineman Andrew Stein while defensive back Connor Lyon made four tackles. Defensive lineman Shane Mastro, linebacker Nicholas Azpeitia and linebacker Jack Gawlik all had three tackles with Gawlick making an 11-yard tackle for loss on Juniata's last drive while defensive end Sean Agar had a 10-yard sack on the Eagles' final offensive play. Juniata received the opening kickoff but Moravian running back Carrington Smith forced a fumble that was recovered by defensive back Ethan Deater to set the Greyhounds up that Juniata 28-yard line. It took the Hounds five plays to get into the end zone as Diez scored for the first time with 12:12 on the clock. Trevor Yacuboski split the uprights for a quick 7-0 lead for Moravian. The Eagles would answer with a 12-play, 76-yard drive as Calvin Bembry scored on a one-yard run to even the score at 7-7 with 5:22 left in the opening quarter. The Greyhounds marched down the field in nine plays after a 26-yard kickoff return from freshman wide receiver Ethen Aquino. Mills finished off the drive with a 25-yard scoring pass to Petros, his 97th career catch. Yacuboski connected again on the point after for a 14-7 lead for the Blue and Grey with 46 seconds left in the first quarter. Juniata ended up punting on its next possession, but the Eagles would get the ball back when Adam Grajewski intercepted Mills in the red zone. The Eagles would convert the turnover into a game-tying touchdown on a four-yard run by Charles Debose with 5:42 left in the opening half. Moravian punted after three plays on its next drive, and Juniata marched back down the field scored on an eight-yard run by Austin Montgomery with 29 seconds before halftime to head to the locker room with a 21-14 lead. The Greyhounds had the opening possession of the second half and moved into the red zone before settling for a 26-yard field goal by Yacuboski, the first field goal of his career, to cut the deficit to 24-17 with 9:20 to go in the third quarter. The Eagles' first possession of the second half would end with Montgomery connecting on a five-yard touchdown pass to Bembry with 1:39 left in the third quarter as Juniata pulled ahead 28-17. Two plays into the fourth quarter, Mills hit Petros with an eight-yard reception to move the ball past midfield as Petros reached 100 career receptions. Eight plays later, Diez scored on his second one-yard touchdown of the game to make it 28-23. The Greyhounds would go for the two-point conversion, and Mills hit tight end Kevin Brandt to make it 28-25 with 9:57 remaining. Juniata would run just three plays before punting the ball back to Moravian. The Greyhounds began on their own 32-yard line. After a pair of Mills to Petros completions, Deiz had carries of six and 23 yards to move the ball down to the Juniata 23-yard line. Mills found Lelie with an 11-yard pass to get inside the 10-yard line before Diez carried three straight times to get into the end zone with 2:48 to play with the go-ahead touchdown. Yacuboski connected on his third extra-point of the afternoon to make it a 32-28 lead. The Eagles picked up two first downs to move the ball across midfield before Gawlik had his tackle for loss. After two completions, Agar came up with a sack of Montgomery to give the Hounds the ball back at the Juniata 47-yard line. Mills would kneel down three times to run out the clock.