Greyhounds Head to Keystone to Begin 2024 Landmark Conference Season on October 5

BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian University football team opens the 2024 Landmark Conference season with a trip to Keystone College on Saturday, October 5. Kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m. at the Giants' Turf Athletic Complex.

THE COACHES: Jeff Long (Muhlenberg '14) is entering his second season as Moravian's head coach. Last fall in his debut campaign, Long led the Greyhounds to a 6-8 overall record and a 3-3 slate in the inaugural Landmark Conference season. He coached eight Landmark All-Conference selections including five First Team honorees. Long has spent the last six seasons with the Blue Streaks including the last three years as defensive coordinator. He began his time at John Carroll as the defensive line coach and has also been a secondary coach and linebackers coach. Prior to coaching at John Carroll, Long spent two seasons as a defensive line coach at Wilkes University, and he also worked as a scouting intern for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2015.

     Keystone coach Justin Higgins (Ithaca, 2000) is in his fourth year as head coach with a record of 6-28. 

THE SERIES: Saturday's meeting is the second meeting between the schools with Moravian holding a 1-0 lead after a 58-34 victory last fall in the first-ever Landmark Conference game.

GREYHOUNDS IN THE LANDMARK CONFERENCE: The Greyhounds will compete in the Landmark Conference this fall for the second straight season. The Hounds were selected third in the preseason coaches poll while the Giants were picked sixth. The Landmark Conference has announced it will be adding an eighth team in 2025 with Western Connecticut State University becoming an associate member.

BALANCED & EXPERIENCED 'HOUNDS: Of the 102 players on the Moravian roster, 50 are freshmen, 16 are sophomores and 15 are juniors. There are 17 seniors and four graduate students on this season's squad, and the Greyhounds return 43 letterwinners and 13 starters from 2023.

2024 CAPTAINS: The Hounds have named graduate student wide receiver Jordan Bingham, senior quarterback Jared Jenkins, senior offensive lineman Reins Leedy, senior defensive lineman Jeremy McGuigan and junior running back Isiah Rico as captains for the 2024 season.

THE QUARTERBACKS: Senior Jared Jenkins has completed 91-of-140 passes for 953 yards with five touchdowns and one interception, and Jenkins has run the ball 32 times for five yards while being sacked ten times. Freshman Declan McCarthy is 2-for-4 for 42 yards, and he has 55 yards on ten rushing attempts and one reception for a yard. 

THE BACKFIELD: Junior Isiah Rico leads the rushing attack with 101 yards and a touchdown on 35 attempts while graduate student Joey Richmond has added 100 yards on 26 carries. Junior Camron Tinajero has 34 yards and two touchdowns on seven attempts while sophomore Cole Maholtz has 24 yards on six carries and freshman wide receiver Jacob Sutton has run the ball three times.

THE OFFENSIVE LINE: Moravian has four returning starters on the offensive line in seniors Reins Leedy, Brandon Guffy and Paul DeFalco and sophomore Mason Ludlow, and the quartet is joined by freshman Jake Englehart . Senior Dalton Kucher also has starting experience while junior Drew Brizan saw action a year ago. 

THE WIDE RECEIVERS: The Greyhounds have 14 players that have caught a pass in 2024 led by graduate student Jordan Bingham, who has 32 receptions for 258 yards. Senior Diego Del Castillo has 17 catches for 252 yards and two touchdowns while sophomore Avery Koser has 11 catches for 157 yards and a touchdown. Senior Bryan Monge has added 10 receptions for 129 yards and a score while sophomore Nick Coffaro has five catches for 27 yards. Freshman Josh Ludlow has four receptions for 43 yards while graduate student running back Joey Richmond has three catches for 22 yards and a touchdown and junior running back Isiah Rico has two receptions for 33 yards. Freshman Jacob Sutton has two receptions for 18 yards while junior wide receiver Ryan Frinzi has added two receptions for 10 yards, and he also has one rushing attempt for 11 yards. Senior wide receiver Will Castel has one catch for 22 yards while junior running back Camron Tinajero has one reception for nine yards.

DEFENSIVE FRONT: Senior Jeremy McGuigan leads the defensive linemen with 15 tackles, a half a tackle for loss, a pass break-up and a blocked kick versus Utica (N.Y.) University while junior Nathan Carr has 14 tackles with six for loss and a half a sack. Graduate student Ian Brunner has posted seven tackles with a forced fumble and a blocked kick versus Utica while junior EJ Harvey and freshman Ryan Burns each have five stops. Senior Drew Bailey has contributed three tackles and a quarterback hurry while freshman Hunter Johnson has three tackles. Sophomore EJ Boney and sophomore Logan Arteaga have both recorded two stops while freshman Matthew Martinez has one tackle. 

THE LINEBACKER CORPS: Freshman Malachi McNeil-Harrison leads the linebackers and the entire defense with 26 stops on the year with four and a half tackles for loss, four sacks, three passes defended, a forced fumble and an interception on the final play versus Utica. Senior Chris Cacace has 24 tackles with two and a half for loss, one and a half sacks and a pass break-up while junior Clay Basile has contributed 22 tackles with two for loss and a pass break-up. Senior Chad Newhard has made 19 tackles including one for loss while junior Ethan O'Neill has recorded 17 tackles. Junior Jashon Teller has made 11 stops with a tackle for loss while graduate student Declan Coors has four tackles with a tackle for loss. Senior Jeremiah Espinosa has added two tackles while freshman Sahmad Bailey has one stop.

THE DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD: Sophomore Aidan Lane leads the defensive backs with 25 tackles including one for loss and two pass break-ups while sophomore Antonio Bowen has contributed 13 stops to go along with an interception and a fumble recovery. Senior Isaiah Johnson has added 11 tackles, a tackle for loss, a sack, three pass break-ups and a blocked extra-point at SUNY Morrisville while junior Shea Endean has ten stops and six pass break-ups. Sophomore Anderson Louis Jeune has added five tackles with a pass break-up while junior Dorian Gray has six tackles with a pass break-up. Sophomore Elijah Fajardo has made two stops while freshman defensive back Antonio Rivera has one tackle.

KICKING GAME: Freshman Ryan Child is 1-for-4 on extra-points of the season. Freshman Jack Corrigan has punted 18 times this fall for an average of 45.0 yards with a long of 71 yards on his second career attempt, and he has seven punts of more than 50 yards and three longer than 60 yards. Corrigan has four touchbacks, one fair caught and six punts inside the 20-yard line, and he has kicked off 11 times for an average of 58.8 yards and three touchbacks. Corrigan is 2-for-2 on extra points and has had his only field goal attempt of the year blocked.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Freshman wide receiver Josh Ludlow has nine kickoff returns for 200 yards and a pair of punts for 16 yards while freshman wide receiver Jacob Sutton has two kickoff return for 43 yards and freshman defensive back Antonio Rivera has one kickoff return for 23 yards. Senior wide receiver Will Castel has three punt returns for six yards while graduate student wide receiver Jordan Bingham has added one tackle on special teams. Freshman long snapper Connor Pennington and junior running back Parker Miller both have one tackle on special teams.

MILESTONE WATCH: The Greyhounds have a pair of student-athletes closing in on milestones for their careers. Graduate student wide receiver Jordan Bingham became the 23rd player in program history to reach 1,000 career receiving yards, now with 1,088 yards, and he needs 413 yards to become the 12th player to 1,500 yards. Bingham also has become the 12th player to reach 100 career receptions with 101 catches, which is tied for 11th, in 13 games. Senior quarterback Jared Jenkins is ranked eighth in program history with 4,287 passing yards, and he needs 713 yards passing to become the sixth player in to reach 5,000 yards. Jenkins is also seventh all-time in completions with 375, eighth in program history with 593 pass attempts and tied for fifth in school history with 36 touchdown passes. Freshman punter Jack Corrigan booted the fourth-longest punt in school history on his second attempt versus Muhlenberg College in the opener with the ball traveling 71 yards, and he has three punts over 65 yards and seven of his 18 punts have been longer than 50 yards.

SCOUTING KEYSTONE COLLEGE: The Giants enter the game at 1-3 overall after a 52-9 non-conference loss to Hobart (N.Y.) College last Saturday. Senior quarterback Donald Leach leads Keystone on the field, and he has completed 63-of-113 passes for 898 yards with eight touchdowns and eight interceptions, and Leach has also run for 179 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries. His top targets have been senior wide receiver Jayson Nami, who has 18 receptions for 303 yards and four touchdowns, senior wide receiver Jorden Cook, who has nine catches for 146 yards and a score, senior wide receiver Da'Juan Vales, who has caught nine passes for 105 yards and a touchdown, senior wide receiver Chanz Stevens, who has nine receptions for 75 yards, and senior tight end Reese Karp, who has six catches for 79 yards. Senior running back Mujaheed Muhammad leads the Giants' rushing attack with 494 yards and five touchdowns on 78 carries, and he has also caught seven passes for 102 yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore wide receiver Stephen Tatum has returned 11 kickoffs for 201 yards while sophomore defensive back Isaiah Terry has seven punt returns for 66 yards. Junior kicker/punter Jeremiah Ortiz is 12-for-13 on extra points and 4-for-5 on field goal attempts with a long of 39 yards, and he has kicked off 14 times for an average of 48.7 yards. Ortiz has punted seven times for an average of 30.14 yards with two fair caught. Senior linebacker Keith Johnson leads the Keystone defense with 25 tackles to go with one and a half tackles for loss while senior linebacker Quentin Tibbs has 22 tackles with one and a half for loss, one sack and a forced fumble. Graduate student defensive back CJ Riccobono has made 20 tackles with a half a tackle for loss, two interceptions and four passes defended while Terry has contributed 19 tackles and a pass break-up. Senior defensive back Mar-zhon Brinson and senior defensive lineman Tyler Malanga each have 18 stops with Malanga adding two tackle for loss and a sack and Brinson making one and a half tackles for loss.

THE LAST TIME THEY MET: In Bethlehem last fall, Moravian scored 29 points in the second quarter on the way to posting a 58-34 victory over Keystone College in the first-ever Landmark Conference game at Rocco Calvo Field. The Hounds received the opening kickoff for the fifth straight week, and the squad picked up three first downs before quarterback Jared Jenkins had a pass intercepted on fourth down deep in Keystone territory. Two plays after the turnover, the Giants threw a wide receiver option pass for an 81-yard score. Keystone missed the extra-point to lead 6-0 with 9:37 to go in the first quarter. Moravian answered back with a nine-play, 61-yard drive that Jenkins capped off with a four-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Brad Bryan. Running back Nate Boyle slipped the extra-point through the uprights to put the Hounds up 7-6 with 6:03 left in the opening stanza. Keystone took the next kickoff and was driving down the field into the red zone. However, on the second play of the second quarter, Moravian defensive back Shea Endean stepped in front of a pass and raced 82 yards to turn the interception into points. It was the Greyhounds' first interception return for a touchdown since October 5, 2013 when Richard Kugel had a 35-yard TD return versus Ursinus College. Boyle's extra-point kick hit the crossbar and bounced through to give Moravian a 14-6 lead with 14:08 left in the second quarter. The Giants answered back in just three plays with a one-yard scoring run making it 14-12 at the 12:52 mark. Moravian punted on its next possession, and Keystone drove the field to score on a five-yard touchdown run and two-point conversion to retake the lead 20-14. After a 23-yard kickoff return from wide receiver Nick Coffaro, the Greyhounds needed just five plays to get into the end zone on a 21-yard touchdown run off the left side from running back Camron Tinajero. The Hounds missed the extra-point to keep the score tied at 20-20 at the 7:09 mark of the second quarter. Keystone hit on a 64-yard touchdown pass just three plays later and added the extra-point for a 27-20 edge with 5:42 still to play in the first half. Moravian retook the lead for good on its next drive as Jenkins capped off the possession with a 39-yard touchdown strike to Coffaro. Boyle ran in the two-point conversion for a 28-27 advantage with 3:23 until halftime. The Hounds defense forced the Giants into a three-and-out to get the ball back with 1:44 on the clock. Jenkins put together an 11-play, 64-yard drive that saw him rush into the end zone on a four-yard scoring run as time expired in the first half. Jenkins then hit Boyle with the two-point conversion pass to send the Blue & Grey to the locker room with a 36-27 lead. Moravian's defense forced Keystone to punt on the opening possession of the second half. The Greyhounds' offense continued to roll after the break with a 10-play, 75-yard drive that Jenkins finished off with a 12-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jordan Bingham. Jenkins hit Bryan with the two-point conversion to stretch the lead to 44-27 with 8:07 to go in the third quarter. Keystone punted after just three plays to give the ball back to the Hounds. Moravian needed seven plays to find the end zone once again with Boyle running in the final eight yards for the score. Jenkins found wide receiver Tim Garlick with the two-point conversion pass to push the advantage to 52-27 with 3:46 still to play in the third stanza. The Greyhounds scored their final points on the first play of the fourth quarter as Jenkins hit quarterback/kicker Avery Koser with a five-yard touchdown pass. Jenkins nearly made it into the end zone for the two-point conversion but was called down just short to set the score at 58-27. Keystone added the final points with 4:25 left in the contest on a 27-yard touchdown run to get the final at 58-34. The Greyhounds racked up 533 yards of total offense on 78 plays including a season-high 239 yards on the ground to go with 294 through the air. Moravian had 29 first downs in the game and held the ball for 32:50, the fourth time this fall that the Blue & Grey have won the time of possession battle. The 58 points for Moravian were the most since scoring 59 in a 59-23 win over Gettysburg College at Rocco Calvo Field on September 29, 2018. Jenkins was 27-for-40 for 294 yards with four touchdowns and an interception, and he also rushed for 53 yards and a score on seven carries. Boyle led the rushing attack with 107 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries, his first 100-yard game of the season and sixth of his career, to go along with one reception for eight yards, two extra-points and a pair of two-point conversions, one rushing and one receiving. Tinajero raced for 74 yards on 12 carries including his first career touchdown, and he added two receptions for 15 yards and a kickoff return for 12 yards. Running back Mike Willis (Cedar Grove, N.J./Cedar Grove HS) contributed four yards on one carry while running back Parker Miller gained a yard on his only attempt and returned a kickoff for eight yards. Bingham had his second 11-reception game in three weeks as he caught 11 passes for 103 yards and a touchdown. He missed tying the school record for catches in a game by one. Bryan grabbed four passes for 46 yards, a touchdown and a two-point conversion while Garlick had four catches for 30 yards and a two-point conversion. Wide receiver Jordan Lewis grabbed three passes for 48 yards while Coffaro scored on his only reception of 39 yards, and he returned a pair of kickoffs for 36 yards. Koser had one catch for five yards and a touchdown, and he kicked off for the first time this season for Moravian, averaging 56.2 yards on eight kickoffs. Defensive back/punter Colin Conway averaged 35.8 yards on four punts with a long of 41 yards and one inside the 20-yard line. Linebacker Clay Basile led the Greyhounds' defense with eight tackles including one for loss while linebacker Chris Ortalano and defensive back Isaiah Johnson both had seven stops with Johnson adding a pass breakup. Linebacker Ethan O'Neill contributed six tackles with a half a tackle for loss while defensive lineman Jeremy McGuigan added five stops with a sack and one and a half tackle for loss. Linebacker Jackson Lake also made five tackles while Conway, linebacker Jeremiah Espinosa and defensive lineman Cavin King all had four stops with Espinosa adding a tackle for loss and Conway breaking two passes. Koser contributed three tackles on special teams while defensive back Elijah Fajardo, defensive lineman Nathan Carr and linebacker Jashon Teller all made three stops with Fajardo adding a pass breakup and Carr and Teller each recording a tackle for loss. Endean had two tackles to go with his interception return for a touchdown. The Greyhounds were playing their first Landmark Conference game with the conference adding the sport this fall. The Hounds had competed as an associate member of the Centennial Conference for 15 years after a long tenure as a member of the Middle Atlantic Conference through the 2007 season.

OVERTIME 'HOUNDS: Moravian has played a total of 12 overtime games since the NCAA instituted the rule for the 1996 season and is 9-3 all-time in the extra-session including a pair of overtimes wins in 2021. Five of those 12 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 2021 season marked the fourth year that Moravian has played at least two overtimes games in one season, the other years were 2008 when the Hounds played two overtime contests, 1999 when the Greyhounds played three overtime games and 1997 when Moravian played two overtime contests.

THE LANDMARK CONFERENCE STATISTICAL RANKINGS: The Greyhounds rank fifth in the Landmark Conference in total offense at 328.0 yards per game after week four, and the Hounds are second in passing offense at 248.8 yards per contest. Moravian's defense is first in the conference at 298.0 yards per game, and the squad is first in rushing defense at 110.0 yards per contest, second in passing defense at 188.0 yards per outing and first in points per game allowed at 19.8. The Blue & Grey lead the Landmark Conference in net punting at 38.0 yards per punt and red zone defense at 58.3 percent. Senior quarterback Jared Jenkins is third in the Landmark Conference in passing yards per game at 238.3, and he is first in completions with 91, first in attempts with 140, second in yards with 953 and fifth in passing efficiency with a 132.5 rating. Graduate student wide receiver Jordan Bingham is first in receptions per game at 8.0 and fifth in reception yards per game at 64.5 while senior wide receiver Diego Del Castillo is sixth in receiving yards at 63.0 and tied for sixth in receptions per contest at 4.3. Freshman wide receiver Josh Ludlow is fourth in the Landmark Conference in kickoff return average at 22.2 yards per return on five attempts. Freshman punter Jack Corrigan leads the Landmark Conference in punting with an average of 45.0 yards per punt. Freshman linebacker Malachi McNeil-Harrison is first in the conference at 1.0 sacks per game, and he is tied for sixth in tackles for loss at 1.13 per outing and tied for tenth in stops per game at 6.5. Sophomore defensive back Aidan Lane is tied for 12th with 6.3 tackles per contest while senior linebacker Chris Cacace is tied for 16th at 6.0 tackles per outing. Junior Nathan Carr is tied for second in tackles for loss with 1.5 per outing while junior defensive back Shea Endean is second the conference lead in passes defended with 1.50 per contest. McNeil-Harrison is tied for sixth at 0.75 passes defended per outing, and both he and sophomore defensive back Antonio Bowen are tied for third in interceptions per game at 0.25.

THE NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS: Moravian is tied for eighth in NCAA Division III in blocked kicks with the Greyhounds blocking three kicks so far this fall. The Hounds are also tied for 16th in fewest passes intercepted with one and 33rd in red zone defense at 58.3%, allowing scores on just seven of opponents' 12 trips to the red zone. Freshman punter Jack Corrigan ranks fifth in the nation in NCAA Division III with an average of 45.0 yards per punt. Graduate student wide receiver Jordan Bingham is 13th in the country in receptions per game at 8.0 while senior quarterback Jared Jenkins is 17th in completions per game at 22.50, 24th in passing yards with 958 and 47th in passing yards per game at 239.5 yards per outing. Freshman linebacker Malachi McNeil-Harrison is tied for 33rd in sacks per game with an average of 1.0 while junior defensive back Shea Endean is tied for 49th in the nation in passes defended with 1.5 per contest.