November 23, 2024
Moravian Races Past Shenandoah to Capture 2024 Cape Charles Bowl Championship; Jenkins Named Most Outstanding Player
SALEM, Va. --- The Moravian University football squad scored the first 21 points on the way to a 35-14 victory over Shenandoah (Va.) University to win the Cape Charles Bowl in the Chesapeake Challenge Bowl Series Saturday evening at Salem (Va.) Stadium.
Moravian University
7-4
35
Shenandoah (Va.) University
8-3
14
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
7 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 35 |
|
|
0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Shenandoah (Va.) University
Pa:
Steven Hugney
- 207
Ru:
Bryce Buchanan
- 116
Rec:
Broden Domenico
- 99
Team Stats
| Game Statistics | Moravian University | Shenandoah (Va.) University |
|---|---|---|
| Passing Yards | 234 | 207 |
| Rushing Yards | 129 | 159 |
| Turnovers | 1 | 4 |
| Time of Poss. | 31:02 | 28:58 |
SALEM, Va. --- The Moravian University football squad scored the first 21 points on the way to a 35-14 victory over Shenandoah (Va.) University to win the Cape Charles Bowl in the Chesapeake Challenge Bowl Series Saturday evening at Salem (Va.) Stadium.
How It Happened
- The Greyhounds received the opening kickoff and picked up one first down before punting while the Hornets gained one first down and turned the ball over on downs after a bad snap as Shenandoah lined up to punt
- The Hounds took over at the Hornets' ten-yard line and faced fourth-and-goal when senior quarterback Jared Jenkins found graduate student wide receiver Jordan Bingham with a six-yard touchdown pass. Freshman kicker Jack Corrigan made the extra-point to give the Blue & Grey a 7-0 lead with 9:16 left in the first quarter
- Shenandoah put together a 10-play, 57-yard drive to get into the red zone before turning the ball over on an incomplete pass on fourth-and-three from the Moravian seven-yard line
- The Blue & Grey were unable to move the ball and punted after three plays
- The Hornets moved the ball into the red zone again before a sack from senior linebacker Chris Cacace forced Shenandoah to settle for a 38-yard field goal attempt that was wide right into the wind
- Moravian would convert the stop into points with a 14-play, 79-yard drive capped off with Jenkins throwing a two-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Diego Del Castillo. Corrigan split the uprights again for a 14-0 advantage with 4:02 until the intermission
- The Hounds defense got the ball back for the Blue & Grey after four plays as sophomore defensive back Cleveland Harding intercepted a pass and returned it seven yards to the Shenandoah 36-yard line
- Jenkins needed six plays to fine the end zone as he hit Del Castillo again with a 13-yard score on fourth-and-four. Corrigan sent the Hounds to the intermission with a 21-0 lead after making the extra-point
- Shenandoah started the second half with the ball and marched 75 yards in six plays to cut the Hounds' edge to 21-7
- The Greyhounds looked to answer but turned the ball over on downs at the Shenandoah 29-yard line after picking up 48 yards
- Moravian got the ball right back as sophomore defensive back Aidan Lane intercepted the Hornets' first play of the drive at the Shenandoah 47-yard line
- The Blue & Grey needed six plays to push the lead back to 21 points as Jenkins connected with sophomore wide receiver Avery Koser on a five-yard scoring pass. Corrigan's PAT restored a 28-7 edge with 4:40 to go in the third quarter
- After the Hornets punted after three plays, Moravian found the end zone one more time to finish off a six-play, 63-yard drive. Jenkins hooked up with Bingham on a 45-yard catch and run for the score as Bingham set the single season record with his 12th touchdown catch of 2024 and the Moravian career record with his 21st career touchdown reception. Corrigan's extra-point made it 35-7 with just five seconds left in the third quarter
- Shenandoah looked like it was going to cut into the deficit early in the fourth quarter when sophomore defensive back Antonio Bowen intercepted a pass and returned it 81 yards to the Hornets' five-yard line. However, Jenkins was intercepted in the end zone on the Hounds' first play to give the ball back to Shenandoah
- The Hornets drove into the red zone again when Lane intercepted a tipped pass in the end zone and returned it 50 yards to midfield. Moravian moved into the red zone looking to extend the lead before a fourth down pass at the 16-yard line fell incomplete
- Shenandoah went 84 yards in nine plays for the final touchdown of the game, cutting the Greyhounds' advantage to 35-14 with 1:32 remaining
- After the kickoff, Moravian kneeled down twice to run out the clock
- Jenkins was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Game as he completed 27-of-37 passes for 234 yards with five touchdowns, and he also ran for 75 yards on 11 carries
- Moravian won its first Chesapeake Challenge Bowl Series Game to give the Landmark Conference a 3-1 record over the Old Dominion Athletic Conference in the first two years of a four-year agreement
- The Hounds were in the postseason for the first time since 2015 and are now 4-9 all-time in the postseason. Moravian's last postseason victory was a 26-14 win at Wilkes University in the 2010 ECAC Division III Southeast Bowl
Inside the Numbers
- The Greyhounds had 363 yards of total offense on 66 plays while controlling the clock for 31:02. The Blue & Grey had 129 yards on the ground and 234 in the air
- Jenkins finished the season with single season school records of 265 completions, 387 attempts, 2,892 yards and 33 touchdowns as he became just the fourth quarterback to surpass 6,000 yards as he is second all-time with 6,221 yards to go with a school record 64 touchdown passes
- Del Castillo caught six passes for 66 yards with his two touchdowns, which tied the previous single season school record of 11 until Bingham broke it later in the game. Bingham had just two receptions, but they were both touchdowns totaling 51 yards as he became the sixth player in school history to surpass 1,700 yards with 1,717 yards on 144 receptions, third all-time, in just 20 career games
- Koser caught five passes for 44 yards and his touchdown while junior running back Isiah Rico had five catches for 28 yards to go with five rushing attempts for 28 yards
- Freshman running back Jed Bendekovits pulled in four receptions for 17 yards and rushed for 11 yards on six carries while freshman wide receiver Josh Ludlow and senior wide receiver Bryan Monge both had two catches for 12 yards
- Graduate student running back Joey Richmond ran for 34 yards on seven carries while catching one pass for four yards, and freshman quarterback Declan McCarthy added five yards on one rushing attempt
- Corrigan was five-for-five on extra-points, and he punted twice for an average of 36.5 yards and kicked off six times for an average of 61.3 yards and four touchbacks
- Senior wide receiver Will Castel returned one kickoff for 14 yards while freshman wide receiver Justin Wistuba had one kickoff return for a yard
- Senior defensive back Isaiah Johnson led Moravian with seven tackles including a tackle for loss of 32 yards on the bad snap on Shenandoah's first punt attempt
- Senior linebacker Chad Newhard, senior defensive lineman Jeremy McGuigan and junior linebacker Clay Basile all made five stops with McGuigan and Basile each adding a half a tackle for loss
- Junior defensive lineman Jashon Teller, junior defensive back Dorian Gray and freshman linebacker Malachi McNeil-Harrison each posted four tackles with McNeil-Harrison recording one and a half tackle for loss, Teller making one tackle for loss and Gray adding a half a tackle for loss
- Freshman defensive lineman Matthew Martinez and Lane both made three tackles with Lane adding two interceptions with 50 return yards
- With Bowen's and Harding's interceptions, the Moravian defense made four interceptions for the first time since 2019 when the squad picked off five passes against Dickinson College
- Cacace had a forced fumble and a sack among his two tackles
Up Next for the Greyhounds
- Season Complete
