EWING, N.J. --- The Moravian University football team fell to host The College of New Jersey, 31-13, in non-conference action to kick off the 2022 season Saturday afternoon in the first-ever meeting between the schools on the gridiron.

How It Happened

• The Hounds had the opening possession of the season but would punt after three plays. The Lions responded with a 12-play, 55-yard drive to take a 7-0 lead with 8:31 to play in the first quarter on a one-yard touchdown run
• Moravian was forced to punt again; however, the defense forced TCNJ to turn the ball over on downs. The Blue and Grey moved 26 yards in seven plays and brought on sophomore Sam Bingaman, who split the uprights with a 41-yard field goal in his first field goal attempt as a Greyhound to cut the deficit to 7-3 with two minutes to play in the opening quarter
• The Lions extended their advantage to 14-3 on their first possession of the second quarter, capping a six-play, 55-yard drive with another one-yard touchdown run with 12:20 before the intermission
• Moravian's next drive saw sophomore quarterback Jared Jenkins find junior wide receiver Brad Bryan with a 44-yard pass to get the Hounds just outside the red zone. Bingaman came on to drill a 24-yard field goal with 6:53 left in the opening half to cut the Lions' lead to 14-6
• The Greyhounds' defense came up with the first turnover of the season when graduate student defensive back Romello Walters recovered a fumble on a fourth down play by TCNJ; however, the Blue and Grey were unable to capitalize on the turnover
• The Lions took the opening kickoff of the second half and drove down for their third touchdown of the game to extend the edge to 21-6 with 12:43 on the clock after a six-play, 67-yard drive, this score coming on a two-yard run
• TCNJ turned an interception into another touchdown with just nine seconds left in the third quarter with a two-yard run pushing the Lion's advantage to 28-6
• The Hounds found the endzone for the first time with 8:05 left in the contest when Jenkins connected on a seven-yard touchdown pass to senior tight end Chris Carpini to finish off a 15-play, 80-yard drive. Bingaman put the extra point through to make it 28-13
• The Lions finished the scoring with a 40-yard field goal with 2:46 on the clock after a seven-play, 29-yard drive 

Inside the Numbers

• Jenkins connected on 15-of-29 passes for 210 yards with a touchdown and an interception in his first start for the Greyhounds. Jenkins also carried the ball 17 times with a long of 12 yards but he was sacked seven times
• Junior running back Nate Boyle led the Hounds' rushing attack with 59 yards on 24 carries while senior running back Angelo Macera added seven yards on two attempts
• Junior wide receiver Tim Garlick caught six passes for 77 yards while Bryan had four receptions for 83 yards. Sophomore wideout Jordan Lewis grabbed two passes for 22 yards while Boyle added one catch for 21 yards and Carpini had his one catch for a touchdown
• In addition to his two field goals and extra point, Bingaman punted seven times for an average of 39.9 yards with a long of 50 yards. Senior Trevor Yacuboski kicked off four times with an average of 56.5 yards
• Bryan returned a pair of kickoffs for 35 yards while sophomore wide receiver Will Castel added two kickoff returns for 23 yards and freshman wide receiver Tre Crenshaw had one return for 16 yards
• Walters paced the Moravian defense with a game-high 13 tackles to go with his fumble recovery, a forced fumble and a half a tackle for loss. Junior linebacker Nick Levinski added nine tackles with one sack while sophomore defensive back Chad Newhard and junior linebacker Colin Conway each had eight tackles with Conway making one tackle for loss and forcing a fumble and Newhard adding a half a tackle for loss
• Sophomore defensive back Isaiah Johnson contributed seven tackles while sophomore defensive lineman Prince Sokpo had six tackles with one and a half tackles for loss, a sack and a pass break-up. Senior defensive lineman Javi Espinal-Katz, sophomore linebacker Jeremiah Espinosa and freshman defensive lineman Drew Bailey each had four tackles with Espinal-Katz and Bailey combining on a sack. Espinosa also had a tackle for loss while junior defensive back Matt Blazofsky added three tackles and sophomore defensive lineman Jeremy McGuigan had two tackles, a sack and a forced fumble 

Up Next for the Greyhounds

• Saturday, September 10 vs. Gettysburg College, 1:00 p.m.
• Saturday, September 17 at Susquehanna University, 1:00 p.m.