BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian University football squad opened its 2022 and final Centennial Conference season with a quick start on the way to a 43-28 victory over visiting Gettysburg College at Rocco Calvo Field as the Greyhounds celebrated Family Day and the 1970 Middle Atlantic Conference Championship Team with their original 50th anniversary postponed by the pandemic. 

How It Happened

• The Hounds had the opening possession of the afternoon and drove 80 yards in 11 plays with sophomore quarterback Jared Jenkins hitting sophomore wide receiver Jordan Lewis with a 21-yard touchdown pass to put the Blue and Grey on the scoreboard. Sophomore Sam Bingaman split the uprights as the Greyhounds to a 7-0 lead just 4:39 into action
• Moravian's defense forced a punt on the Bullets' first possession of the game. The Hounds took over at their own seven-yard line and would move to the Gettysburg 40-yard line before facing a fourth-and-three play. Jenkins found junior wide receiver Tim Garlick wide open behind the Gettysburg defense for a 40-yard touchdown pass. Bingaman added the PAT to make it 14-0 with 5:06 left in the opening quarter
• The Greyhounds' defense forced another three-and-punt from Gettysburg. Moravian started at its own 23-yard line and needed one play to stretch the lead as Jenkins connected on a 77-yard catch-and-run touchdown with junior wide receiver Brad Bryan. Bingaman's extra-point made it 21-0 with 2:23 still to go in the opening quarter
• Moravian recovered an onside kick and moved into the red zone before Jenkins was hit and fumbled the ball back to the Bullets
• The squads traded possessions until early in the second quarter. The Hounds' defense forced another punt with sophomore defensive back Joe DeRossi coming through untouched and blocking the punt. Junior linebacker Chris Ortalano scooped up the punt and returned it two yards to the Gettysburg four-yard line to set up the Greyhounds' offense
• The Blue and Grey took just three plays to put the ball in the end zone again as Jenkins hit Bryan with a four-yard touchdown pass. A bad snap didn't allow the Hounds to attempt an extra-point, setting the lead at 27-0 with 11:27 to play in the second quarter
• Moravian's defense continued to not allow Gettysburg to move the ball as the Bullets recorded just 46 yards and one first down in the opening half
• The Greyhounds were back in the red zone looking to extend the lead when Jenkins lost control of the ball while looking to pass and the Bullets scooped up a fumble and raced 93 yards for a score to cut Moravian's edge to 27-7 with 5:59 on the clock
• The Hounds would get one more score before the end of the half with Jenkins finding the end zone for his first rushing touchdown of the year on a seven-yard scamper. Bingaman made it a 34-7 advantage with just nine seconds left before the intermission
• Gettysburg had the ball first in the second half and drove into the red zone before missing a 28-yard field goal while Moravian's first possession of the second half ended with a punt
• The Bullets scored a rushing touchdown with 6:12 left in the third quarter to pull within 34-14
• The Greyhounds answered with a nine-play, 56-yard drive that ended with Bingaman splitting the uprights with a 36-yard field goal to make it 37-14 with 1:13 to go in the third quarter
• Gettysburg continued to move the ball in the second half after switching quarterbacks, and the Bullets found the end zone again early in the fourth quarter to set the score at 37-21
• Moravian countered once again with another long drive, this one covering 80 yards in 13 plays and taking nearly seven minutes off the clock. Junior running back Nate Boyle capped the possession with a three-yard touchdown run. Bingaman extra-point attempt sailed wide as the Blue and Grey led 43-21 with 6:59 remaining
• The Bullets scored the final points of the game with a touchdown coming with just four seconds to play

Inside the Numbers

• Moravian's offense racked up 608 yards on 82 plays, and the last time the Hounds surpassed 600 yards of offense in a game was on November 11, 2016 at Juniata College. The Greyhounds also controlled the clock for 38:24 on Saturday, and the Blue and Grey had a 30-19 edge in first downs
• Defensively, Moravian limited Gettysburg to 381 yards on 58 plays
• Jenkins completed 18-of-24 passes for 321 yards with four touchdowns, and he also ran the ball 16 times for 43 yards and a score
• Boyle registered a career-high 165 yards on 34 carries to go with a touchdown while senior running back Angelo Macera had 79 yards on just eight rushing attempts
• Lewis caught a team-high seven passes for 91 yards and a touchdown while Bryan led the squad with 112 yards and two touchdowns on five catches. Garlick pulled in two passes for 48 yards and a score while Boyle caught a pair of passes for 47 yards. Sophomore wide receiver Nick Weston had one catch for nine yards while sophomore wide receiver Bryan Monge had the first reception of his Moravian career for 14 yards
• In addition to going 4-for-5 on extra points and making his 36-yard field goal attempt, Bingaman punted three times for an average of 43.7 yards. Senior Trevor Yacuboski kicked off seven times for an average of 55.6 yards with one touchback and a successful onside kick
• Freshman wide receiver Tre Crenshaw returned one kickoff for 19 yards while sophomore wide receiver Will Castel had one punt return for two yards
• Junior linebacker Nick Levinski led the Moravian defense with eight tackles while freshman linebacker Clay Basile recorded seven stops with one pass break-up and sophomore defensive back Chad Newhard had five tackles
• Junior linebacker Colin Conway and sophomore defensive lineman Jeremy McGuigan both had four stops while senior defensive lineman Javi Espinal-Katz, senior linebacker Jack Gawlik and junior defensive back Zach Scillia all made three tackles with Gawlik recorded Moravian's only sack of the day and Scillia returning an interception 47 yards
• Sophomore defensive back Isaiah Johnson had two tackles and two pass break-ups while freshman running back Tyler Rohn and DeRossi each had two stops with DeRossi adding the blocked punt

Up Next for the Greyhounds

• Saturday, September 17 at No. 24 Susquehanna University, 1:00 p.m.
• Friday, September 23 at No. 10 Johns Hopkins University, 7:00 p.m.