Moravian Tops Dickinson, 21-13, in Centennial Conference Action

BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Sophomore quarterback Jimmy Lahue opened the scoring with a one-yard touchdown run and then sealed the game with a 32-yard touchdown pass to lead the Moravian College football team to a 21-13 Centennial Conference win over visiting Dickinson College on Family Day at Rocco Calvo Field Saturday.

The game didn't start well for either offense. The Red Devils, now 2-2 overall and 2-1 in Centennial Conference action, received the opening kickoff but on their second play of the game, sophomore quarterback Cole Ahnell was intercepted by Moravian freshman Brendan Downey to set the Moravian offense up at the Dickinson 30-yard line. The Greyhounds, who are also 2-2 overall and 2-1 in Centennial Conference play, would get off just one play as Lahue was sacked and fumbled on a hit from Dickinson senior defensive lineman Schulyer Simpson. Red Devils sophomore defensive lineman Nate Detwiler recovered the ball at the Dickinson 31.

Each team would run three plays before punting on their next possessions in the opening quarter. Dickinson picked up the games' initial first down on a nine-yard pass from Ahnell to senior running back Shea Licata on the Red Devils third drive; however, Dickinson would end up punting on the possession.

Moravian's third drive of the game would see a pair of first downs on a 15-yard run from senior running back Joe Tegan and a fake punt run for seven yards by senior punter Tyler Thompson. The Greyhounds would settle for a punt at the end of the first quarter with Thompson's 43-yard punt downed at the Dickinson five-yard line.

On the second play of the second quarter, Ahnell dropped back to pass and fumbled when he was sacked by Moravian sophomore defensive lineman Nick Melillo. The Greyhounds would land on the ball at the Dickinson one-yard line when sophomore defensive lineman Andrew Richmond recovered his second fumble of the season for Moravian.

The Greyhounds needed two rushing attempts by Lahue from the one-yard line to get on the scoreboard first. Thompson would add the extra-point to give Moravian a 7-0 lead with 13:34 left in the second quarter.

After punts from each squad, Dickinson started from its own 48-yard line with 7:48 before the intermission. The Red Devils would need ten plays to tie the game. On third-and-five from the Moravian 23-yard line, Ahnell through a lateral to sophomore wide receiver Eric Ondo on the left sideline, and Ondo turned and tossed a 23-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Matt Wood. Sophomore kicker Adam Kaminski added the extra-point to knot the score at 7-7 with 3:07 to go in the first half.

Moravian punted on its final possession of the first half while Dickinson would have a shot to score before halftime. However, Ahnell's pass to the end zone on the final play of the half was intercepted by Greyhounds' senior defensive back Rees Judge at the one-yard line, and Judge returned the ball 33 yards as the clock ran out to keep the game 7-7 at the break.

The Greyhounds would receive the opening kickoff of the second half and need just five plays to retake the lead. On a third-and-one at the Moravian 46-yard line, Tegan would break through the left side and head to the far sideline before outrunning the Dickinson defense 54 yards for the touchdown, he second score of over 50 yards this season. Thompson's extra-point put the Greyhounds ahead 14-7 with 12:19 to go in the third quarter. Tegan finished the game with his second 100-yard contest of the year with 115 yards and a score on just 18 carries.

Dickinson would settle for a punt on its first possession in the second half while the Greyhounds next drive would end on downs at the Dickinson 25-yard line.

The Red Devils would take over from their and drive 57 yards on nine plays to get onto the scoreboard again when Kaminski connected on a 35-yard field goal with just 14 seconds left in the third quarter to cut Moravian's lead to 14-10.

The Greyhounds answered right back and took just four plays to cover 72 yards to the end zone. Lahue found freshman wide receiver Jimmy McCarthy with a 37-yard catch-and-run on a third-and seven. On the next play, Lahue did a play fake to Tegan before finding freshman wide receiver Jason Fuehring wide open down the middle of the field for a 32-yard touchdown pass. Thompson put the extra-point through the uprights to improve Moravian's lead to 21-10 with 13:32 remaining in the contest.

Dickinson would start at its own 18-yard line on the ensuing drive, and the Red Devils moved to the other end of the field in the red zone in seven plays including a 43-yard pass from Ahnell to Wood. However, the Moravian defense stiffened inside the five-yard line and forced the Red Devils to settle for a 21-yard field goal from Kaminski with 8:51 to play and making the score 21-13 Moravian.

On the next three possessions in the game, Moravian punted twice while Dickinson would punt once. The Red Devils also turned the ball over on downs at their own 42-yard line with 1:42 remaining when Ahnell's pass attempt to Wood for a first down was broken up by Moravian senior defensive back Rocco Del Priore.

The Greyhounds would get a first down by penalty before Lahue took a knee to end the game. Moravian picked up 261 yards on 52 plays with Lahue completing ten-of-16 passes for 129 yards with a touchdown, and he added a rushing touchdown while being sacked five times. McCarthy caught four passes for 65 yards while freshman wide receiver Will McLaughlin added two catches for 17 yards. Senior running back C.J. Billera added 17 yards on five rushing attempts.

Dickinson finished the game with 118 more yards of offense than Moravian, and the Red Devils also had the ball for 35:04 in the contest. Ahnell was 15-for-25 for 209 yards with two interceptions, and he was sacked three times while leading the Dickinson rushing attack with 54 yards on 17 carries. Licata added 53 yards on 15 attempts. Wood caught four passes for 87 yards and a score while Ondo had four receptions for 38 yards to go with his touchdown pass to Wood. Junior wide receiver Colin Rodgers also pulled in four catches for the Red Devils for 32 yards.

The Moravian defense, which forced three turnovers to raise its season total in takeaways to 11 in four games, was led by Downey, who made a game high 13 tackles with a half a tackle for loss to go with his interception. Junior defensive back Brandon Lesko added with tackles while senior linebacker Tyler Potterton added six stops with a sack and one and a half tackles for loss. Sophomore linebacker Ed Bouye had six tackles in his first career starter while Del Priore had five tackles with a tackle for loss and his pass breakup. Melillo also had five tackles with the sack and forced fumble while senior linebacker Luke Trexler, sophomore linebackers Kevin Bracken and Richard Kugel and freshman defensive lineman Adonis Cannon each had five tackles with Bracken adding a tackle for loss and Kugel contributing a half a tackle for loss.

Simpson led the Dickinson defense with ten tackles including two and a half tackles for loss, two sacks and a forced fumble while sophomore defensive back Connor Thompson had eight stops with a half a tackle for loss. Junior linebacker Michael Miller contributed seven tackles with one for loss for the Red Devils while junior defensive lineman Walker Moriarty had six tackles to go with two sacks and a forced fumble. Senior defensive back Marek Laco also had six stops for Dickinson.

Moravian is scheduled to return to action on Saturday, September 29th in a Centennial Conference game at Ursinus College kicking off at 12:00 p.m. in Collegeville.