Wednesday, September 25, 2013

LVC Tries To Keep Momentum vs. FDU-Florham

Lebanon Valley hopes to make it two in a row as it hosts FDU-Florham on Saturday. The Dutchmen are coming off a total team win, 38-17, over King's last week that had the Valley firing on all cylinders on both sides of the ball.

Online Video
The game is being video streamed for free on LVCtv at GoDutchmen.com/lvctv.

On the Radio
The game will be broadcast on the Flying Dutchmen Radio Network on WMSS 91.1 FM in Middletown and WWSM 1510 AM. John Wilsbach and Bryan Keyser will call the action. The game will be streamed live and free at WMSSFM.com and GoDutchmen.com.

Weather Forecast
[Forecast] A nice day for football with a high of 72 and partly sunny.

Going to the Game
Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for seniors, $2 for students. Children under 6 free and LVC students are free.

If You Only Know Five Things
The Dutchmen are coming off a comprehensive 38-17 win over King's last week. LVC is trying to start the season 3-1 for the third year in a row.
Lebanon Valley linebacker Frank Gaffney is the reigning MAC Defensive Player of the Week and earned a place on the D3football.com Team of the Week after making three sacks and four tackles for a loss against King's. Quarterback Brian Murphy was named to the MAC Honor Roll for his four-touchdown performance.
FDU-Florham is 1-1 after a season-opening win against TCNJ and a loss last week to Stevenson. The Devils are +4 on turnovers in two games, including six interceptions.
Both LVC and FDU-Florham coaching staffs will wear patches in support of Coach to Cure MD, a national effort to raise awareness for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a rare form of MD that strikes young boys. Seven year-old Levi Hains of South Lebanon will be LVC's honorary captain.
Lebanon Valley is seeking its ninth straight win over the Devils, its longest active winning streak over any opponent.

The LVC-FDU-Florham Series
Today's game is the 17th meeting all-time ... LVC leads the series 11-5 and is carrying an eight-game win streak that stretches back to 2005 ... This will be the 11th consecutive meeting since the series resumed in 2001 ... The first meeting was Oct. 7, 1983 in Madison, an 18-17 LVC win ... Coach Jim Monos is 9-1 against the Devils ... The Dutchmen are 23-9 against New Jersey teams all-time.

Scouting FDU-Florham
The Devils are 1-1 with a season-opening win over TCNJ to their credit, and are coming off a 55-22 loss to Stevenson last week. FDU-Florham is led by quarterback Michael Santos, who has completed 55.7% of his passes for 467 yards and two touchdowns. Santos has also run for two more scores. Craig Kimbrough has rushed for 214 yards and a touchdown to lead the running game. Seven different receivers have catches led by Anthony Fruncillo (12 catches, 135 yards). Defensively, FDU has been outstanding in pass coverage with six interceptions in two games, led by Joe Mancini's pair of picks. Mike Mancino leads the team with 18 tackles.

Last Year vs. FDU-Florham
Tough defense - including four interceptions - complemented a balance offense as Lebanon Valley won 41-14 at FDU-Florham. The Dutchmen held the Devils to just 183 yards of offense in an occasionally sloppy game that saw LVC take full control with a pair of third-quarter touchdowns. Evan Fink scored twice on the ground, and Joey Miller and Jake Zeigler each caught touchdowns to complement a third-quarter Josh Borreli pick-six. Brendan Kain added a fourth-quarter insurance touchdown. LVC rode a balanced rushing attack as four Dutchmen had eight or more touches, led by Kain's career-high 71 yards on 13 carries, and Conrad Heisey '13 had 32 yards also on 13 touches. Zeigler's 113 yards led all receivers.

King's Recap
Brian Murphy threw for 258 yards and four touchdowns to lead Lebanon Valley in a 38-17 win over King's last Saturday. The Dutchman defense limited the Monarchs to just 207 yards, including 48 on the ground, led by Frank Gaffney's 10-tackle, three-sack afternoon. Tyler George caught a pair of touchdowns while Darryl Sweeper and Jake Zeigler each had scores to go with Austin Hartman's rushing TD for LVC. Murphy threw for 258 yards on 11-of-20 passing and four touchdowns, while also rushing for 42 yards. He spread the wealth, finding six different receivers despite only having 11 completions. The LVC defense did not allow a score until a third-quarter field goal, and both of King's touchdowns came in the fourth quarter with the game in hand.

Noting LVC's Offense
LVC is averaging 358 yards and 27 points per game this season ... Brian Murphy threw for a career-high four touchdowns among 11 completions for 258 yards against King's ... Tyler George caught two of the touchdowns, while Jake Zeigler hauled in a 73-yard bomb and Darryl Sweeper caught his second TD of the season ... Zeigler had 100 yards receiving, the third time in his career he's hit the century mark ... Austin Hartman led LVC with 64 yards and a touchdown on the ground, and is expected to start at tailback this week ... Freshman Brendan Irving started at tailback for the first time in his young career against King's... Senior Brendan Kozub made his 25th career start at left guard last week ... Five different receivers have caught touchdowns this season, led by George and Sweeper with two each ... LVC averages 5.1 yards per play.

Noting LVC's Defense
Linebacker Frank Gaffney is coming off a three-sack game against King's, and leads the MAC with five sacks and eight tackles for loss this season ...  LVC's defense recorded nine pass break-ups last week, including three by Zach Wierman, two by Ryan Melley, and two bats at the line by Zach Halpin ... LVC also got 11 tackles for a loss led by Gaffney's four and 1.5 each from Joey Scerbo and Tyler Laudeman ... Laudeman, making his first career start at inside linebacker, had eight tackles and a hurry for Andrew Burkholder, who returns this week ... David Kennedy is second on the team with 22 tackles this season ... Bryan Kasper is third at 21 stops ... LVC held King's to just 48 yards rushing on 33 attempts, and just 207 yards overall.

Noting LVC's Special Teams
Sean Fakete booted his 100th career extra point last week, extending his program career record with five PATs overall ... He also made a 35-yard field goal to move into second on the LVC all-time list ... Matt Richmond and Bryan Ek had a good game last week on returns, with Richmond taking two kicks for 43 yards and Ek one for 30 ... Richmond hauled four punts for a 7.5-yard average.

Gaffney, Murphy Earn Weekly Awards
This week, linebacker Frank Gaffney was named the MAC Defensive Player of the Week and to the D3football.com Team of the Week, and quarterback Brian Murphy to the weekly Honor Roll for their play against King's. Gaffney had a game to remember with 10 tackles and three sacks among four tackles for a loss, while Murphy threw for four touchdowns and 258 yards in the win.

Murphy's Career Game
Brian Murphy had a career game against King's, throwing for four touchdowns and 258 yards on just 11 completions and 20 attempts. He aired out a couple of long TDs, going 35 yards on the run to Tyler George in the end zone and bombing a 73-yarder to Jake Zeigler later in the game. Murphy's game graded out to an impressive QB rating of 229.36 (139.6 on the NFL scale). If you started him on your ESPN D3 Fantasy Football team last week (you did, didn't you?), he'd have scored you 29 points.

Fakete Hits PAT Century Mark
Senior kicker Sean Fakete became the first player in program history to make 100 career PATs, booting five in last week's win over King's. Fakete has 101 on 110 attempts, both program records, and he also moved up to second on the all-time field goal list with his 18th, a 35-yarder.

The Biggest Losers
LVC's front seven made themselves at home in King's backfield, registering 11.0 tackles for a loss overall last week. The last time the Dutchmen did that was in 2010 against Moravian, when they racked up 12.0 TFL and nine sacks in a 21-6 win. That game saw Zach Bleiler '11 tie a then-record with 4.0 sacks (later surpassed by teammate Cory Homer '12's 5.5 against King's in 2011).

Receivers Finding The End Zone
Brian Murphy has spread the love among his receivers this season, and as a result, all four wide-outs on this week's two-deep have caught a touchdown so far this year. Jake Zeigler hauled in his first of the year, a season-best 73-yard bomb, against King's, and Joey Miller had a 70-yarder against Widener. Back-ups Tyler George and Darryl Sweeper each have a pair, with George catching two last week for his first in a Dutchman uniform. Zeigler leads LVC in yardage with 72.7 yards per game, but all four average more than 35 per outing.

Sweep Makes Them Weep
Darryl Sweeper may only have four catches on five targets this year, but he's proven that quality trumps quantity. Among his four catches, the junior has hurt defenses with two touchdowns - a 24-yarder at Widener and a 26-yarder against King's - and he also caught a critical 32-yard pass on 4th-and-15 at Widener that led to a late Jeremy Franck TD.

Irving Makes First Start
With a large roster and full JV program, it's become increasingly rare in recent years for freshmen to make an impact in Jim Monos' system. So when freshman Brendan Irving earned the start at tailback last week against King's, he was the first newcomer to start at the position since Ben Guiles '12 in 2009. Guiles, of course, turned out OK - LVC's all-time leading rusher and touchdown leader, and an all-American in 2011. Irving (83 yds), Austin Hartman (112 yds, 1 TD), and Matt Richmond (52 yds) have rotated in a platoon at running back this year; Hartman, a sophomore transfer, is expected to start vs. FDU-Florham and Richmond started the first two games this season.

Laudeman Shines In Spot Start
LVC was without the services of captain and emotional leader Andrew Burkholder on defense last week due to an injury picked up against Widener, but junior Tyler Laudeman shined in his first career start at inside linebacker, racking up eight tackles (1.5 for a loss) with a hurry in LVC's win over King's.  Burkholder is expected to return this week; this season, Laudeman has 12 tackles with 2.5 for a loss and a sack.

1,000th Game Coming Up
The FDU-Florham game is the 999th in program history, meaning that when the Dutchmen travel to Wilkes next week, it will be a special occasion in the history of the program - the 1,000th game for LVC football. The Valley made their debut on Oct. 16, 1897, with a train trip to face the Carlisle Indian School. Coach Jim Monos, in his 21st season, will have coached 207 of the 1,000 games.

Next Time
LVC hits the road to face Wilkes next weekend.