Wednesday, October 2, 2013

LVC Visits Wilkes For Historic 1,000th Game

Lebanon Valley will try to go to 4-1 when it travels to Wilkes to play the 1,000th game in program history. The Dutchmen throttled FDU-Florham 65-21 last week, while Wilkes beat Misericordia 33-14.

Online Video
The game is being video streamed for free courtesy of GoWilkesU.com.

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] Partly cloudy and a high of 79 degrees.

Going to the Game
[Driving Directions] Tickets are $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, and $3 for students.

If You Only Know Five Things
The Dutchmen are coming off a record-smashing 65-21 win over FDU-Florham, their highest point toal since 1924 behind twin four-touchdown, 100+ yard games by Austin Hartman and Brendan Irving.
The Wilkes game is the 1,000th in program history. LVC has played football since 1897.
LVC is 3-1 for the third straight season, and is trying to go 4-1 for the first time since 2011.
Each of the last seven meetings between LVC and Wilkes have been decided by a single score, including a pair of overtime games in that span. Last year's eight-point, 21-13 win by LVC was the widest margin of victory in the series since 2005.
Austin Hartman and Kevin Antol were named to the MAC Weekly Honor Roll on Sunday for their play against FDU-Florham. LVC has had a MAC honoree in three of the last four weeks.

The LVC-Wilkes Series
The game is the 42nd meeting all-time ... Wilkes leads the series 23-18 ... This will be the 16th consecutive year they have met, dating back to 1997 ... Each of the last seven games have been decided by one score ... Two of those games have gone to overtime ... Head Coach Jim Monos is 9-9 against the Colonels ... The first meeting in the series was Oct. 3, 1959, a 15-6 LVC win.

Scouting Wilkes
The Colonels are 2-2 with wins over Morrisville State and Misericordia, along with losses to Lycoming and Widener. They average 23 points per game, and have had to turn to freshman quarterback Taylor Young after losing starter Tyler Berntsen against Widener. Young has completed 53.6% of his passes for 207 yards and three touchdowns over the last two games, but has also thrown three interceptions. Patrick Ingulli is the Wilkes feature back, rushing for a pair of touchdowns on 68 carries for 254 yards. David Claybrook is the team's top target, catching 12 passes for 165 yards and two scores. Defensively, Wilkes has been tough over the last two games, allowing 21 points to Widener and 14 to Misericordia. Tate Moore-Jacobs leads the MAC with 55 tackles, and he also has 8.5 for a loss. Turnovers have been a huge advantage for the Colonels, who are +6 thanks to an exceptional 10 fumbles recovered in four games.

FDU-Florham Recap
Austin Hartman and Brendan Irving each tied a program record with four touchdowns apiece as Lebanon Valley routed FDU-Florham 65-21 at Arnold Field. The Dutchmen simply could not be stopped, gaining 503 yards of offense with 283 on the ground. Both Hartman and Irving cleared 100 yards rushing - almost entirely in the first half - and Brian Murphy threw for 201 yards on 11-of-19 passing. Bryan Ek added a 75-yard pick-six in the fourth quarter. The Dutchmen offense scored blew out to 44 first-half points, including a 16-point swing over a two-minute span to start the second quarter. After Hartman polished off two first-quarter drives with touchdowns, he opened the second quarter with a one-yard second-effort score. LVC's defense forced a three-and-out, and Kevin Antol blocked Dan DiProfio's punt into the end zone, forcing the DiProfio to cover up for the safety. Matt Richmond brought the free kick back 51 yards, and that set up a pair of Irving rushes to score just a minute later and turn a 14-0 lead into a 30-0 margin. Hartman broke loose on a 35-yarder to finish his day before Irving added another late score in the quarter, sandwiched around FDU touchdowns by Anthony Fruncillo and Trey Smith. Irving had two more touchdowns in the third quarter, and Ek jumped a Michael Santos pass for a 75-yard pick-six to start the fourth quarter.

Noting LVC's Offense
The Dutchmen are averaging 36.5 points and 394.3 yards per game this season ... LVC averages an efficient 5.6 yards per play ... Brian Murphy has thrown for 807 yards and seven touchdowns this season, coming off a 201-yard effort in just over two quarters of work against FDU-Florham ... Murphy has not thrown an interception in his last 77 pass attempts ... Back-up Jeremy Franck has appeared in the last three games, completing six of 16 passes for 95 yards and rushing for a touchdown ... Five different receivers have caught touchdowns this season ... Jake Zeigler leads the team with 16 catches for 268 yards and a score ... Joey Miller has 181 yards and a score off eight catches ... Both Zeigler and Miller have receptions of 70+ yards ... Darryl Sweeper and Tyler George each have a team-leading two touchdown catches ... LVC's offensive line has had the same starters over the first four weeks of the season, allowing nine sacks in that span ... The line will be helped by the return of tackle Nate Valdez, who has sat out injured since preseason.

Noting LVC's Defense
The LVC defense returns to full health this week with the return of inside linebacker David Kennedy, who is second on the team with 22 tackles despite missing the FDU game ... Trevor St. Clair had four stops and recovered a fumble in the spot start for Kennedy last week ... LVC is holding opponents to just 105 yards rushing per game this season ... The Dutchmen are +3 with four interceptions and two fumbles gained this season ... Bryan Ek's interception return for a touchdown against FDU-Florham was LVC's first defensive touchdown of the season ... Frank Gaffney leads LVC with six sacks and nine tackles for a loss this season, along with a team-high 28 tackles ... Gaffney has had a sack in every game this season ... Safety Bryan Kasper has been the secondary's top producer with 22 stops, an interception, and a fumble force and recovery this season ... With back-ups playing most of the second half against FDU-Florham, it was a chance for some underclassmen to shine as Reid Pavlik and Kevin Antol led LVC with six tackles apiece ... Ricky Feggins had four stops, and Alec Bowers and Anderson Novalin each had three.

Noting LVC's Special Teams
Kevin Antol blocked a punt for a safety against FDU-Florham to lead LVC's special teams ... He had three of his game-high six tackles on kick return stops ... LVC did not allow a return on five punts ... Sean Fakete hit a school-record eight PATs, and Matthew Smoluk made the first of his career ... Jake Zeigler punted twice for a 35.5 average, including one stuck at the 3-yard line ... Jeff Hacker handled second-half punts and performed very well, booting three for a 39.0 average and a long of 42 with one inside the 20 ... Matt Richmond had a terrific return day, handling the free kick off the safety for 51 yards to set up an LVC touchdown, and tallying 107 yards on four kickoffs overall ... Mike Smith also took a kick return, and Bryan Ek and Antol had punt returns.

Dutchmen Play 1,000th Game
The Wilkes game is the milestone 1,000th game in program history 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.

Hartman, Antol Earn Weekly Awards
For their performances against FDU-Florham, sophomores Austin Hartman and Kevin Antol earned spots on the MAC Weekly Honor Roll. Hartman tied a program record with four rushing touchdowns on 130 yards, nearly all in the first half; Antol blocked a punt that led to a safety and had three of his team-high six tackles on special teams. The pair were high school teammates at Cocalico.

One For the Record Books
LVC's 65 points against FDU-Florham was a rarity in the history of the program. It was the 10th time that LVC has scored 60 or more points since the forward pass was legalized in 1906, and only the fourth time doing it against a collegiate opponent. The 65 points represented the highest output in the modern era, besting a 63-14 win over Bridgewater (Va.) in 1989 during Jim Monos' first tenure; going back in the record books, it was the highest point total in any game since 1924, when LVC blanked Schuylkill College 77-0 (Schuylkill later merged with Albright in 1929).

Run Game Finds Its Rhythm
The running game, long the bread and butter of LVC's offense under Jim Monos, hadn't quite found its stride through the opening three games of the season. Rotating three young tailbacks in Austin Hartman, Matt Richmond, and Brendan Irving, the Dutchmen averaged just 130 yards per game and 3.1 yards per rush, compared to 165 yards per game and 3.9 yards per rush over the same span last year. LVC's ground attack emerged and then some against FDU-Florham, however, with a dominating game by the offensive line helping LVC to 283 yards and eight touchdowns. Hartman (130 yards) and Irving (100 yards) became LVC's first 100+ duo since 2005, and Richmond, who had 15 yards rushing, nearly had 100+ yards receiving with a 60-yard shovel pass and another long shovel pass scamper called back on holding.

Ek Picks Six
Safety Bryan Ek put the cherry on top of LVC's win over FDU-Florham with a 75-yard interception return for a touchdown to start the fourth quarter. His effort was named the MAC Play of the Week on Monday. He is the fourth active Dutchman to own a defensive touchdown (all via interception); Josh Borreli had three last year, and Zach Halpin and Andrew Burkholder also have pick-sixes. Incredibly, Ek's return, doesn't even rank among the longest in that group - Borreli's best was a 100-yarder and Burkholder had an 88-yard takeback in 2011.

Murphy Producing Under Center
A week after putting together a career game against King's, throwing for four touchdowns and 258 yards, Brian Murphy quietly turned in another solid performance against FDU-Florham, completing 11 of 19 passes for 201 yards and hitting six different receivers. This season, Murphy is completing 56.2 percent of his passes for 809 yards and seven touchdowns, and has thrown just one interception.

Fakete Sets PAT Game Mark
A week after becoming the first Dutchman to clear 100 career PATs, senior kicker Sean Fakete set another record with eight extra points in the FDU-Florham win. Fakete had co-owned the record of seven with Eric Connelly '01, doing it twice in his career; he was 8-of-8 after touchdowns last week. Sophomore Matthew Smoluk took the final one for his first career point in the fourth quarter. Fakete also broke into the career point leader list with 163, surpassing Ken Wilson '90 for fourth; he is the only kicker in the list's top five.

Schuylkill County Natives Step Up
Schuylkill County has long been a hotbed of recruiting for LVC, but this year's team has had more impact than ever from our neighboring county to the north. Eleven Dutchmen hail from "the Skook," including five starters - quarterback Brian Murphy (Schuylkill Haven), fullback Evan Fink (Schuylkill Haven), left tackle Tyler Dean (North Schuylkill), linebacker Frank Gaffney (Pine Grove), and long-snapper Trent Mars (Pine Grove). Four others appear on this week's two-deep: nose tackle Clayton Williard (Tri-Valley), defensive end Adam Soltys (Pine Grove), linebacker Tyler Laudeman (North Schuylkill), and fullback Billy Powanda (Minersville).

Dutchmen Wearing Pink Shoelaces in October
Lebanon Valley College's fall teams, including football, are wearing pink shoelaces in October for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In partnership with the Good Samaritan Health System, the shoelaces help remind women 40 and over to get an annual mammogram and be screened for breast cancer. To learn more about the program, visit gshleb.org.

Next Time
LVC returns home to face MAC-leading Lycoming for Oktoberfest Weekend, Oct. 12 at 1 p.m.