ANNVILLE, Pa. - Lebanon Valley held Moravian to
176 yards of offense and racked up nine sacks as the Dutchmen
picked up their first win of the season, 21-6, Saturday at Arnold
Field.
The LVC defense was absolutely dominant, getting pressure in the
backfield all day as they were led by Zach
Bleiler's four sacks (which tied the school single-game
record) and Cory
Homer's 10 tackles. Dane
Eichelberger picked off a pair of passes, as well.
Senior kicker Brittany
Ryan booted three extra points to become the NCAA's
all-time points leader among female kickers as she scored her 88th
career point on her first PAT kick in the first quarter. She broke
the record of West Alabama's Tonya Butler, who had 87 points in her
career.
"It was a hard-fought win for our football team," said Head Coach
Jim
Monos. "It was a team win... the defense played
super all game."
Everything click in week three as the Dutchman passing game
awakened for the first time, with Caleb
Fick going 12-for-22 for 159 yards and a touchdown after
shaking off an early interception. LVC (1-2) ran for 142 yards on
the ground, led by Ben
Guiles (74 yards with a touchdown), Blair
Ransom (58 yards), and Pete
Panichi (11 yards).
"We got some guys in the flow - Picerno, Greene, Tobin, McIntyre,
and our tight ends had three or four catches, so I'm pleased with
that," Monos said.
Moravian (1-2) used three different quarterbacks, and starter Phil
Gardner was sacked seven times as he threw for 188 yards and a
touchdown with the two picks. Neither Max Coveleski or Brandon
Lesko completed a pass, but both were put down once by the LVC
defense.
LVC turned it over on their first drive when Fick was intercepted
by David Wacker at midfield, but the defense forced a three-and-out
before Chadd
Comp blocked the punt to set up a quick touchdown on
Guiles' 23-yard breakout up the sideline.
It remained 7-0 into the second quarter before the Dutchmen put
together an epic 96-yard, 12-play drive that ended with Fick's
nine-yard pass to Brendan
Riley. Eichelberger's interception on the next drive gave
LVC great field position for Panichi to score from five yards out
just before the half.
That was all the scoring LVC needed as they ate away at the clock
in the second half. Only Gardner's 53-yard stab to Alex Hersch
spoiled a shutout, but the defense didn't even give Moravian the
extra point as Bleiler blocked Ian Heck's try.
LVC will enjoy a bye next week before visiting #8 Delaware Valley
to start MAC play on Oct. 2.
Game Notes
In addition to her record set this week, Ryan is now two PATs
away from becoming LVC's all-time PAT leader ... Bleiler's four
sacks ties the LVC single-game record set by Joe Gift and Kris
Kohler, both in 1992 ... LVC had not had nine sacks in a game since
hitting Widener 11 times in 1992 ... Moravian ended up with -12
yards rushing (79 gained, 91 lost) ... It was Eichelberger's second
career multi-pick game. He also had two in his debut as a starter
against Gettysburg in 2008 ... Time of possession was heavily
lopsided towards Moravian (33:04 to 26:56) ... After a sloppy first
two games, LVC was penalized just four times for 20 yards. Moravian
was flagged only once ... Sean
Fakete attempted his first career field goal at the end
of the first half from 42 yards and just missed wide left despite
putting plenty of boot on it ... In his second week of filling in
at punter, Kevin greene booted six punts for a 36.5-yard average.
He also caught three passes for 42 yards ... Fick hit eight
different receivers ... Alex
Gilchrist had another big game with two sacks, six
tackles, and a pass break-up ... Comp's punt block was the second
by LVC in three games ... The Dutchmen have also blocked two kicks
this season.