As we enter the eighth week of the season we face a very powerful opponent in Franklin and Marshall College. The Diplomats are certainly in contention for the post season with a 6-1 record.
This is a well coached team with several excellent players in key positions across the board. John Troxell the head coach has done a fantastic job thru his tenure. With a record of 61-44 and five post season appearances over eleven seasons he is one of the most established coaches in the region.
***A short aside – Former Greyhound great Kevin Bracken is also on the Diplomat coaching staff – but then former F&M QB John Harrison now serves as our offensive coordinator.***
The Dips have a strong defense surrendering under 20 points a game and ranking fourth in the CC in total defense allowing 317 yards per game. They are a physical bunch who play with very good technique.
They have great schemes…but what really stands out is their effort and toughness. We certainly can match up with them and there is no doubt that our troops will be looking to get after their collective asses from the starting kickoff until the final whistle.
One thing that is never lacking in a Moravian football team is strength and effort. With all the time we spend in the weight room with Coach Tom Long year round…… our guys are certainly strong and willing to give a great effort every Saturday.
****Just a short aside here ….Tom Long and his excellent staff of Amanda and Laurie do a fantastic job strength training the troops. You can look out in the parking lot on any number of mornings and see their cars there at 
5:00 in the morning because that is when they start their day. Often they are still hanging around after 9:00 at nite. I’m not good in math and don’t add very well – but I think that is more than 12 hours. I guarantee you that there are few – if any cars – in the faculty parking lot during those hours. Thanks guys you are the best!****
In keeping with their aggressive nature Franklin and Marshall’s is second in the league in sacks. Junior Joe Granahan (#90) leads the Centennial Conference with 10 and teammate Dylan Jones (#3) chips in with 3.5 as well. Granahan (#90) also has 11.5 tackles for loss and has forced a pair of fumbles.
Freshman Brendan Dearing (#85) is an outstanding returner with more than 25 yards per KO return and one TD.
We will have to be disciplined and aggressive in our kick coverage. But with the emergence of John Miller (#82) as our kicker we can see more and more kicks getting into the end zone which will limit returns by our opponents.
John was selected as the special teams player of the week in the centennial conference as his 34 yard field goal in the final seconds pushed us to the win.
Look for our young and improving front wall on offense to give F&M all they can handle. Chris Leavenworth has these guys on a solid upward curve. This is going to be a dogfight up front and I look forward to seeing our guys playing at a high level and matching the Diplomats blow for blow.
Currently our opponents play a very solid and efficient offense. They have an outstanding QB in junior Tanner Erisman (#15). ? ! Am I crazy or is the name Tanner a popular one – we have three on our team as well – I don’t think I went to school with anyone named Tanner !? Anyway back to the point – Tanner Erisman (#15) is a fine player.
He is leading the Centennial in pass efficiency and is tops with a 65.9 completion percentage – this is excellent work. They have always had a very solid passing game and this year is no different for F&M. Erisman’s (#15) 18 TD passes are second only to the QB we faced at Juniata last week.
Speedy senior Taalib Gerald (#7) is leading the team with 476 yards rushing (3.8 yd avg) and has added 110 more on 14 catches. He has always been a big weapon for the Diplomats.
The receivers are led by dangerous KJ Pretty(#1) a junior from Bethlehem Freedom who has 39 catches for 715 yards and 8 TD’s. An excellent player who can score from anywhere on the field. Senior Dillon Alderfer (#84) is next with 29 caches for 357 yards and 4 scores.
On the Moravian side of the ledger – our young secondary continues to get better. We picked off three passes – two by freshman Jackson Buskirk who earned CC player of the week for his efforts. Veteran Nick Zambelli also had one ending a threat just before half time.
****I kind of like these little asides……Jackson Buskirk once lived in my home area of Lehigh Township and could have been a Konkrete Kid – but he moved to Whitehall. Like they say on ESPN “Come’on Man” you could have been a KKid! Oh well even if he was a Zephyr glad to have him standing with us at Moravian!****
It is good to see Eli Redmond back on the field. He was able to rush for 59 yards on 14 tries and was just an arm tackle away from going the distance on at least one occasion. Looking forward to watch his production from here on out.
Defensively our team was able to create three turnovers as we continue to see our hard work in this phase of the game pay off. Winning the turnover battle is always going to be a key in any football game.
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OK – not trying to offend anyone here but we have to look at what we are battling here at Moravian. Our coaching staff is fighting with one hand tied behind their back when recruiting.
F&M finished their new stadium complex and played their first game in it this past weekend (56-0 rout of Dickinson). It is a fantastic addition to their sports program.
This ups the “arms race” in the Centennial Conference. There are several state of the art stadiums in our league. Although our own Steel Field is unique – it certainly is not even close to any of the places we play in the CC. With the outdated and worn out turf and aged locker facility – we lag far behind in this “arms race.”
Many people say that you have to make due with what you have. Yup, I get it….but when you recruit against these schools with many more weapons than you can show off – you start at the bottom of the hill.
We also have to play the Bullets at Gettysburg – they are a little different in the eyes of recruits as well.
I also know about academic reputations and that we have a fine school. But any recruiter worth his salt will pull out the US News and World Report and show them the rankings of the Centennial Conference schools. I won’t go into the numbers you can check them yourself – but there are some excellent schools we compete with – Johns Hopkins does beat some Ivy League schools on players from time to time..
On the Visitors side you can see one of the scaffolds constructed to so we can film the game. Can’t film from the Home bleacher roof because it was declared unsafe. If it is unsafe to stand on – maybe unsafe to sit under?
I am not trying to be disrespectful here – I love everything about Moravian and the type of school it is. But, this is the reality of the situation that we face here in Bethlehem.
There is a difference in the facilities at Moravian and the locker room and stadium at Gettysburg and Franklin & Marshall. We haven’t even looked at our neighborhood rival the Mules yet.
So, add Academics – Facilities…..well……..just….. heck it is hard to compete in this era when you fall behind in too many areas.
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Now a week or so I mentioned that Hannibal crossed the Alps with elephants and his troops to attack Rome. Well apparently my understanding of history is somewhat off kilter a little.
My friend Bob Gratz (a Moravian Hall of Famer who I actually played against while I was a Muhlenberg. I’m sure he was one of many backs who ran over me at one time or another.). Wow that is a “run on sentence”
Let me start over–
My friend Bob Gratz gave me the low down on Hannibal crossing over the Alps. He did do that and with elephants. He dropped down into Italy and fought all over that region for fifteen or so years.
He controlled the area during this time….but never did march on Rome. Oh well I’m not smart – but I want to be.
Another great week comes to an end in the Lehigh Valley!