Scranton, PA – This Sunday, 11/10 at 1:00pm, the Lackawanna College Falcons welcome in the Georgia Military College Bulldogs to Valor Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium, in a Top 10 matchup that is building up to be one of the most anticipated games of the season. Both teams are coming off wins this past Saturday and each has postseason aspirations. It is a matchup between two teams that can move the ball down the field and between two defenses who make it very difficult for opposing offenses to score.
Lackawanna College comes into Sunday's game with a record of 9-0, riding a 21 game win streak. The Falcons are also currently ranked #2 in this week's NJCAA National Poll and are playing very well on both sides of the ball. The offense is led by freshman QB
Matt Cavallaro, who in his first season with the Falcons is completing 54% of his passes, while throwing 22 TD's and averaging 171 yards/game passing. Cavallaro has a number of weapons at his disposal, with WR
Norval Black leading the way. Black has caught 7 TD passes from Cavallaro and has a season long of 60 yards. In addition, WR
Quentin Sanders and TE
Sameer Parks give Cavallaro other options in the passing game. When running the ball, Lackawanna employs a running back by committee approach.
Calvin Bell is coming off of a 183-yard performance against the NJ Warriors, while
Rashard Jackson added 139 yards. Throw in
Delvin Palmer's 78-yard performance and the Falcons running game makes it difficult for teams to prepare for.
Georgia Military College has climbed up to the #9 ranking in this week's NJCAA National Poll and will bring in a high powered offense that is averaging 388 total yards/game. In 10 games this season, Freshman QB Damekus Taylor has thrown for 1,396 yards and 12 TD's. Like the Falcons, the Bulldogs have a number of running backs who can come in the game and move the ball for their offense. Sophomore Travell Jones is averaging 8 yards/carry and has rushed for 8 TD's, while Tye Edwards has rushed for 5 TD's on the season. The Bulldogs offense will also look to WR's Trey Brown and Torenio Davis, who have combined for 11 TD receptions and 1,131 total receiving yards. GMC's offense is averaging 38 points/game.
On the defensive side of the ball, both the Falcons and Bulldogs are holding teams to under 20 points/game. Lackawanna is #1 in the NJCAA in interceptions (26) and defensive TD's (8). In fact, the Falcons returned a combined 6 INT's for a TD in games against Hocking College and Nassau Community College.
DeJahn Warren and
Robert Kennedy each have 4 INT's to lead the Falcons. Last week against the NJ Warriors, Lackawanna sacked the QB 4 times and held the Warriors to 1 for 14 on third down conversations. The Bulldogs defense has a total of 12 INT's on the season and are right behind the Falcons at the #2 spot in the NJCAA with 6 defensive TD's. Last week against ASA Miami, GMC forced 3 turnovers and 2 sacks. They are led by Yaya Diaby who has 54 tackles and 5 sacks on the season and Kwame Scott, who has a total of 48 tackles and 6 sacks.
Statistically, both teams are very similar and they have played 4 common opponents this season. The Falcons beat all 4 of the opponents, while the Bulldogs beat 3 (split with ASA Miami) but fell to Nassau Community College earlier in the year. With both teams being ranked in the Top 10, this game could go either way. Lackawanna Head Coach
Mark Duda said "I have great respect for the George Military College Football program. Coach Williams is an excellent leader and they are extremely well coached. We look forward to a fantastic game on Sunday." Coach Duda is right. This will be a fantastic game on Sunday between two very talented and well coached teams.
