10/28/21
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – The Lackawanna College Falcons (4-2) return home for their final home game of the season, a clash on Homecoming weekend, when their fellow NJCAA Region XIX foes, the Sussex County Skylanders, come to town. The game will be at Scranton's Memorial Stadium in downtown Scranton, with kickoff set for 1:00pm on Saturday, October 30^th.   
 
About the Falcons
Lackawanna College is coming off a 31-17 win over the Hocking College Hawks this past weekend. In that win, the Falcons totaled 468 yards of offense, and racked up 25 first downs. The Falcons got a pair of touchdown runs from Barry Brown in the first half to make it 14-10, and then added what would be the deciding touchdown when Brown found Colbie Young for a 14-yard touchdown that put the Falcons up 21-10 with 44 seconds remaining, capping a big two-minute drive to close the half. Lackawanna College would add another touchdown late in the third when Brown found Ja'Quai Bishop to make it 28-10.  Hocking would score to close the gap to 28-17, and Cameron Ceccotti added a 36-yard FG with 8:07 to play to put the Falcons up 31-17. Hocking drove all the way to the Falcons' 2-yard line late in the game, but the defense stepped up to stop the Hawks short, and Lackawanna sealed the win from there.
 
Sunday's win was the fourth time the Falcons have eclipsed 440 yards of total offense. Barry Brown was an efficient 14-for-25 for 209 yards and a pair of touchdowns through the air, which included the aforementioned touchdown passes to Young and Bishop. Brown and Young have connected on six touchdowns so far this season. Brown has now thrown for 1563 yards and 20 touchdowns on the season. He's hitting on 60.8% of his passes, and is averaging 16.3 yards per completion, and 9.9 yards per attempt.
 
The Falcons ran for a season-high 259 yards, and averaged 7.2 yards per carry against a Hocking defense that, coming into the game, was only giving up around 34 yards per game on the ground. Antwan Squire hit the century mark in rushing yards for the first time this season, going for 100 yards on 13 carries, averaging 7.7 yards per rush. X'Zavion Evans had 39 yards on four carries, and Isaiah Edwards had 37 on five rushes. The Falcons had five players who ran for 25 or more yards. Squire is the team-leader with 323 yards on 64 carries for one touchdown. Edwards leads the Falcons with three touchdowns on 42 carries for 265 yards. X'Zavion Evans is third on the team with 107 yards rushing on the season, to go with a pair of touchdowns.
 
Alphonso Foray had three catches for a team-high 95 yards, with a pair of catches setting up the Falcons on scoring drives. Jasiah Purdie had a team-high four catches for 25 yards, while Delvin Palmer and Colbie Young each had two catches. Young caught another touchdown, his sixth of the year, while running back Ja'Quai Bishop had the other touchdown grab. Palmer leads the Falcons in catches (24) and yards (522), and has five touchdowns on the season. "DP" is averaging 21.8 yards per catch, and 87.0 yards receiving per game this year. Cohen Russell is second on the team with 22 catches for 294 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Young has a team-high six touchdowns to go with his nine catches for 216 yards this year. Tight-end Jasiah Purdie is third on the team with 14 catches for 114 yards.
 
Cameron Ceccotti nailed all four of his extra points, and buried his only field goal attempt, a 36-yarder in the fourth quarter. Ceccotti had six kickoffs, averaging 60.0 yards per kick, and had a pair of punts for a combined 66 yards, including putting one inside the 20-yard line. On the year, Ceccotti is now five-for-six on field goals, having made his last five in a row. His long is 36 yards. He's also averaging 56.8 yards per kickoff, and has six touchbacks on the season.
 
Cohen Russell almost broke a big return, taking a kick 63 yards to the Hocking 35 in the first quarter. Russell is the top punt returner, averaging 17.4 yards per return, including his 78-yard TD from the first game of the season. Both Russell and Delvin Palmer are dangerous on kick returns, as well, averaging 30.1 (Russell) and 28.3 (Palmer) yards per return, respectively. Neither has scored a touchdown, yet, but both have year-long returns of 63 yards, apiece, this season.
 
The Lackawanna College defense bent, but didn't break in the face of pressure from Hocking College. The Falcons surrendered 370 yards of total offense, but held Hocking to 113 total yards on the ground, just 3.6 yards per carry. They forced seven Hawks punts on the day, including five on second half possessions. Harold O'Neal and Ty'Lheir Grose each had six total tackles, tied for the team-lead. Grose and William Hackett each had five solo tackles, tied for the team-lead. Tyrece Mills and Rushawn Lawrence both had five total tackles. Cottrell Hatchett had four tackles and a team-high pair of tackles-for-loss, including the only sack of the game for the Falcons. O'Neal leads the team with 34 total tackles on the season, and has the team-lead in solo tackles with 25. O'Neal also leads the team in tackles-for-loss, with 6.5 so far this year. Tyrece Mills is second on the team with 29 total tackles, and has two interceptions, to go with 3.5 tackles-for-loss this year. William Hackett has 23 total tackles, 20 solo, and a half tackle-for-loss this year. Cottrell Hatchett has 21 total tackles, 14 solos, to go with 6.0 tackles-for-loss and a team-high 2.5 sacks. The Falcons, as a team, have 41.5 tackles-for-loss and 17.0 sacks this year, but have only managed four takeaways.
 
Coach Mark Duda is in his 28^th season as head football coach at Lackawanna College, and his 29^th with the program. After one year as the defensive coordinator in the inaugural season in 1993, coach Duda took over as head coach, and has won 182 career games, the most among active coaches in the NJCAA. The Falcons were 1-1 in the spring of 2021, which was their first football action since a 2019 NJCAA National Championship appearance against Mississippi Gulf Coast CC. Coach Duda and the Falcons are 26-4 since the 2018 season.
 
 
About The Opponent
Sussex County comes into this weekend's contest at 2-4 overall, having lost to Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology 20-0 in their last match-up this past weekend. It was the third time this season that the Skylanders were held to six points or less. Sussex and Lackawanna will share three common opponents before the season ends. Sussex lost to Hocking College (38-2) on September 11^th, Georgia Military College (24-6) on September 25^th, and Nassau County (20-17) on October 2^nd. Lackawanna College is scheduled to play both Nassau (11/13) and Georgia Military (11/20) to end the regular season.
 
Sussex County's defense has kept them in most games, with the only real blowout being against Hocking in September, and that game got away from the Skylanders in the 2^nd half, where they surrendered 24 of the Hawks' 38 points. In their two wins, the Skylanders have held their opponents to two scores or less, and the 38 points they gave up to Hocking College were the most points they've given up all season. Opponents have not scored more than 24 points against them in their other five games.
 
Sussex is ranked 37^th out of 40 teams in the NJCAA in scoring offense, scoring just 13.5 points per game in their six contests. They went into last week's game against Thaddeus Stevens averaging just under 120 yards per game of total offense, last in the country. They average 48 yards passing per game, and around 72 yards rushing per game.
 
Connor Lake has been the main quarterback. He's hitting on 60% of his passes, and, according to the available statistics, has two touchdowns and two interceptions this season. Zach Scillia is the back-up quarterback. Scillia is a Delaware Valley graduate, and played quarterback for the Warriors in the Lackawanna Football Conference.
 
David Drouett is the main rusher, but Nick Molinari, and Matthew Quetel may see some carries, as well, for the Skylanders.
 
Quaronde Bennett is the main target through the air, catching both touchdowns for the Skylanders through the air. Quetel, Trevor Gruber, and Tyler Szabo may also see some targets.
 
Declan Minogue is the main placekicker for the Skylanders, and will handle the kickoffs and extra-points/field goal attempts. Molinari is the main punter, averaging a shade under 33 yards per punt. Cedric Bazile and Umar Garner split the kick return duties, while Joe Altamura is the main punt returner for the Skylanders.
 
Linebacker Jacob Mafaro is the team leader, with 28 total tackles, 25 solos, and 4.5 sacks heading into the Thaddeus Stevens game last week. Mafaro and defensive lineman Giovanni Cancro are tied for the team lead-with 8.5 tackles-for-loss, apiece. Linebacker Eddie Knowles is second on the team with 23 total tackles, while fellow backer Cole Weekley has 22 total tackles for the Skylanders. Sussex had 47 tackles for loss and 11 sacks heading into the Thaddeus Stevens game last week.
 
Sussex County is in just its second season of junior college football, and the head coach is Todd Poltersdorf, who was brought in to start New Jersey's only junior college football program, and has been with the school through the pandemic. The Skylanders went 2-3 in the pandemic-shortened, spring 2021 season, which was their first competing as a junior college program. Poltersdorf, who serves as the Director of Admissions at Sussex County CC, has spent time coaching local high school football at both Sussex Tech and Wallkill Valley in New Jersey. Poltersdorf is 4-7 so far as the Sussex head football coach.
 
Game Notes

• The Falcons are currently receiving votes, but are not ranked in the NJCAA Division I Top 15 rankings. There are still five teams that are currently or have received rankings on the Falcons' schedule this year:

 

• Iowa Central (#6 DI; Lost 28-21)
• Monroe College (#9 DI; Lost 49-48, OT)
• Snow College (#5 DI; Will play on November 6^th)
• Nassau Community College (#1 DIII; Will play on November 13^th)
• Georgia Military (#12 DI Preseason; Will play November 20^th)

 

• NJCAA Division I Top 15 Rankings (Week 8)

1. East Mississippi CC (MS); 9-0 [Won 34-9 at Itawamba (MS) 10/28]
2. Iowa Western CC (IA); 6-0 [Next game: vs. #6 Iowa Central CC (IA) 10/30]
3. Independence CC (KS); 7-0 [Next game: vs. #12 Coffeyville CC (KS) 10/31]
4. Jones College (MS); 8-1 [Won 21-7 at Copiah-Lincoln (MS) 10/28]
5. Snow College (UT); 6-1 [Next game: vs. Lackawanna College 11/6]
6. Iowa Central CC (IA); 6-1 [Next game: at #2 Iowa Western CC (IA) 10/30]
7. Northwest Mississippi CC (MS); 7-2 [Won 44-25 at Mississippi Delta (MS) 10/28]
8. New Mexico Military Institute (NM); 6-1 [Next game: at Northeastern OK A&M (OK) 10/30]
9. Monroe College (NY); 6-0 [Next game: at #1 DIII Nassau County (NY) 10/30]
10. Garden City CC (KS); 4-2 [Next game: vs. Butler CC (KS) 10/30]
11. Hinds CC (MS); 7-2 [Won 21-10 at Pearl River CC (MS) 10/28]
12. Coffeyville CC (KS); 5-1 [Next game: at #3 Independence CC (KS) 10/31]
13. Mississippi Gulf Coast CC (MS); 6-2 [Next game: vs. Southwest Mississippi (MS) 10/30]
14. Tyler Junior College (TX); 4-3 [Next game: at Cisco CC (TX) 10/30]
15. Trinity Valley CC (TX); 5-2 [Next game: at Kilgore College (TX) 10/30]

 
Receiving Votes: Georgia Military College (GA), Butler (KS), Cisco CC (TX), Lackawanna College (PA)
Bold and Italics: Opponent on Lackawanna College's schedule
 

• This is only the second meeting, ever, between Sussex County and Lackawanna College. The Skylanders and the Falcons met for the first time in March 2021, when Lackawanna College beat Sussex 37-7 in the first college football in the history of the Sussex program. In that game, the Falcon defense was the star, holding Sussex to just 88 yards of total offense, while forcing eight punts and racking up 7 tackles-for-loss.

 
The Falcon offense had 230 yards rushing, getting 124 yards and two scores from Isaiah Edwards, including a bruising 59-yard touchdown run. Antwan Squire had 49 yards rushing a touchdown, while Barry Brown had 34 yards and a score.
 

• The Falcons enter the game with two losses before November for the first time since 2017, when they lost to ASA Brooklyn and College of DuPage.

 

• Lackawanna College has not lost more than two games in a year since the 2014 season, which is also coincidentally the last time they had more than two losses at home. 

 

• Lackawanna College and Sussex County are the only members of Region XIX competing in NJCAA football.

 

• Lackawanna College quarterback Barry Brown is among the nation's best in several passing categories this season. Brown is 4^th in the NJCAA in passing efficiency (178.0), 3^rd in passing yards per game (260.5), 4^th in passing touchdowns (20), 7^th in yds/attempt (9.9), 7^th in total passing yards (1563), and 10^th in completion percentage (60.8%).

 

• Falcons wide receiver Delvin Palmer is 4^th in the NJCAA in yards receiving per game (87.0) and 3^rd in the country in yards per reception (21.8). Palmer also ranks 4^th in the NJCAA in total yards per game (143.7), while his fellow receiver Cohen Russel comes in at 7^th in the country (124.0).

 

• Palmer and Russell are the most potent one-two special teams punch in the nation, both averaging 30.1 (Russell) and 28.3 (Palmer) yards per kick return this year. As a team, Lackawanna College averages 27.5 yards per return, good enough for 7^th in the NJCAA.

 

• The Lackawanna Falcons are 2^nd in the NJCAA in time-of-possession, averaging around 34:15 minutes with the ball, per game.

 

• Lackawanna College has one of the most potent passing attacks in the NJCAA. Lackawanna is 6^th in the NJCAA in passing yards per game (282.5). The Falcons are also 5^th in yards per attempt (9.5) and 7^th in yards per completion (15.8). Their 20 passing touchdowns is good enough for 5^th in the country.

 

• This Saturday's game is Homecoming for Lackawanna College, and the Falcons will honor the graduating student athletes taking their degrees and talents elsewhere. The match-up is set for at 1:00pm kickoff at Scranton's Memorial Stadium. Tickets will be on-sale at the gates for students ($3) and adults ($5).

 

• For those who can't attend, a video livestream will be available at the Lackawanna College YouTube channel, at Youtube.com/LackawannaCollegeFalcons. John Mendola will provide the play-by-play commentary, and he'll be joined by Sports Information Director Tom Ferguson.