11/19/21
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – The Lackawanna College Falcons (6-3) have just one game remaining in their 2021 fall campaign, and it'll be against a familiar foe in the Georgia Military College Bulldogs. Both teams are set to play this coming Saturday, November 20^th, in Milledgeville, Georgia. Kickoff is set for a 1:00pm ET start, and will be video streamed live on the GMC Jock Jive page HERE.
 
About the Falcons
Lackawanna College played one of their most complete games of the season this past week, with an emphatic 41-6 win over previous #1 NJCAA DIII Nassau Community College on Long Island. The Falcons ran for a season-high 283 yards, while piling up nearly 480 yards of total offense, averaging over 7.5 yards per play, and limiting the Lions to just 272 yards of total offense and forcing five turnovers. The Falcons scored three touchdowns in the first quarter, and held Nassau scoreless after their own first quarter touchdown.
 
Barry Brown was 14-for-26 for 195 yards and four touchdowns through the air. Brown has now thrown for 2237 yards and 28 touchdowns on the season. He's hitting on 57% of his passes, and is averaging 15.9 yards per completion, and 9.1 yards per attempt. Brayden Hawkins is 21-for-37 for 288 yards this year, and two touchdowns on the season.
 
The Falcons had their best rushing game of the season, topping 283 yards on 37 carries, a 7.6 yards per carry average. Deondre Scott topped 100 yards rushing for the first time this year, hitting a team-high 108 yards on 13 carries for two touchdowns and an 8.3 yards per rush average. Antwan Squire found room to run, as well, grabbing 70 yards on eight rushes. Cohen Russell had just one carry early, but took that for 52 yards to set up a touchdown. Brown was the fourth rusher who had 40+ yards on the day, going for 48 on four rushes. Squire is still the leading rusher for the Falcons this year with 494 yards on 90 carries with a pair of touchdowns on the season. Isaiah Edwards leads the Falcons with four touchdowns on 56 carries for 320 yards. Scott is third on the team with 214 yards rushing on 46 carries and three touchdowns. X'Zavion Evans is fourth on the team with 133 yards rushing on the season, to go with three touchdowns.
 
Jasiah Purdie led the Falcons with five grabs for 29 yards. Colbie Young had four catches for a team-high 77 yards and a touchdown. Delvin Palmer had two catches for 51 yards and a touchdown, while Joshua Dodd had a pair of catches for two touchdowns. Palmer leads the Falcons in catches (32) and yards (705), and has seven touchdowns on the season. "DP" is averaging 22 yards per catch, and 78.3 yards receiving per game this year. Purdie is second on the team with 25 catches for 177 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Russell is third with 24 catches for 337 yards and two touchdowns. Young has a team-high nine touchdowns to go with his 22 catches for 435 yards this year. The Falcons have six different players with ten or more catches this season.
 
Cameron Ceccotti missed his only field goal attempt, a 47-yard try late in the first half, and made all five of his extra points. A sixth extra point attempt had a bad snap and forced the Falcons to throw, unsuccessfully. Ceccotti had five kickoffs, averaging 50.7 yards per kick, and had four punts on the day. On the year, Ceccotti is now six-for-nine on field goals. His long is 36 yards. He's also averaging 54.5 yards per kickoff, and has seven touchbacks on the season.
 
Neither Cohen Russell or Delvin Palmer got a chance to show off their return skills, as Nassau kicked a pair of touchbacks and forced some fair catches on punt returns. Both Russell and Palmer are dangerous on kick returns this year, averaging 28.6 (Palmer) and 28.1 (Russell) 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 had maybe its most complete game of the season, limiting Nassau to just 202 yards of total offense after their initial touchdown. The Falcons had seven tackles-for-loss and forced five turnovers, including three interceptions and a pair of fumble recoveries. Samuel Graham led the way with eight tackles, including six solos, while Avanti Lockhart had seven total tackles, a half tackle-for-loss, two interceptions, a fumble recovery, and a pass break up. Jahman McNeil had six total tackles and a half tackle-for-loss. Marquis Willoughby had a team-high two tackles-for-loss, while Harold O'Neal (1 fumble recovery) and Aakeem Snell (1 interception) had big plays for the defense. Cottrell Hatchett had five total tackles, including 1.5 tackles-for-loss. O'Neal leads the team with 42 total tackles on the season, and is tied for the team-lead in solo tackles at 28 with Dewayne Grantham and William Hackett. O'Neal is second on the team in tackles-for-loss, with 6.5, and has a forced fumble and a fumble recovery this year. Grantham is second on the team with 36 total tackles, and has 4.5 tackles-for-loss this year. Hatchett is third on the team with 35 total tackles, 24 solos, and a team-high 8.5 tackles-for-loss on the season. Tyrece Mills is tied for third with Hatchett in tackles, with 35 total stops, and also has 24 solos, 3.5 tackles-for-loss, and a pair of interceptions this year. Hackett is fourth on the team with 33 total tackles, 28 solos, and five pass break-ups on the season, to go with his two fumble recoveries and a blocked punt. Isaiah Oduro is second on the team with 7.5 tackles-for-loss this year. The Falcons, as a team, have 56.5 tackles-for-loss and 18.0 sacks this year, and have twelve takeaways on the season.
 
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 184 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 28-5 since the 2018 season.
 
 
About The Opponent
The Bulldogs come into the contest at 6-4, having lost their last two games, including last week's 28-15 loss to the College of DuPage on the road in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. In that game, the Bulldogs almost kept pace with DuPage, and even had a 15-14 lead in the 3^rd quarter, but DuPage forced four turnovers on the day, and had over 400 yards of total offense, including two different rushers going over 100 yards on the ground. GMC tied the game at six after a first quarter touchdown, but had their extra point blocked and returned by the Chaparrals for a two-point score, making it 8-6. After the Chaps went up 14-6, the Bulldogs kicked a field goal late in the half to make it 14-9 at the break, then went up 15-14 in the third on a touchdown pass, but had another PAT blocked. The Chaps would score two more touchdowns, both in the third quarter, to re-take and ultimately never surrender the lead, giving GMC their fourth loss of the year.
 
Georgia Military shares five different opponents with Lackawanna College this season. The Bulldogs lost at Monroe College in the first week of the year, 34-16, and then beat ASA Miami 13-0 the following week. GMC then beat Sussex County CC on the road, 24-6 at the end of September, before hosting Snow College on the first weekend of October, losing to the Badgers 49-17. They also played Nassau Community College at home on October 23^rd, and won 33-22. The Bulldogs even played ASA Miami again on October 30^th, this time winning in a barnburner, 42-35. The Falcons own wins over ASA Miami (31-21), Sussex (52-0), and Nassau (41-6), while suffering losses of their own to Monroe (49-48) and Snow College (51-28).  
 
Georgia Military is solidly middle-of-the-pack in most offensive categories in the NJCAA, averaging around 27 points per game (22^nd) and putting up 345 yards of offense per game (22^nd). The Bulldogs are balanced, but are more adept at running the football, averaging just a shade under 180 yards per game on the ground, pitting them at 15^th in the NJCAA.
 
Defensively, GMC is stingy against the run, giving up just 86.7 yards per game on the ground, good for 8^th in the NJCAA. Overall, they give up around 288 yards per game, which places them inside the top half of teams in the NJCAA. Their 15 interceptions have them ranked 7^th in the NJCAA this year. They have 21 takeaways this season, but have 22 turnovers of their own, including 16 fumbles lost on the year.
 
Donovan Anthony is the main signal-caller for the Bulldogs. Anthony has thrown for just over 1000 yards (1054) and has eleven touchdown passes on the year. Anthony is hitting on 57% of his passes this year, and is averaging 7.7 yards per pass attempt. Anthony was 11-for-18 for 106 yards and a touchdown, as well as just his second interception, against DuPage. Peyton Rich has also seen time under center, throwing for 518 yards and three touchdowns on the season, including 5-for-10 for 55 yards against DuPage. Joe Singletary has also seen some action, throwing for just 78 yards in six appearances.
 
The ground game is the bread-and-butter of the offense, and La'Darius Caesar is the first of five backs with 250 or more yards on the season. Caesar has 539 on 94 rushes, scoring four touchdowns on the season and averaging just a shade under 60 yards per game. Caesar had just five carries for 20 yards in the last game against DuPage. The leading rushing in that game was Sagel Hickson, who hada game-high 139 yards on 24 rushes and a touchdown. That's more than half his total rushing yards on the season (275), good for fourth on the team. Anthony, the quarterback, is second on the team with 282 yards on 51 carries, averaging about 28 yards per game. Anthony rushed for 56 yards on seven carries against DuPage.
 
Tayler Gant is the primary passing target, catching a team-high 28 receptions for 289 yards, but just one touchdown. Gant caught a game-high five receptions for 84 yards against DuPage. Armon Porter is second on the team with 19 grabs for 210 yards and a touchdown this year. Porter is the second of five receivers with ten or more catches for the Bulldogs. Daithan Davis, who had the lone touchdown grab for GMC against DuPage, has 17 catches for a team-high 310 yards and a team-leading four touchdowns on the year. KJ Rose (12 receptions, 262 yards, 2 TDs) and Colby Cruz (10 receptions, 92 yards) round out the top-five receivers.
 
Daniel Gibbs handles the placekicking and punting duties. Gibbs is 10-for-14 on the year on field goals, with a long of 46, and is 27-for-27 on extra points. Gibbs is averaging 32.1 yards per punt this year, with a long of 52, and has forced 13 fair catches and put four punts inside the 20-yard line.
 
Sophomore linebacker Jalynn Tarver leads the Bulldogs with 51 total tackles, a team-high 38 solo tackles, and another team-high of 10 tackles-for-loss. Defensive back Enoch Howard Jr. is second on the team with 33 total tackles, including 20 solo tackles, and a team-high six pass break-ups. Howard Jr. also is tied for the team-lead with three interceptions on the season. The other player with three picks is Ja'Maric Morris, who had two of those interceptions last week against DuPage. Morris has 33 total tackles, 25 solo tackles, and a pair of tackles-for-loss this year, to go with four pass break-ups. Khalil White leads the defensive line with 29 total tackles, 10 solos, a pair of sacks, and six tackles-for-loss on the season. White had a pair of tackles-for-loss against DuPage. Defensive end Ryan Wynn has a team-high four sacks this year, to go with his six tackles-for-loss, and 15 total tackles on the year. As a unit, the Bulldogs have 70 tackles-for-loss, and 22 sacks on the season, while forcing 21 takeaways (15 INTs, 6 fumbles).
 
Rob Manchester is in his 19^th season at Georgia Military College, but this is his first as a head coach. Manchester, who also serves as the Athletic Director for GMC, spent the last 14 seasons as the Defensive Coordinator and Defensive Backs coach for the Bulldogs, playing a key coaching role in a unit recognized nationally in the NJCAA as one of the best every year. The Bulldogs finished 2019 ranked top ten in nearly every statistical category on defense, and posted four shutouts. With Manchester leading the defense, the Bulldogs averaged giving up just 17 points per game, and had 21 shutouts. Manchester was DC when the Bulldogs made the 2013 Mississippi Bowl, and also competed for the 2013 NJCAA National Championship. Manchester, a University of Kentucky graduate, played his football at UK, then went on to coach under Tommy Bowden at Tulane University in the late 90's. He'd come back to Kentucky and coach defense for three years with the Wildcats while earning his Masters, then went to Louisiana Tech as a grad assistant, before landing at GMC in 2003.
 
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 (#10 DI; Lost 28-21)
• Monroe College (#8 DI; Lost 49-48, OT)
• Snow College (#2 DI; Lost 51-28)
• Nassau Community College (#1 DIII; Won 41-6)
• Georgia Military (Preseason #15 DI; Will play November 20^th)

 

• NJCAA Division I Top 15 Rankings (Week 11)

1. Iowa Western CC (IA); 9-0 [Next game: vs. McDougle Tech (FL) 11/20]
2. New Mexico Military Institute (NM); 9-1 [Next game vs. #14 Tyler Junior College (TX) 11/20]
3. Northwest Mississippi CC (MS); 9-2 [MCCC Champions, Regular Season Complete]
4. Snow College (UT); 7-1 [Regular Season Complete]
5. Monroe College (NY); 9-0 [Next game: at Sussex County CC (NJ) 11/20]
6. East Mississippi CC (MS); 9-1 [Regular Season Complete]
7. Hinds CC (MS); 8-3 [Regular Season Complete]
8. Hutchinson CC (KS); 7-2 [Next Game: at #11 Garden City CC (KS) 11/21]
9. Jones College (MS); 8-2 [Regular Season Complete]
10. Iowa Central CC (IA); 8-2 [Regular Season Complete]
11. Garden City CC (KS); 7-2 [Next game: vs. #8 Hutchinson CC (KS) 11/21]
12. Coffeyville CC (KS); 6-2 [Regular Season Complete]
13. Mississippi Gulf Coast CC (MS); 7-2 [Regular Season Complete]
14. Tyler Junior College (TX); 6-4 [Next game: at #2 New Mexico Military Institute) 11/20]
15. Independence CC (KS); 8-2 [Regular Season Complete]

 
Receiving Votes: Navarro (TX); Lackawanna College (PA); Kilgore College (TX)
Bold and Italics: Opponent on Lackawanna College's schedule
 

• Lackawanna College has won four straight against the Bulldogs, with the most recent win coming in 2019, at Scranton Memorial Stadium, when the Falcons won 37-30 to clinch a berth in the NJCAA National Championship Game.

 
Since 2007, the Bulldogs lead the series 7-6. GMC has not won against Lackawanna College since 2014, when the Bulldogs won 20-8 at a game played at Marshall University.
 
2007: GMC 35 – 13 LC
2008: GMC 27 – 26 LC
2009: GMC 35 – 7 LC
2010: LC 28 – 21 GMC
2011: LC 44 – 24 GMC
2012: GMC 43 – 25 LC
2013: GMC 63 – 18 LC
2014: GMC 20 – 8 LC
2015: GMC 2 – 0 LC (LC Forfeit)
2016: LC 47 – 28 GMC
2017: LC 41 – 34 GMC
2018: LC 30 – 15 GMC
2019: LC 37 – 30 GMC
2021: ???
 

• The last match-up (2019) was the first time that the game between the two wasn't played at a neutral site since 2010, which was also the last time Georgia Military College came to NEPA to play Lackawanna College. This weekend's game will be the first time that Georgia Military has hosted Lackawanna at home since 2009.

 

• With the win last week over Nassau, Lackawanna College clinched their sixth straight fall season of six wins or more, dating back to 2015.

 

• With their loss to Snow, Lackawanna College had a streak snapped where they had gone seven seasons with two losses or less. The last time the Falcons lost more than two games in a year was 2014, when the Falcons went 5-5.

 

• Lackawanna College quarterback Barry Brown is among the nation's best in several passing categories this season. Brown is tied for 1^st in the NJCAA in passing touchdowns (28), 5^th in the NJCAA in passing efficiency (164.6), 5^th in passing yards per game (248.6), 6^th in yds/attempt (9.1), 6^th in total passing yards (2237), and 14^th in completion percentage (57.6%).

 

• Falcons wide receiver Delvin Palmer is 7^th in the NJCAA in yards receiving per game (78.3) and 4^th in the country in yards per reception (22.0). Palmer also ranks 3^rd in the NJCAA in total yards per game (127.7), while his fellow receiver Cohen Russel comes in at 13^th in the country (112.9).

 

• Palmer and Russell are the most potent one-two special teams punch in the nation, both averaging 28.6 (Palmer) and 28.1 (Russell) yards per kick return this year. As a team, Lackawanna College averages 26.5 yards per return, good enough for 5^th in the NJCAA.

 

• The Lackawanna Falcons are 3^rd in the NJCAA in time-of-possession, averaging around 32:58 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 (281.4). The Falcons are also 5^th in yards per attempt (8.9) and 5^th in yards per completion (15.5). Their 31 passing touchdowns has them 2^nd in the NJCAA.

 

• Saturday's game will be video livestreamed via the Georgia Military College Jock Jive website HERE.