9/17/21

SCRANTON, Pa. – After a weekend off, the #15 Lackawanna College Falcons football team heads back out on the road for their second game this season on Saturday, September 18^th. Their opponent will be the ASA-College Miami Silver Storm, and the venue will be RL Billings Stadium in Greensboro, North Carolina. Kickoff is set for 1pm.
 
About the Falcons
In the last game for Lackawanna College (0-1), the Falcons played against Iowa Central Community College in a match-up of the #9 (Lackawanna College) and #11 (Iowa Central) teams in the NJCAA Preseason Rankings Poll. The Falcons held a 21-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter, but the Tritons scored 21 unanswered to come away with a 28-21 victory.
 
Lackawanna College was outgained 380-to-318 on offense, and gave up 317 yards through the air to the Tritons, who scored all three touchdowns in the fourth quarter through the air.
 
Falcons quarterback Barry Brown threw for 273 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. Both of his touchdowns went to receiver Joshua Dodd, who finished with three catches for 62 yards.
 
Antwan Squire was the leading rusher with 47 yards on 16 carries, but no one on the Falcons managed more than net five yards from scrimmage on the ground. The rugged Iowa Central defense held Lackawanna to a net 45 yards rushing, total.
 
Cohen Russell led the team in catches with six receptions for 31 yards, and also had a dazzling 75-yard punt return TD in the third quarter. Alphonso Foray had five catches for a team-high 70 yards, while Delvin Palmer also added five catches for 69 yards.
 
Defensively, safety Tyrece Mills leads the team with 12 tackles, seven solos, along with 3.5 tackles-for-loss, a sack, a forced fumble, and an interception. Jalen Wring has six tackles, four solos, and a tackle-for-loss. Cottrell Hatchett has five tackles, two solos, and a half-sack from his defensive tackle spot. Despite the yardage given up, the Falcons forced seven punts in the game, including four in a row in the third quarter.
 
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 178 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 22-3 since the 2018 season.
 
 
About The Opponent
The Silver Storm (0-2) is coming off a 13-0 loss to national power Georgia Military College on the road. Miami gained 238 yards on offense, but just 33 yards on the ground, averaging just 1.9 yds/rush. Georgia Military College forced ten punts from the Silver Storm offense in the game. Quarterback Marlon Smith was 8-for-23 for 191 yds, while also leading the team in rushing at six carries for 39 yards. The Silver Storm was tacked for loss 13 times by the GMC defense, six of them sacks.
 
The Miami defense held up their end of the bargain, for the most part, forcing an interception, along with eight punts from the GMC offense. The Bulldogs were balanced, but only managed 288 yards of offense. They put up a pair of FGs in the 2^nd quarter, and wouldn't cross the goal line until the 4^th quarter on a rushing touchdown that sealed the game for GMC.
 
Miami lost their first game of the season 70-7 against Trinity Valley CC.
 
So far this year, Miami has given up 41.5 ppg on defense, while only managing seven points on offense through the first two games. The offense has been tackled-for-loss 25 times, and is averaging 227.5 yds/gm on offense, only 29.0 yds/gm on the ground. The Silver Storm has punted 17 times so far this year. The lone touchdown for Miami this year has come from Desmond Prusia to receiver Ian Smith against Trinity Valley.
 
Marlon Smith leads Miami with 191 yards passing this season, while Desmond Prusia has 134 yards passing, and the lone touchdown.
 
Marlon Smith is the leading rushing with 39 yards on the year, while Quasean Holmes (27), Darell Brown (15), and Shayne Lawrence (13) round out the top rushers.
 
Keenan Anunay leads the team with six catches for 106 yards, while Quasean Holmes also has six catches for 69 yards. Lorenzo Hardy has five catches for 32 yards. Ian Smith has the lone touchdown catch, one of his two receptions for 47 yds.
 
Kicker Payton Kendall is 0-for-1 on field goals this year, and converted his extra point attempt. He also doubles as the punter, where he's averaging 29.2 yds/punt.
 
Defensive Back Anthony Brown leads the team with eleven tackles, seven solos, so far this season. Rodney McGraw II has ten tackles, four solos, along with one of the two interceptions so far this year.
 
Treun Pace and Rodney Green are tied for the team lead in solo tackles, with eight apiece. Christian Mable leads the team with 2.5 sacks so far this season.
 
The ASA College Miami head football coach is Cornelius Bosier, who has been with the program since 2015, but was elevated to the head coaching position from defensive line coach in March of 2020. In July of last year, Bosier also added Athletic Director duties to his plate. Bosier helped guide the program through the COVID-19 pandemic, and helped the Silver Storm to a 3-2 record in the spring 2021 season.
 
 
Game Notes

• The loss to Iowa Central CC was the first time since 2013 (vs. Navy Prep) that the Falcons failed to win their season opener. The Falcons have not lost two games to open the season since 2004.

 

• Lackawanna College, despite not playing last weekend, found themselves back in the NJCAA Football Rankings, sitting at #15. The Falcons have five teams that have been or are currently ranked in the NJCAA Football polls (Division I and Division III) on their schedule this year:
  • Iowa Central (#8 DI; Lost 28-21)
  • Monroe College (#13 DI; Will play on October 9^th)
  • Snow College (#1 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 2)

1. Snow College (UT); 2-0 [Next game: vs. McDougle Technical Institute (FL) 9/18]
2. Garden City CC (KS); 1-0 [Next game: at Highland (KS) 9/18]
3. Kilgore College (TX); 2-0 [Next game: vs. Northeastern Oklahoma A&M (OK) 9/18]
4. Iowa Western CC (IA); 1-0 [Next game: vs. Ellsworth (IA) 9/18]
5. Mississippi Gulf Coast CC (MS); 3-0 [33-10 WIN vs. Pearl River (MS) 9/16]
6. Independence CC (KS); 2-0 [Next game: vs. Fort Scott (KS) 9/18]
7. Trinity Valley CC (TX); 2-0 [Next game: at Southern-Shreveport (LA) 9/18]
8. Iowa Central CC (IA); 2-0 [Next game: vs. Gordon Fine Arts (OK) 9/18]
9. Coffeyville CC (KS); 2-0 [Next game: vs. Highland (KS) 9/25]
10. Jones College (MS); 3-0 [33-13 WIN vs. East Central (MS) 9/16]
11. East Mississippi CC (MS); 3-0 [56-3 WIN vs. Mississippi Delta (MS) 9/16]
12. New Mexico State MI (NM); 2-0 [Next game: at Navarro (TX) 9/18]
13. Monroe College (NY); 1-0 [Next game: vs. Hudson Valley (NY) 9/25]
14. Northwest Mississippi CC (MS); 2-1 [51-20 WIN vs. Holmes (MS) 9/16]
15. LACKAWANNA COLLEGE (PA); 0-1

       Receiving Votes: Butler (KS), Hinds (MS)
     Bold and Italics: Opponent on Lackawanna College's schedule
 

• Lackawanna College is one of two schools east of the Mississippi River in the Division I Rankings, with Monroe College being the other school.

 

• Lackawanna College is undefeated against ASA College Miami, winning both match-ups in their brief history. The Falcons won 30-7 in the first meeting back in 2018 in a neutral site contest in Charlotte, North Carolina, and won the next season, in 2019, 40-25 at Scranton's Memorial Stadium. 2018 marked the first meeting between the programs, despite ASA College Miami having been in existence since 1985.

 

• Lackawanna College is 6-3 in neutral site games since 2016. They have lost their last two neutral site contests (2019 NJCAA National Championship vs. Mississippi Gulf Coast CC; 2021 Week 1 loss vs. Iowa Central CC)

 

• Due to a renovation project at Scranton's Memorial Stadium, the Falcons will not have a home football game until Saturday October 2^nd, when they host McDougle Technical Institute. It's the second time in four years that the Falcons won't be home until October, and first time since 2018, when they went without a home game until October 6^th of that season.

 

• Saturday's game will not have an official video livestream. We would like to remind Falcon fans that, if that changes and a video livestream becomes available, we will share it on our page. Please DO NOT click on links shared by strangers on our social pages or with our social accounts tagged in them. Very often, these are spam/phishing links used to get your personal information. Please be cautious.