11/12/22

SCRANTON, Pa. -- For the second time this season, the Lackawanna College Falcons are getting a second look at a regular season opponent at home. This time, the Falcons are hoping to avenge their only loss of the year, when the eleventh-ranked Falcons welcome the seventh-ranked Georgia Military College Bulldogs to Scranton on Saturday, November 12th, for a 1:00pm ET kickoff at PenFed Field at Scranton Memorial Stadium. 

Lackawanna College (6-1) is ranked #11 in the latest National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I poll, and has won its last four in a row. The Falcons were last in action last weekend when they traveled out to Ohio to play the Hocking College Hawks, the #4 DIII team in the land. The Hawks used a fumble return for a touchdown, then a kick return for a score, to jump out to a 17-7 lead, but the Falcons leaned on last year's NJCAA 2nd Team All-America selection, Barry Brown (Philadelphia, PA), who threw for a season-best 320 yards and two touchdowns, while running for three more to help Lackawanna storm back for the 44-30 win. The Falcons had 438 yards of total offense, picked up almost 30 first downs, and twice came back from deficits to pull off the win. James Westry (Newark, NJ) and Kyree Hinton (Somerville, NJ) each went over 100 yards receiving, while Brown connected with ten different Falcon receivers. The defense, despite being put in the early hole, forced three turnovers and had ten tackles-for-loss in another strong performance. Willie Matthews (Montclair, NJ) led the way with seven total tackles, including a team-best six solos, and 2.5 tackles-for-loss. Keeno Arrington (Pittsburgh, PA) had four solo tackles and a sack, while Andrew Vines (Garner, NC) had six total tackles, two tackles-for-loss, and a fumble recovery.

The Bulldogs (8-1) are the #7 team in the latest NJCAA DI polls, having dropped a spot in the rankings despite winning last weekend. The Bulldogs, in their home finale, managed to mount a wild fourth quarter comeback, scoring 18 points in the final frame and winning on a Daniel Gibbs 35-yard field goal as time expired over DIII #2 College of DuPage, 24-21, in Milledgeville. The Bulldogs got 307 yards through the air from Colin Hogan, who tossed a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns, but they also managed just 56 yards on the ground, and were sacked five times. DuPage built a 21-6 halftime lead, but the Bulldog defense put the clamps on in the second half, allowing GMC to make its comeback in the fourth, scoring a pair of touchdowns to bring it even before Gibbs booted his third and most important field goal of the game as time expired. The win kept GMC undefeated at home this season (7-0). 

GMC is currently ninth in the NJCA Division I in scoring, averaging just over 34 points per game. The Bulldogs are tied for first in the country with Trinity Valley CC in total field goals, having booted 14 so far this season. They're towards the bottom half of the rankings in passing yards per game, and just inside the top 20 in rushing yards per game, putting the Bulldogs around 312 yards of offense per game this season, 21st in the country. The Bulldogs really make things difficult for their opponents on defense, where they're second in the country in points allowed per game (10.1), fourth in total yards per game (187.8), third in rush yards per game (42.2), and tops in the nation in sacks (45). 

Lackawanna College, in its 30th season of competition, secured its 200th win in program history with its victory over Queen City. The Falcons now have 202 program victories, and head coach Mark Duda, the man in charge for 29 of those seasons, sits at 198 career victories, the most among active coaches in the NJCAA.

This is the eighteenth every match-up between Lackawanna College and Georgia Military, and the second time this year the Falcons and Bulldogs have met. Earlier this season, GMC dominated early and often, scoring the game's first 27 points en route to a thorough 34-12 victory over Lackawanna in Milledgeville, GA. GMC leads the all-time series 10-7, and its win earlier this year was the first for the Bulldogs in six tries. This Saturday's game in Scranton will mark the first time the team's have played in PA since 2019, when the Falcons won in dramatic fashion to clinch their appearance in the NJCAA National Championship game. 

For more in-depth analysis on the Falcons ahead of their match-up with Georgia Military College, click on the link below to this week's game notes.

GAME NOTES: CLICK HERE

For those fans who cannot attend Saturday's game, there will be a video livestream available via the Lackawanna College Athletics Network. You can watch the game on your browser at lackawannafalcons.com/LIVE, or at the Region 19 Sports Network website. The stream is also available on smartphones or tablets via the Region 19 Sports Network App. Viewers must purchase access to watch the game. Sports Information Director Tom Ferguson will have the play-by-play, joined by Assistant Athletic Director Josh Pardini on color commentary. 

The next match-up for Lackawanna College will be the final one for the 2022 regular season, when Snow College comes to the Electric City on NOvemvber 19th. The Badgers are currently the fifth-ranked team in the NJCAA Division I polls, right outside of the playoff hunt. The game is set for a 12:00pm ET kickoff at PenFed Field at Scranton's Memorial Stadium.