11/19/22

SCRANTON, Pa. -- With history beckoning, and a possible playoff spot available with an impressive enough win, the seventh-ranked Lackawanna College Falcons have a lot of motivation heading into their final game of the regular season, as the Falcons get ready to host the fifth-ranked Snow College Badgers on Saturday, November 19th, for a 12:00pm ET kickoff at PenFed Field at Scranton's Memorial Stadium. 

Coming into the contest, head football coach Mark Duda sits at 199 official career victories, the active leader amongst NJCAA head coaches. This will be Duda's first crack at trying to break through the 200-win barrier. Duda has been the head football coach for 29 of the 30 years of Falcon football. 

This game may also have potential NJCAA Division I Playoff implications. The top-four teams (1-Hutchinson CC, 2-Northwest Mississippi, 3-Iowa Western, 4-Coffeyville) are all idle, and there are only two games in NJCAA Division I happening on Saturday, with the other game being the SWJCFC Championship between #6 New Mexico Military Institute and #11 Kilgore College. Impressive wins from either NMMI, or Snow College, or Lackawanna College could possibly give the committee reason to shake-up the top four rankings. By the time Monday's rankings are released, the top four teams in the NJCAA rankings will move on to the NJCAA Playoff, where the fourth-seed goes to the top-seed, and the three-seed plays the two-seed. The winners of those semi-final contests will play in the NJCAA Division I National Championship Game on Wednesday, December 14th in Little Rock, Arkansas. 

Lackawanna College (7-1) is ranked #7 in the latest National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I poll, and has won its last five straight. The last game for Lackawanna College was last weekend, in a dominant home win over previous #7 Georgia Military College, 42-11. The Falcons put up 562 yards of total offense and scored touchdowns on five straight second half possessions, breaking open what had been a slim 7-3 advantage at the half into a statement victory. Barry Brown (Philadelphia, PA) went 19-for-29 for 274 yards and three touchdowns, while running for 45 yards and another score. Terez Worthy (Salisbury, MD) had 181 yards rushing of the 288 put up by the Falcon offense, scoring a pair of touchdowns, including a back-breaking 75-yard score early in the fourth quarter. Petey Tucker (Hyattsville, MD) had his first game over 100 yards receiving, catching five passes and a touchdown. It wasn't all offense, as the defense also stepped up, holding a rugged GMC rushing attack to just one net yard on the ground, and 128 yards overall of offense. The defense had seven sacks, ten tackles-for-loss, and and an interception. Willie Matthews (Montclair, NJ) had a team-high five solo tackles, as did Isaiah Oduro (North Brunswick, NJ), who also provided a sack. Keeno Arrington (Pittsburgh, PA) had the interception, as well as three pass break-ups and a handful of tackles. 

The Falcons are led on offense by quarterback Barry Brown, who has passed for 1162 yards and eleven touchdowns on the season. Brown has thrown for almost as many yards (574) in two games as he did in his first six games (588). Brown has also rushed 224 yards and seven touchdowns. Wide Receiver James Westry (Newark, NJ) leads the team with 26 catches for a team-high 397 yards. Petey Tucker has 15 catches for 295 yards and three touchdowns, while tight end Justin Thompson (Ambridge, PA) leads the receivers with four touchdown grabs, to go with his eleven catches for 111 yards this year. Terez Worthy leads the ground attack, going fo 693 yards and nine touchdowns on the season, both team-highs. Jordan Sellers (Paterson, NJ) has 211 yards and three touchdowns, while Antrell Monroe (Passaic, NJ) has 207 yards and a pair of touchdowns this year. Defensively, the Falcons are led by Keeno Arrington, who has a team-high 35 total tackles, 28 solos, and 13 pass break-ups on the year. Linebacker Willie Matthews is second on the team with 29 total tackles, 23 solos, and seven tackles-for-loss. Linebacker Paul Tangelo (Gaithersburg, MD) leads the Falcons in sacks (5.5), and has 25 total tackles, 18 solos, and 6.5 tackles-for-loss this season. Linebacker Lonnie Rice (Philadelphia, PA) leads the Falcons with 7.5 tackles-for-loss, 24 total tackles, 17 solos, and 2.5 sacks on the season. 

The Badgers (7-2) are currently the #5 team in the latest NJCAA Division I poll, with their two losses coming to the two teams that competed for the NJCAA DI national championship a year ago, Iowa Western and the defending national champions, New Mexico Military Institute. Snow has won three in a row, their latest a 34-14 win at home over Monroe College. The Badgers moved the ball with relative ease, putting up 404 yards, but turnovers kept things competitive, one of which gave Monroe a touchdown mid-way through the fourth to cut a Badger lead to six points. The Snow defense, which piled up eight sacks, held firm, and the offense put together two touchdown drives late to help the Badgers pull away. Daisean Cash had 292 yards passing and three scores, as well as two interceptions, while Carsen Manookin had 85 yards and two scores on the ground. Dionte Davis had five catches for a team-high 96 yards and two scores, while Taylor Larsen had a team-high six catches for 62 yards and a touchdown. Linebacker Cole Bowers was the NJCAA DI Defensive POTW, with ten total tackles, six solos, and four tackles-for-loss, including a sack. Zach Nowatzke added six total tackles for a Badger defense that only held Monroe to 0 yards rushing. 

The Snow College offense is eighth in the country, averaging 35 points per game this year. Like Lackawanna, the Badgers have a game where they scored over 80 points, knocking off Gila River JC 85-0 earlier this season.  The Badgers are eighth in the NJCAA in total offensive yards (391.4) per game, and are fourth in rushing yards (194.4) per game. Snow's defense has given up around 277 yards per game this year, but has been very stout against the run, giving up just 77.6 yards per game on the ground. The Badgers have 35 sacks, tied for seventh in the NJCAA, and have nine interceptions and ten fumble recoveries this year. 

Quarterback Daisean Cash has passed for 1466 yards and eleven touchdowns on the season for the Badgers. Cash's favorite target has been Taylor Larsen, who leads the Badgers with 26 catches for 256 yards and a touchdown this year. Dionte Davis is tied for the team lead in touchdown catches, with three TD grabs to go with his eleven catches for 234 yards, averaging over 21 yards per catch. Elijah Ervin has 15 catches for 202 yards and two touchdowns. Carsen Manookin leads the ground game, going for 524 yards and six scores, averaging 4.7 yards per carry. Targhee Lambson has 419 yards and six touchdowns this year. The Badger defense is led by the aforementioned Cole Bowers, who has 58 total tackles, 45 solos, to go with twelve tackles-for-loss and four sacks on the year. Zach Nowatzke has 45 total tackles, 18 solos, and 8.5 tackles-for-loss, to go with four sacks this year. John Taumoepeau leads the team with 6.5 sacks this year, putting up 37 total tackles and 22 solo tackles, as well as 9.5 tackles-for-loss. 

Lackawanna College, in its 30th season of competition, secured its 200th win in program history with its victory over Queen City last month. The Falcons now have 203 program victories, and head coach Mark Duda, the man in charge for 29 of those seasons, sits at 199 career victories, the most among active coaches in the NJCAA.

This is only the fourth-ever match-up between Lackawanna College and Snow College. The Badgers own a 2-1 advantage in the series, having won the last two match-ups. The Falcons won the first ever game, a September 2019 road game in Ephraim, UT that the Falcons took, 17-6, a win that would eventually propel Lackawanna College to appear in the NJCAA National Championship that season. The Badgers returned the favor 19 months later, when they took a 27-7 win over Lackawanna College in April 2021 in Scranton, snapping a home unbeaten run that had lasted nearly five years for the Falcons. Snow also won last year's contest, a 51-28 beatdown the Badgers laid on the Falcons in Utah. 

For more in-depth analysis on the Falcons ahead of their match-up with Snow 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 has yet to be determined. The result of Saturday's game with Snow College may determine where the Falcons play next. Please pay attention to lackawannafalcons.com for the latest updates on potential postseason bowls or berths for Lackawanna College.