12/2/22

ROSWELL, NM -- For the 13th time in school history, the Lackawanna College Falcons will  compete in an NJCAA Football bowl game, when the Falcons will take on the #9 New Mexico Military Institute Broncos on Friday, December 2nd at 6:00pm MT (8:00pm ET) at the 2022 HF Sinclair Wool Bowl in Roswell, NM. 

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 second 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 marks the first of six NJCAA bowl games to be played this weekend. Saturday, December 3rd's action is highlighted by the NJCAA DIII National Championship between #1 North Dakota SCS and #2 College of DuPage, and also includes the TX CHAMPS Heart of Texas Bowl between #12 Butler and #7 Kilgore, and the first NJCAA DI Semi-Final between #4 Coffeyville and top-ranked Hutchinson. On Sunday, December 4th, the One Game Bowl between #10 Trinity Valley CC and #14 Iowa Central CC will kick off first, followed later in the day by the second NJCAA DI Semi-Final, between #2 Northwest Mississippi and #3 Iowa Western.  

Lackawanna College (7-2) is ranked #11 in the latest National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I poll, and was last in action on Saturday, November 19th, when the then-#7 Falcons fell to the #5 Snow College Badgers at home, 30-7, in the regular season finale. The Falcons trailed from the first play, when a mistake on the kickoff return from Lackawanna resulted in a safety for Snow College just a few seconds into the game. The game was tight in the first half, with Snow clinging to a 10-0 lead at the break, thanks to the Falcons defense, and a Snow fumble on the opening possession of the third quarter gave Lackawanna an opportunity deep in Snow territory. However, the Falcons couldn't get closer than the 10-yard line, fumbling their golden chance away. The Badgers from Snow capitalized, scoring a 75-yard touchdown, and then, after a short Falcon possession that ended in a punt, scoring on the first play from scrimmage on their ensuing possession, quickly turning it into a 24-0 Snow lead midway through the third quarter. A Barry Brown (Philadelphia, PA) touchdown pass to Justin Thompson (Ambridge, PA) gave the Falcons a bit of life early in the fourth quarter, but snow went on a killer six minute drive that ended in points, making it 30-7 and putting the game away. Lackawanna gained just 228 yards of offense, and was 4-for-14 on third downs, while the defense, which played valiantly in the first half, gave up 265 yards rushing to the pounding attack from the Badgers. 

The Falcons are led on offense by quarterback Barry Brown, who has passed for 1307 yards and 12 touchdowns on the season. Brown has thrown for more yards (699) in three games as he did in his first six games (588). Brown has also rushed 251 yards and seven touchdowns. Wide Receiver James Westry (Newark, NJ) leads the team with 27 catches for a team-high 415 yards. Petey Tucker (Hyattsville, MD) has 16 catches for 309 yards and three touchdowns, while tight end Justin Thompson leads the receivers with five touchdown grabs, to go with his 12 catches for 115 yards this year. Terez Worthy (Salisbury, MD) leads the ground attack, going for 759 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 223 yards and a pair of touchdowns this year. Defensively, the Falcons are led by Keeno Arrington (Pittsburgh, PA), who has a team-high 40 total tackles, 32 solos, and 13 pass break-ups on the year. Linebacker Paul Tangelo (Gaithersburg, MD) is second on the team with 33 total tackles, 24 solos, and leads the Falcons in sacks (5.5) and has 7.5 tackles-for-loss this season. Linebacker Willie Matthews (Montclair, NJ) is third on the team with 32 total tackles, 26 solos, and eight tackles-for-loss and three sacks. Linebacker Lonnie Rice (Philadelphia, PA) leads the Falcons with 9.5 tackles-for-loss, and has 32 total tackles, 24 solos, and 3.5 sacks on the season. 

The Broncos from New Mexico Military Institute are currently #9 in the latest NJCAA DI Football Rankings and are 8-3 overall on the year. NMMI is coming off a loss in its last game, the SWJCFC Championship, where they dropped a 39-12 decision to Kilgore College, giving the Rangers the road-win and the conference championship, and, in turn, denying the Broncos their faint hopes of sneaking back into the NJCAA DI Playoffs to defend their national championship of a year ago. Similar to the Falcons in their game, NMMI struggled to get things going on offense in their match-up, but still managed to hold steady, trailing 10-3 at halftime. The second half was a much different story, however, when Kilgore returned the opening kickoff of the half 90-yards to the house, pushing their lead to 17-3. After a NMMI field goal cut it to 17-6, the Rangers rattled off the next 22 points, aided by interceptions from its defense, including a pick six that made it 36-6 just before the end of the third quarter. It was the first loss of the season for NMMI at home.  

Quarterback Koby Muasau has passed for 1977 yards and 18 touchdowns on the season for the Broncos. Muasau's favorite target this season has been Malik Phillips, who leads the Broncos with 36 catches on the year, for a team-high 586 yards and five touchdowns on the year. Terrence Moore is second on the team with 34 receptions for 473 yards and four touchdowns, while Treyvion Beamon leads the team with six touchdown catches on 27 receptions for 514 yards this year. Jeiel Stark is the main rusher for the Broncos this year, putting up a team-high 599 yards and three scores on 142 carries, averaging 4.2 yards per carry this season. Au'mhryaun Brown has 237 yards and four touchdowns this season on the ground, while Tyran Cassie has 180 yards rushing and four touchdowns. The Bronco defense is led by linebacker Tyler Martinez, who leads the team with 75 total tackles, 36 solos, and has two fumble recoveries, as well as 3.5 tackles-for-loss, this season. Defensive end Vili Taufatofua also has 75 total tackles, and a team-high 51 solos, and leads the team in tackles-for-loss (20.5) and sacks (13.5) this season. Linebacker Horacio Moronta has 67 total tackles, 45 solos, and is second on the team with nine tackles-for-loss. He is a turnover magnet, with four fumble recoveries and an interception this season. The Broncos have forced 24 turnovers as a unit this year, and have 39 sacks and 95 tackles-for-loss this season. 

Lackawanna College, in its 30th season of competition, secured its 200th win in program history with its victory over Queen City back in October. 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 the first time in either program's history that Lackawanna and NMMI will meet on the football field. The Falcons have played in bowl games out west before, playing in both Arizona and Utah, but they have never stepped foot in the Land of Enchantment, New Mexico, until this weekend. The teams share one common opponent, Snow College, who the Broncos beat 38-7 in their second game of the year, while the Falcons lost to Snow 30-7 in their final game of the year.  

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

GAME NOTES: CLICK HERE

For those fans who will not be in New Mexico for the HF Sinclair Wool Bowl, there will be a video livestream available for free, thanks to KSVP-TV. Their broadcast is set to start 30 minutes before kickoff, at www.ksvptv.com. Kickoff for the HF Sinclair Wool Bowl is set for 6:00pm MT, which will be 8:00pm ET on the east coast in Scranton.