10/18/24

SCRANTON, Pa. -- Lackawanna College football, after a week away, is back to work this coming weekend, as the Falcons are set to host their Region XIX rivals, Sussex County CC, on Saturday, October 19th, as part of Homecoming Weekend at Lackawanna College. 

You can read the full games notes for this week's contest HERE.

Kickoff is scheduled for a 1:00pm ET start at PenFed Field at Scranton's Memorial Stadium. It's the first game in two weeks for the Falcons, who were off last weekend on a bye. Lackawanna is 5-0 all-time against Sussex, and has already beaten the Skylanders once this season. That win came three weeks ago, in New Jersey, as the Falcons broke open a close first half contest with a strong defensive performance in the second half, winning going away at 43-18. It was a sloppy affair, thanks to the weather, and Lackawanna's defense was off to a sluggish start in the first half, as both teams traded points back-and-forth in the first half. The turning point came in the second quarter, after Sussex scored a touchdown to clip Lackawanna's lead to just 21-18 with 5:56 to play in the first half. The Falcons went to work on a drive that had seven straight runs to get to the Sussex 1-yard line. Wyatt Hagan (Chantilly, VA) threw a one-yard touchdown pass to Michael Hodge (Richmond, VA) that put Lackawanna up ten at 28-18 with just about two minutes to play. Then, Sussex sailed a fourth-down snap over the punter's head and into the end zone, where the punter was tackled by Gene Townsel (Richmond, VA) for a safety that made it 30-18 heading into the break. The Falcons were never threatened again, as the Lackawanna defense held Sussex to 55 yards of total offense the rest of the way, and the Falcons added a touchdown pass and an interception return for touchdown. The Falcons ran for 262 yards and had 25 first downs overall. Maurice Edwards (Mundelein, IL) had 111 yards and a touchdown, while Galamama Mulbah (Fairless Hills, PA) ran for 91 yards and a pair of scores. Hagan was 9-for-18 for 92 yards and two touchdowns, while receiver Christian Harrison (Temple Hills, MD) led the way with four receptions for 35 yards. Defensively, Chris Campanelli (Kenoza Lake, NY) had a team-high five tackles, including 2.5 tackles-for-loss and two sacks. Bryan Pulley (Raleigh, NC) had four tackles and an interception, while Townsel had four tackles and 1.5 tackles-for-loss. Nyair Graham (Camden, NJ) had four tackles and an assisted tackle-for-loss.

The Lackawanna Falcons (4-2) come into this week's contest as the #10 team in the latest NJCAA Division I rankings, staying in place on the bye week. In its last game, Lackawanna was excellent in all three phases of the game to win 44-13 over rival Monroe University on a sun-soaked Saturday afternoon at Scranton Memorial Stadium. The Falcons put up 370 yards of total offense, and were led by quarterback Bryan Johnson (Woodbury, NJ), who threw for 187 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for 59 more yards and two more touchdowns. Johnson, seeing his first action of the year, orchestrated a touchdown drive on the opening possession, ending in a 1-yard score for himself. That was the first six of 24 straight points for the Falcons. Johnson also had a 32-yard touchdown pass to Carmelo Taylor (Roanoke, VA), along with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Daryl Harper (Montgomery Village, MD). Keegan Hughes (Scranton, PA) kicked three first-half field goals to give the Falcons a 30-6 lead at halftime, and Johnson added a 28-yard touchdown run, plus a Mulbah one-yard score, that rounded out Lacakwanna's scoring in the 31-point win. Edwards led the charge on the ground with 72 yards rushing, while Mulbah had 42 yards and a score. Taylor had two cathces for 50 yards and his touchdown, while Harper had three grabs for 42 yards and his score. Carrington Nickens-Yzer (Centreville, VA) had a team-high four catches for 80 yards. Linebacker Andrew Marshall (Carroll, OH) led the defense with eight tackles, three for loss, and two sacks. That performance earned him NJCAA Division I National Defensive POTW honors. The Falcons held Monroe to -19 yards rushing, and had eleven total tackles-for-loss and three sacks against the Mustangs. 

Sussex (1-3) picked up its first win of the season in its last game, knocking off NJCAA DIII #3 Hudson Valley CC on the road, 26-21, on Thursday, October 10th. The Skylanders held a 19-0 lead in the first quarter, but found themselves down 21-19 early in the fourth. Sussex put together a staggering 13-play drive that ate up over eight minutes of game time, but were forced to punt in HVCC territory with just 3:22 to go, trust its defense to hold. That trust proved correct, as the Vikings (6-1) gave the ball right back to Sussex, in HVCC territory, with 1:45 to play. Just one minute later, the Skylanders were in the end zone, as quarterback Maurice Williams hooked up with Malik Baker for their second touchdown from 16 yards out to give Sussex the lead at 26-21 with 45 seconds to go. The defense held on, getting a sack near midfield, then intercepting the final pass to come out with the win. Williams was excellent, throwing for 187 yards and three scores, while rushing for a fourth touchdown. Baker had nine catches for 132 yards and two touchdowns. Robert Garrett had eleven tackles to lead the Skylanders. Sussex had 26 first downs and piled up 425 yards of total offense, which included 214 on the ground. 

Through its first four games, Sussex has had issues scoring, averaging 16.5 points per game. The Skylanders are averaging 320.5 yards per game on offense this year, 25th out of 41 teams. They are second-to-last in rushing (65.3 per game), but up to seventh in the country in passing (255.3) this year. Defensively, Sussex is in the middle of the pack, nationally, giving up 295 yards per game, 21st in the country. They're 12th in pass yards allowed per game (158.5) and 23rd in rush yards (136.5), while allowing 28 points per game this year.  

The head coach for Sussex County CC is James Robertson, now in his second season as the head coach and third season overall with the program. Robertson took over for former coach Todd Poltersdorf, who started the program and then became the Athletic Director at Sussex. Robertson oversaw the best season in the short history for the Skylanders in 2023, as Sussex went 8-2 overall, with its only losses coming to national powers Georgia Military and Lackawanna College. The 2023 Skylanders had impressive wins over Hudson Valley CC, Erie CC, and Nassau CC, before taking down Division I Monroe in the season finale by a 47-27 margin. Before becoming head coach, Roberston was the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator in 2022. The Skylanders had 30 sacks and 14 turnovers, helping Sussex to a 4-6 overall team record. Before that, Robertson spent time as the safties and special teams assistant at FDU-Florham, helping the Devils go to 7-4 and making an appearance in the ECAC James Lynah Bowl, the first bowl in program history. Robertson played college ball at Frostburg State, where he graduated in 2008. He earned a nursing degree from Sussex, and he works as a Registered Nurse, in addition to his duties at Sussex.  

The head football coach for Lackawanna College is Mark Duda, now in his 31st season at the helm for the Falcons. Duda has 210 career victories, the most among active coaches in the NJCAA. Coach Duda, an NJCAA Hall-of-Famer, has produced over 400 scholarship athletes and had 20 different players end up with NFL contracts after spending time at Lackawanna. Lackawanna has had a .500 or better record in 26 of his 30 previous seasons, and has five official undefeated regular seasons. Duda is a northeast PA native, graduating from Wyoming Valley West in 1979, a prominent member of the Spartans' vaunted "Mad Dog" defense. Duda went on to play at the University of Maryland, setting a record of 13 sacks in a year, which stood for 30 years, before being drafted by the then-St. Louis Cardinals in 1983. Duda made 34 starts and 55 appearances, recording 9.5 sacks in the NFL. He earned a bachelor's degree from East Stroudsburg in 1991, and has a master's degree from Thomas Edison College. 

Lackawanna College is on the road next weekend, as the Falcons make the trek to Nelsonville, OH, for a matchup with the NJCAA Division III Hocking College Hawks. Kickoff is tentatively scheduled for 2:00pm ET at Hocking's football field on campus.