10/25/24

SCRANTON, Pa. -- Lackawanna College football will do its best to win four straight games when the Falcons travel to take on Hocking College in Ohio this Saturday, October 26th. 

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

Kickoff is scheduled for a 2:00pm ET start at Hocking's on-campus football field in Nelsonville, OH. Lackawanna is 7-0 all-time against Hocking, winning the last match-up last year by a 31-5 margin at home. In that game, Lackawanna overcame sloppy performance to still put up 387 yards of offense and get 24 first downs on the day. Hamas Duren threw three touchdown passes, all to Petey Tucker, and linebacker Devin Harper had a 71-yard interception return for touchdown. The defense limited Hocking to 145 yards of offense, including just 29 yards rushing, and forced three turnovers. 

The 2024 edition of the Lackawanna Falcons (5-2) comes into this week's contest as the #10 team in the latest NJCAA Division I rankings, staying in place after last week's win against Sussex, a 28-12 victory. While the offense struggled to capitalize on great field position and finish drives, it was the defense and the special teams that really clicked for the Falcons. Kicker Keegan Hughes (Scranton, PA) set a school-record with four made field goals, all coming in the first half, and finished with 14 points, the second straight game where he had 14 points in one game. Hughes made kicks from 42, 22, 30, and 43 yards out, helping the offense get itself some points, despite only throwing for 79 yards on the day. The defense held a potent passing attack from Sussex to just 115 yards through the air, and 157 yards in total, while also limiting the Skylanders (1-4) to just 4-for-16 on third down conversions. Galamama Mulbah (Levittown, PA) had a breakout game, rushing for 125 yards, while Maurice Edwards (Mundelein, IL) put up 85 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Wyatt Hagan (Chantilly, VA) had 79 yards passing and a touchdown to wideout Daryl Harper (Montgomery Village, MD). Wide receiver Carrington Nickens-Yzer (Centreville, VA) had two catches for 17 yards, but also was dangerous on returns, taking one punt to the Sussex one-yard line to set up a touchdown. Punter Michael Hartshorn (Clarks Summit, PA) put four punts inside the opponent's 20-yard line, including a punt that was downed at the one, which led to a Lackawanna safety two plays later in the third quarter. Defensively, linebacker Damonte Foreman (Elizabeth City, NC) was excellent in his first start of the year, putting up a team-best eight tackles, three for loss, and two sacks. Fellow linebacker Andrew Marshall (Carroll, OH) continued his torrid pace, putting up five tackles, four for loss, and two sacks. Safety Victor Holt (Olyphant, PA) had five tackles and a pass break-up in the win, the second of the year for Lackawanna over Sussex. 

Division III Hocking (0-7) is having a rough season, forfeiting three contests this year because of ineligible participation, and dropping their other four games, including a 70-6 loss at the College of DuPage last weekend in Glen Ellyn, IL. The three-time defending champion Chaparrals (7-1) put up 700 yards of offense and averaged nearly eleven yards per play. COD had 42 points at halftime, scoring 21 in the game's first five minutes, thanks to an opening drive touchdown, a 63-yard touchdown pass on its next drive, and then a blocked punt returned for a touchdown all inside of the first five minutes. Hocking managed to score a touchdown in the first quarter, a 21-yard pass from Neamiah Azeem to Xion McIntosh that made it 21-6, but the Chaparrals went right down the field on their next possession to put the game truly out of reach. In all, COD had ten drives go for touchdowns and never punted. Hocking had 130 yards of offense on 32 offensive plays, running for 28 yards on just eight carries and throwing for 102 yards, all from Azeem. Jahnille Jones had ten yards on six carries, while Azeem managed 18 yards on two rushes. McIntosh had four catches for 33 yards and a score, and Jamar Ebron had two grabs for 34 yards. Defensively, Hocking did force three turnovers, a pair of interceptions and a fumble. Christian Richardson had eight tackles, while William Parries IV had seven stops and Amari Mack had six tackles and a fumble recovery.

This year, Hocking has had issues scoring, averaging 7.9 points per game, 12th out of the 13 teams in Division III. The Hawks are averaging 194.6 yards per game on offense this year, 10th out of 13 teams. They are tenth in rushing (91.7 per game) and eleventh in DIII in passing (102.9) this year. Defensively, Hocking is last in Division III, allowing 373.4 yards per game. They're 12th in pass yards allowed per game (197.9) and in rush yards (175.6), while allowing 28.9 points per game this year.  

The head coach for Hocking College is Craig Moore, now in his second season in charge of the team and its quarterbacks. Moore is also the Associate Athletic Director at Hocking, and has been with the program and the staff since the start of the football program in 2015. Moore is a junior college product, starting at Rock Valley College in Rockford, IL for two years in the mid-2000's, where he was a two-time all-conference player at quarterback, making honorable mention All-American in his sophomore year in 2005. He went on to play at Quincy University, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in recreation and sport. He then studied for a Master's degree in coaching education at Ohio University in Athens, OH. An Indianapolis native, he started coaching at South Bend Adams HS, his alma mater, as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, before moving to Ohio, where he coached for three years at Federal Hocking HS, spending two seasons as the OC and QBs coach and one year as their head coach. 

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 will remain on the road next weekend, when the Falcons travel to take on their east coast rivals, the Monroe University Mustangs, for a 4:00pm ET kickoff in Mount Vernon, NY.