(Bethlehem, Pa.) – The Dickinson football team battled to the end, but suffered its first Centennial Conference loss, falling at Moravian College 21-13, on Saturday.
The Red Devils turned the ball over on the second play of the game as Moravian intercepted sophomore starter Cole Ahnell (Rockville, Md./Walter Johnson) on the 30 yard line. The Devils regained possession almost immediately as the Devils sacked quarterback Jimmy Lahue and Nate Detwiler (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg) recovered a fumble forced by senior co-captain Schuyler Simpson (Potomac, Md./Bullis)
Neither offense could move into field-goal range in the first quarter. The Greyhounds opened the second by pinning the Devils on their own five yard line with a great punt by Tyler Thompson. Moravian forced and recovered a fumble on the one yard line. Two plays later they punched it in to take a 7-0 lead at the 13:34 mark.
The Red Devils evened the score one a double-pass as Ahnell hit wide receiver Eric Ondo (Richland, Pa./ELCO), who tossed a 23-yard touchdown pass to senior Matt Wood (Baltimore, Md./Perry Hall) with 3:07 to play in the first half.
Joe Tegan broke free for a 54 yard touchdown on third-and-short, scoring on their first possession of the second half at the 12:19 mark.
The Devil defense came up with a huge stand, forcing a turnover on fourth-and-one as junior co-captain Michael Miller (Hainesport, N.J./Bishop Eustace) and Detwiler made the stop behind the line of scrimmage to give the Devils the ball on their own 24 yard line.
The Red Devils capitalized with a field-goal as sophomore Adam Kaminski (Exton, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) split the uprights from 35 yards out to pull Dickinson within 14-10 as the third quarter came to a close.
The Greyhounds wasted little time responding, scoring on the fourth play of the ensuing drive on a great play-action pass. Lahue connected with Jason Fuehring for a 32 yard touchdown to stretch the lead to 20-10.
Kaminski hit again, from 21 yards to make it a one possession game, 21-13, with 8:51 remaining in the game.
The defense held one last time, forcing Moravian to punt the ball back to Dickinson for a final drive. A sack made it fourth-and-11, putting the game on the next play. The ball was knocked to the ground and Moravian took over to run out the clock.
Ahnell completed 15-of-25 passes for 209 yards and rushed for 54 yards on the day. Senior Shea Licata (Manhasset, N.Y./Manhasset) ran for 53 yards.
Wood finished with four catches for 87 yards while Greg Capozza (Spotsylvania, Va./Riverbend) covered 58 yards on two receptions. Ondo and Colin Rodgers (Jamison, Pa./St. Joe's Prep) each made four catches as well.
Simpson anchored another outstanding defensive effort, recording 10 tackles, a pair of sacks and forced fumble. Walker Moriarty (Snowmass Village, Colo./Aspen) also had a pair of sacks and a forced fumble, adding six tackles.
Connor Thompson (Jenkintown, Pa./Father Judge) tallied eight tackles while Miller finished with seven and a tackle-for-loss. Kaminski averaged 36.2 yards on five punts.
The Devils suffer their first conference loss, slipping to 2-1 in the Centennial and 2-2 overall. They return to Biddle Field for Homecoming next weekend, hosting Franklin & Marshall on Saturday at 1:00 pm in the Conestoga Wagon Trophy game.