ANNVILLE, Pa. – Sophomore Dan Kelly's (King of Prussia, Pa./Upper Merion) pass into the end zone on the final play of the game was intercepted, and a late Lebanon Valley rally came up just short as Moravian defeated the Flying Dutchmen 27-20 in a Middle Atlantic Conference game Saturday afternoon at Arnold Field.
Sophomore tailback Chris Jacoubs had his second straight 200-plus yard game to lead Moravian (3-0, 3-0 MAC). Jacoubs ran for 257 yards and three touchdowns on 36 carries while scoring a fourth touchdown on a pass reception.
Moravian, which was ranked third in the nation in rushing offense entering the game at 358.0 yards per game, ran for 355 yards on 56 attempts and controlled the ball for 34:28 during the game.
Kelly had an outstanding game for the Dutchmen (2-2, 1-2 MAC), passing for a career-high 282 yards and three touchdowns on 20-of-36 passing. He also rushed for a career-high 67 yards on 13 carries. Freshman receiver Adam Brossman (Lebanon, Pa./Lebanon) caught eight passes for a career-high 174 yards, the most by an LVC receiver since Bob Schwenk '94 had a school-record 199 yards in 1992. Junior receiver Luke Rendine (West Milford, N.J./West Milford Township) also had eight catches for 78 yards.
Moravian led 27-7 at the half, but the Dutchmen shut out the Greyhounds the rest of the way. With 1:56 left in the third quarter, Kelly hit Rendine with a four-yard touchdown pass, capping an 11-play, 68-yard drive. Freshman Eldin Brodlic's (Lebanon, Pa./Lebanon) second extra point of the day cut the gap to 13, 27-14.
The Greyhounds had a chance to extend their lead late in the game, but a Jerry Venturino pass into the end zone on fourth-and-two was batted down by junior cornerback Joey Venezia (Hummelstown, Pa./Hershey), giving LVC the ball at its own 9-yard line with 5:59 to go.
Kelly went on to orchestrate an 11-play, 89-yard drive, punctuated by a 21-yard scoring strike to freshman Brian Murphy (Rutherford, N.J./Rutherford) with 3:02 left to make it 27-20. The march was highlighted by a 26-yard pass from Kelly to Brossman on a third-and-eight from the LVC-9. Brodlic's extra point attempt was wide left.
The Dutchmen forced Moravian to go three-and-out on its next possession, and freshman Clint Vinju (Earleville, Md./Bohemia Manor) returned a Moravian punt, one of only two punts on the day for either team, five yards to the Dutchman-20 with 2:57 left.
Kelly directed the Dutchmen on another long drive, taking his team 57 yards on 11 plays to the Moravian-23. Along the way, Kelly twice gave the Dutchmen a first down on a rush. His five-yard run on third-and-one gave LVC a first down at the Moravian-44, and his 14-yard dash on fourth-and-three moved the chains again to the Greyhound-23 with nine seconds left. Lebanon Valley would have time for two more plays, but Kelly's final two passes were off the mark.
In the first half, the two teams scored on a touchdown on the game's first three possessions, as Moravian jumped to a 14-7 lead. The Greyhounds took the opening kickoff and scored on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Venturino to Jacoubs on fourth-and-15. Senior kicker John McClain had his extra-point blocked, giving the Greyhounds a 6-0 lead with 11:28 to play in the first quarter.
The Flying Dutchmen responded in just three plays, as Kelly rolled to his left and hit Brossman with a 49-yard touchdown strike. Brodlic added the extra point to give Lebanon Valley a 7-6 lead with 10:03 remaining in the first quarter.
Jacoubs gave the Greyhounds the lead right back with 8:27 left in the opening stanza when he bounced a run to the left sideline and scored from 53 yards out. Venturino hit freshman tight end Kris Bisci with a two-point conversion pass to give Moravian a 14-7 lead.
A pair of LVC fumbles led to Moravian's third and fourth touchdowns. With 4:07 left in the opening quarter, Kelly coughed up the ball on a sack at the Dutchman-30. Seven plays later, Jacoubs rushed in from four yards out, and a McLain point after made it 21-7.
On the fourth play of the Dutchmen's next possession, fullback Eric Laird (Norwood, Pa./Interboro) fumbled at the LVC-46. Eleven plays later, Jacoubs found paydirt from eight yards away for his fourth touchdown of the game. McLain's extra point pushed Moravian's advantage to 27-7.
Vinju finished with 103 all-purpose yards. He returned four kickoffs for 98 yards to go with his five-yard punt return.
Junior linebacker Todd Dietrich (Palmyra, Pa./Halifax) led all players with 12 tackles while senior defensive end Lucas Robinson (East Stroudsburg, Pa./Stroudsburg) made nine stops. Venezia had four tackles, one interception, and two pass break-ups.
Lebanon Valley returns to MAC play next Saturday, when it visits Delaware Valley at 1 p.m.
[Photo - Sophomore Dan Kelly, who passed for 282 yards and ran for 67 yards in Lebanon Valley's 27-20 loss against Moravian on Saturday]
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