HAWKSMONMOUTH FOOTBALL UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS 400 Cedar Avenue West Long Branch, NJ 07764-1898 Football Contact: Thomas Dick Director of Athletics Communications (732) 571-4447, FAX (732) 571-3535 HAWKS SCOREBOARD HAWKS FOOTBALL Date Opponent Result/Time 09/07 at Lafayette 1 p.m. 09/14 ★ SACRED HEART 1 p.m. MONMOUTH HAWKS (0-0) 09/21 at Morgan State 7 p.m. 09/28 ★ at Robert Morris 1:30 p.m. at 10/12 ★ STONY BROOK 1 p.m. 10/19 ★ CENTRAL CONNECTICUT ST. 1 p.m. LAFAYETTE LEOPARDS (0-0) 10/26 ★ at Wagner 1 p.m. 11/02 TOWSON 1 p.m. 11/09 ★ ST. FRANCIS (PA.) 1 p.m. ★ September 7, 2002 1:00 P.M. 11/16 at Albany 1 p.m. Fisher Field (13,750) ★ - denotes Northeast Conference game Easton, Pa. THE SERIES Overall Record . First Meeting Monmouth University and Lafayette College commence their respective 2002 seasons as the squads meet in a non-conference contest on September 7. Kick- off at Fisher Field in Easton, Pennsylvania is slated for 1 p.m. The combatants THE COACHES have different agendas heading into the contest. Monmouth is looking to build off MONMOUTH: its successful 7-3 record from 2001. Lafayette is hoping to put together its first Kevin Callahan (Rochester, 1977) winning season in nine years. Record at MU: 47-39 (10th season) Overall Record: 47-39 (10th season) Defense is expected to be the Hawks strength once again in 2002. The vaunted Record vs. LC: 0-0 LAFAYETTE: Hawks blueshirts led the nation in total defense in 2000, yielding just 232.1 Frank Tavani (Lebanon Valley, 1975) yards per game. Last season, Monmouth slipped a bit in the rankings, dropping Record at LC: 4-17 (3rd season) to 17th, but the Blue and White returns nine starters on defense. Among the Overall Record: 4-17 (3rd season) returnees are All-Northeast Conference performers SEAN KERR and CHRIS Record vs. MU: 0-0 AMMACHER on the defensive line, JOE SENTIPAL at linebacker and MICHAEL PITTS in the secondary. Ammacher has already earned preseason All-America RADIO titles from The Sports Network and Don Hansens National Weekly Football Ga- HAWKS COVERAGE zette. Monmouth quarterback and offensive co-captain BILL RANKIN owns a WCMX 88.9 FM 12-8 record as a starter and ranks second on MUs career passing list with 2,850 West Long Branch, N.J. yards. BILLY LYNN is the lone Monmouth wide receiver to enter the 2002 sea- Greg Mescall, play-by-play son with a career reception. He ranked second on the squad with 24 catches for Greg Acquaviva, color analysis 258 yards last season. MIKE DIBELLA, who ranks fifth on MUs career tackles www.WMCX.com list, moved to fullback in the spring. LAFAYETTE COVERAGE The Leopards will look to attack the Hawks through the air. Lafayette ranked WEST 1400 AM 14th in the nation in passing offense last year and MARKO GLAVIC, a two-year Easton, Pa. returnee at quarterback, tossed for 2,460 yards last season. The Maroon and Dick Hammer, play-by-play Mike Moore - color analysis White aerial attack also returns its leading target from a year ago in the form of JOHN WEYRAUCH who hauled in 58 passes for 889 yards and 6 TDs during his sophomore season. The offensive assault is supplemented on the ground by JOE TELEVISON MCCOURT who tallied 731 rushing yards and 6 TDs as a freshman. Lafayette LAFAYETTE COVERAGE also returns a pair of All-Patriot League offensive lineman in left tackle KEVIN RCN-TV 4 & WBPH-TV 60 MOSS and center CHRIS ROYLE. The Leopards weakness is defense as they Lehigh Valley, Pa. yielded 406.2 yards and 30.8 points per game last season. Defensive back HERB Gary Laubach, play-by-play KENNEDY led Lafayette returnees with 50 tackles in 2001. John Leone, color analysis www.monmouth.edu THE LAFAYETTE-MONMOUTH SERIES MEDIA SERVICES Saturdays game marks the first-ever matchup between Lafayette and Monmouth on the gridiron. Monmouth is 1-5 all-time vs. members of the Patriot League. The Hawks lost its only meeting vs. Lehigh University, 56-10 in 1999. Monmouth is 1- INTERVIEWS WITH COACH CALLAHAN 6 all-time vs. Towson, but the Hawks are 1-4 against the Tigers since they joined Media wishing to interview Coach the Patriot League. Last season, the Hawks posted a 24-17 victory over Towson, despite not completing a pass for the entire contest. Callahan must notify the Monmouth Athletics Communications office. Twenty- four hours of advance notice is appreci- HEAD COACH KEVIN CALLAHAN th ated. Coach Callahan is most available Head coach KEVIN CALLAHAN is in his 10 season at Monmouth and also in his 10th year as a head coach. Callahan owns a 47-39 career coaching record, all with weekday mornings. the Hawks. Callahan has led Monmouth to a pair of Northeast Conference co- championships in 1996 and 1998. He earned NEC Coach of the Year accolades in 1998. Prior to arriving in West Long Branch, Callahan served as a defensive coor- WEEKLY PLAYER INTERVIEWS dinator at Colgate for eight seasons and at Wagner for three years. He began his All player interviews must be requested coaching career as an assistant coach at Albany (1977-79) and Syracuse (1980) through the Monmouth Athletics Communi- before becoming a Seahawk assistant in 1981. cations office, and must be arranged at least 24 hours in advance. Please coordi- LAFAYETTE LEOPARDS nate all requests with the Monmouth Football has been played in a structured form on the campus of Lafayette Athletics Communcations office. College since November 7, 1882 when it lost a decision at Rutgers University. The Lafayette football program is credited with three national championships (1896, 1921 and 1926) and it has posted five undefeated seasons (1896, 1921, PRACTICE COVERAGE 1926, 1937 and 1940). Lafayette and Lehigh University meet every season in Monmouth’s practices are open to the college footballs most played rivalry. Having met 137 times, Lafayette owns a media. Shooting of video and still photos is 71-61-5 edge in the all-time series, despite losing nine of the last 12 meetings. limited to the first 20 minutes of each The Leopards have won three Patriot League title since the league began sponsoring football in 1986. Lafayette is credited with playing in the first indoor practice unless other arrangements are night college football game as the Leopards dropped a 7-0 decision vs. Wash- made. ington & Jefferson College in the Atlantic City Auditorium on October 25, 1930. HEAD COACH: FRANK TAVANI (Lebanon Valley, 1975) is in his third season MEDIA CREDENTIALS as head coach at Lafayette. He owns a 4-17 record as the Leopards head Arrangements for media credentials for coach. Tavani became the schools 27th head coach on December 11, 1999 as Monmouth home football games must be he replaced Bill Russo. Tavani earned the head coaching position after serving made throught the Monmouth Athletics as the Leopards top assistant coach for 13 seasons. He arrived in Easton in April of 1987 after serving as an assistant coach for one season at his alma Communications office. Requests by mater Lebanon Valley College, where he was defensive coordinator. Tavanis first accredited media members should be coaching job came at Franklin & Marshall College where he served as an offen- made in writing and submitted on company sive coordinator for 10-years and helped guide the Diplomats to a 67-23-1 record. He earned his bachelor of arts degree in psychology from Lebanon letterhead to Thomas Dick. Valley in 1975. In his senior season, Tavani became the first player in LVC Credentials must be requested at least history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season, earning All-America honors. In 1988 48 hours prior to requested game. he was inducted into the LVC Athletic Hall of Fame. LEOPARDS NOTES: The pass-happy Leopards ranked 14th in the nation in HOW TO REACH US: passing offense last season with 265.1 yards per game. Lafayettes offensive ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS: (732) 571-4447 line welcomes back a pair of All-Patriot League performers as senior CHRIS THOMAS DICK, ROYLE earned first-team All-Patriot recognition in 2001 and second-team Director of Athletics Communications honors in 2000 as a center. KEVIN MOSS garnered second-team honors with Home: (732) 695-1042 / nine starts at left tackle. Starting right guard STEPHEN BONO and starting [email protected] right tackle JOE UNGRADY also return to the veteran offensive line. On offense, the Leopards also return their leading passer (MARKO GLAVIC), leading rusher (JOE MCCOURT) and leading receiver (JOHN WEYRAUCH). Glavic has started 18 games over the last two seasons and in 2001 he com- pleted 211 of 373 pass attempts for 2,460 yards and 9 TDs. McCourt, who started nine games as a freshman, tallied 731 yards and 6 TDs on 146 carries. He also caught 22 passes out of the backfield for 167 yards. Weyrauch paced all Lafayette receiving targets with 58 catches for 889 yards and 6 TDs during his sophomore campaign. The Leopards return just four starters on defense which could be good or bad considering they allowed 406.2 yards and 30.8 points per game. Among the returnees, left cornerback HERB KENNEDY had the most tackles last season with 50. THE HAWKS IN THE NEC Monmouth is 21-14 all-time in Northeast Conference play on the way to two league crowns during the six years the NEC has sponsored football. The Hawks The Records Watch set a program record with its five NEC wins in 2001.