WHO – Catholic vs. Juniata
WHEN – Saturday, November 11 | 1 PM
WHERE – Washington, D.C. | Cardinal Stadium
WATCH | LIVE STATS
LAST WEEK –
Catholic 40, Wilkes 35 | Keystone 42, Juniata 35
Senior quarterback
Madden Lowe completed 40-of-47 passes for 352 yards and four scores to lead Catholic to a 40-35 Landmark Conference road victory at Wilkes on Saturday.
Fellow senior
Zach Williams gained 166 yards from scrimmage and scored a pair of touchdowns as well for the Cardinals, including a two-yard rush that put Catholic in the lead for good with 5:36 left in the first half.
The Juniata football team scored 21 unanswered points midway through the third and into the fourth to get within seven but ultimately fell 42-35 to Keystone College Saturday afternoon on a chilly day at Knox Stadium.
Catholic Game Recap | Wilkes Game Recap
TWO IS A STREAK
For the first time this season, Catholic can say it is on a winning streak. Sitting at 4-5 on the season, Saturday's victory over Wilkes marked back-to-back wins for the Cardinals heading into the season finale. Catholic's offense is on a roll, scoring 25 or more points in four straight games while crossing over the 21-point mark in five consecutive contests. The Cardinals won five straight contests in 2022, spanning from October 1 to November 12 before a tight loss to Springfield.
400 CLUB
The Cardinal offense surpassed 400 yards of total offense for the fourth time this season on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals totaled 464 yards on 80 plays, its third-highest yardage total in the fifth-most plays run in a game this season.
Catholic posted 498 yards at Keystone in Week 9, giving
Adam Shaker's offense 962 yards in its last two contests, both wins. Catholic also racked up big yardage in contests versus Lycoming (462) and McDaniel (479). Catholic has been over 300 yards of total offense in six of its nine games this season, ranking third in the Landmark Conference in total offense at 382.8 yards per game.
BACK ON TOP
After bouncing around the top three over the last few weeks, Catholic signal-caller
Madden Lowe is back on top of the national leaders in completions per game. Lowe is completing 29.67 passes per game after completing 40 throws on Saturday at Wilkes. Lowe set a new program record for single-game completion percentage by hitting on 85 percent of his throws against the Colonels. He now holds the top-two marks in program history after completing 82.2 percent of his throws at SUNY Morrisville earlier this year. Lowe also ranks third in the nation in completion percentage with a rate of 73.4. As a program, Catholic ranks fourth in the country in completion percentage at 72.3 percent. The Cardinals boast the 18th-ranked passing offense in Divsion III with 298.1 passing yards per contest.
QUEST FOR .500
A victory for Catholic on Saturday would mark the third straight season in which it would post a record of .500 or better.
Mike Gutelius would become the first coach with more than two consecutive .500 or better seasons since Tom Clark did it seven straight years from 1994-2000. Dave Dunn posted four seasons with a record of .500 or better, but never did it in more than two straight seasons. The Cardinals posted identical six-win campaigns in 2021 and 2022, going 6-4 in each regular season while the Cardinals fell in the New England Bowl to Bridgewater State in 2022, making their final record 6-5.
ALL-TIME RECORD WATCH
With one remaining contest, Lowe has a chance to continue working his way up the single-season statistical record books. Lowe's 267 completions are good for fourth-most in Catholic single-season history. Lowe needs 31 completions to pass his total of 297 from the 2021 campaign. Lowe needs just 88 passing yards to enter the top 10 in passing yards in a single-season for the second time. His total of 2,283 is just shy of T.J. Tutone's 2014 season total of 2,371. Lowe's 2021 season is sixth in Catholic history with 2,928 yards. Lowe is also two touchdowns shy of seventh all-time as he enters the game with 21 passing scores. His 27-TD season in 2021 ranks third all-time. Finally, Lowe will surpass his 2021 completion percentage to take over the top-spot in the all-time books for single-season completion percentage.
With one more receiving touchdown,
Preston Jeffrey would become the fifth Cardinal in the last 20 years to catch 10 or more touchdowns in a season and the first since Lucas Morley caught 10 in 2016. Jeffrey caught eight touchdowns in each of the last two seasons before getting to nine in nine games this year.
LANDMARK LOVE
Catholic has earned three Landmark honors this season with three different players being named Landmark Player of the Week. Lowe joined Jeffrey and
Aidan Long this past week after his 352-yard, four TD performance at Wilkes on Saturday. Catholic also has a handful of players represented in the top-three in individual stat categories in the Landmark Conference/
MILESTONE MADNESS
- #2 Preston Jeffrey – Entering the final contest of his Catholic career, the veteran receiver is just 19 yards shy of 2,500 yards for his career. He also needs just 33 yards to set a new career-high in receiving yards which currently sits at 808.
- #8 Madden Lowe - Lowe threw the 50th touchdown pass of his career on Saturday afternoon, achieving the feat in just 21 career games. He has accounted for 52 touchdowns as a Cardinal with a pair of rushing TDs to his name.
- #10 Carson Henry – Entering the final game of the season, Henry is 18 stops short of 200 for his career and 1.5 TFLs shy of 25. The junior set a new career-high with 13 TFLs in 2023 and has 63 tackles.
- #12 Mason Stillwell - The junior defensive back is now just six tackles shy of 150 for his Catholic career and 10 tackles from matching his career-high of 62 stops set last season.
- #17 Sam Cornacchione - The junior pass catcher needs just two catches to reach 50 for his career. He has set a new career-high for catches in a season with 18 in 2023.
- #33 Malachi Hansen – Hansen surpassed 1,000 career yards with four receptions for 53 yards on Saturday at Wilkes. The junior receiver has battled through injuries this season to compete in seven games and catch 20 passes for 202 yards.
PRESEASON POLL
Catholic University football was picked to finish third in the inaugural seven-team Landmark Conference Football preseason poll it was announced earlier today. The Cardinals posted a 6-5 record under
Mike Gutelius in 2022, earning a bid to the New England Bowl Series, the program's first trip to a bowl game since 2008.
Catholic nabs third-place in the poll with 25 points, finishing behind 22nd-ranked Susquehanna (36 points) and Wilkes (31 points). Lycoming (22 points), Moravian (15 points), Keystone (11 points), and Juniata (7 points) round out the coaches poll.
COORDINATION IS KEY
Mike Gutelius' staff will feature two new coordinators in 2023 with the departures of Max Drisko (OC) and Kevin Hubbard (DC) to the Division I level.
Adam Shaker was announced as the program's offensive coordinator back in March after a three-year run at Mississippi State under the late Mike Leach. In 2022, Shaker served as the Bulldogs' Assistant Wide Receivers Coach, taking over as the Wide Receivers Coach for the 2023 Reliaquest Bowl versus Illinois.
Shaker started as an Offensive Fellow and moved up to Offensive Quality Control Assistant before taking on a major role with the wide receivers. He helped develop standout pass catcher Makai Polk who caught 105 balls in 2021 to lead the SEC.
Prior to his time at Mississippi State, Shaker coached the receivers and acted as the Special Teams Coordinator at Concord University in West Virginia. He served in the same role at Southern Virginia and made stops during his career at Virginia, Brigham Young, Georgetown, and Old Dominion.
Entering his sixth year on the staff,
Brandon Beech was promoted to Defensive Coordinator this summer, returning to the defensive side of the ball after a stint with the offensive line. Beech and Gutelius will work hand-in-hand on the defensive game planning.
Beech served as the program's Defensive Line Coach in 2020 and the Defensive Backs Coach from 2018-2020. Prior to joining Gutelius at Catholic, Beech was the defensive coordinator at Dalton L. McMichael Sr. High School in 2017 and 2018.
MEET THE STAFF
The 2023 Catholic University Football Staff is as follows:
ALL-REGION RETURNER
Junior wide receiver
Malachi Hansen is back after a standout campaign on both offense and special teams. Hansen, a Philadelphia, Pa. native, was named a Third Team All-Region 1 selection in 2022 by D3football.com.
Under Special Teams Coordinator
Jonathan Rutledge's tutelage, Hansen has proved to be a dynamic returner in his first two seasons as a collegiate athlete. Hansen was also an All-NEWMAC First Team selection as a returner after combining for more than 850 return yards, ranking him in the top-five in Division III. Hansen ranked in the top-50 nationally in All-Purpose yards per contest when adding in his 554 receiving yards.
A FRESH START
As noted above, Catholic was picked to finish third in the Landmark Conference's inaugural preseason poll. This will be the first season in which football is a sponsored sport in the conference thanks to the additions of Wilkes and Lycoming as full-time members, and Keystone as an affiliate member for football.
With the addition of football, 23 of Catholic's 25 intercollegiate programs will all compete under the Landmark Conference umbrella. The Cardinals previously spent five seasons in the NEWMAC, setting the program record for All-Conference selections in back-to-back seasons with 10 in 2021 and 12 in 2022.
