TALKIN' BALL WITH COACH GUT
WHO – Catholic at SUNY Morrisville
WHEN – Saturday, September 16 | 12 PM
WHERE – Morrisville, NY | Drake Field
NEW FOE – Saturday's contest will be the first ever matchup between these two foes. The contest marks the third time in the last two seasons that Catholic will face a new opponent after the Cardinals took on Kean and Bridgewater State for the first time in 2022.
LAST WEEK –
#12 Randolph-Macon 59, Catholic 14 | Hobart 27, SUNY Morrisville 10
Catholic senior quarterback
Madden Lowe accounted for both touchdowns as the Cardinals fell 59-14 to Randolph-Macon in a game that featured a lengthy halftime weather delay.
Lowe completed 40-of-59 passes for 257 yards and a touchdown while also running in a seven-yard score in the fourth quarter of Saturday's contest.
Catholic Game Recap | Morrisville Game Recap
ALL-MADDEN
Catholic senior quarterback
Madden Lowe ranks in the top-20 nationally in a handful of statistical categories through two weeks. Lowe ranks second in the nation in completions per game at 33.0, just 2.5 completions per game behind the national leader, Jacob Buniff of Hendrix. Lowe currently sits ninth in the country in passing yards with 646 yards, 14
th in passing yards per game with 323.0, and 22
nd nationally in total offense with 325.0 yards per game.
SUCCESS OUT WIDE
After pulling in nine passes for 57 yards on Saturday at Randolph-Macon,
Preston Jeffrey is 20
th in Division III with 229 receiving yards through two games. Jeffrey has snagged 14 passes and caught a pair of touchdowns so far this season. He was named the Landmark Conference Offensive Player of the Week after his performance in week one.
Fellow wideout, and newcomer,
Andrew Tabor, is 17
th in the country in receptions per contest, making 8.5 snags per game to give him 17 catches through two contests. Tabor opened the year with six catches for 78 yards before coming away with 11 catches for 56 yards on Saturday afternoon.
Five Cardinals have caught at least six passes so far in 2023, including
Nole Henry who has six catches for 65 yards and two TDs. The freshman from Horsham, Pa. is the first player with a receiving TD in each of his first two career games in at least 15 years.
DISCIPLINED – Through two games in 2023, Catholic football is among the least penalized teams in the entire country.
Mike Gutelius' squad is third in fewest penalties per game at 2.0 and fourth in the country in fewest penalty yards per game with 15.50. On Saturday, the Cardinals were whistled for just one penalty, totaling 10 penalty yards.
FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
Opening night saw a handful of firsts for Catholic players, on both the offensive and defensive ends. On defense,
Phillip Walter and
Sean Holt each recorded their first career sacks. Walter finished with six tackles and 2.5 TFLs while Holt had five tackles and 1.5 TFLs. A slew of Cardinals made their first career tackles as well. Henry caught his first career touchdown while
Coby Oxendine,
Zach Williams, and
Cade Chrebet each recorded their first career collegiate carries.
In week two, freshman defensive end
Connor Jennings recorded his first career sack for the Cardinals. Senior
Dolan Cromley also added a sack for the first time in his Catholic career.
PUTTING THE SPECIAL IN SPECIAL TEAMS
Catholic special teams continue to be solid all around under
Jonathan Rutledge's leadership. Senior kicker/punter
Connor Gill has the punt unit ranked 18
th nationally in net punting after two weeks. The Cardinals average 39.50 net yards per punt, ranking first in the Landmark Conference. Catholic has allowed an average of one yard per punt return in 2023. Individually, Gill ranks 34
th in punting in DIII.
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.
MILESTONE MADNESS
- #2 Preston Jeffrey – With 234 yards on the season, Jeffrey is 61 receiving yards shy of 2,000 for his career. He recently surpassed 125 career catches, now sitting at 131 in 32 games.
- #8 Madden Lowe – On Saturday versus Randolph-Macon, Lowe threw his 35th career touchdown in just his 14th career game under center. Lowe is just two yards shy of 4,000 for his career.
- #10 Carson Henry – Henry inched closer to 150 tackles for his career with three more aginst Randolph-Macon. He is now 23 stops shy of the mark for his career. His next tackle for loss will also be his 15th.
- #12 Mason Stillwell – After five tackles on Saturday, Stillwell is just one tackle shy of 100 stops for his career.
- #23 Luke Brautigan – The senior linebacker has made 17 tackles in two games, leaving him just 10 shy of 100 for his career. He is also two TFLs shy of 10.
- #33 Malachi Hansen – Hansen caught a 10-yard touchdown pass in week one before exiting the game. He is 169 shy of 1,000 receiving yards for his career.
BOWL ELIGIBLE
After earning an invite to the New England Bowl Series in 2022, marking the first Catholic football bowl appearance since 2008, the Cardinals are looking to return to postseason play once again in 2023. The Landmark Conference and Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) have joined together in a four-year bowl series partnership. The Chesapeake Bowl Challenge will begin in 2023 with the top seed in the ODAC hosting the second seed from the Landmark while the top seed from the Landmark hosts the second seed from the ODAC. When the announcement was made, Gutelius added "The Chesapeake Bowl Challenge matchup series between the Landmark and ODAC is something we are very excited about. Our football team was a member of the ODAC for a very long time and has a history of great games against many of those schools. This announcement between our two conferences is almost the best of both worlds. We will get to live in the Landmark Conference like all the other sports here at Catholic, but we will occasionally get to see some old foes from the ODAC. I think it will be a really good setup for both conferences."
