Skip To Main Content

Lafayette College Athletics

Lafayette vs. Holy Cross
Rick Smith

Football

Tough Road Test Awaits Leopards in West Point

Lafayette vs. Army game notes

The Match-Up: Lafayette will face its toughest test of the season, venturing to West Point, N.Y. to square off with FBS foe Army and its triple-option attack. The game is a noon kick off and can be seen nationally on the CBS Sports Network.

Veterans Day: In honor of Veterans Day (Nov. 11) and Saturday's matchup with the United States Military Academy, Lafayette is wearing special decals on its helmets. Members of the team were asked to choose someone close to them who has served or is serving in the military. Players supplied a photo of that person and the photos were incorporated into the L's on the team helmets to honor their military service. 

The Series: Saturday marks the 20th meeting between Lafayette and Army and the second in three seasons. The series began in 1893, and each game has been played in West Point. 

Fake Punt: Sophomore DL Harrison Greenhill got involved in the offense against Holy Cross.  The Orlando, Fla. native converted a 4th-and-3 near midfield with his 26-yard run. It was the first carry of his career and the Leopards' second longest play from scrimmage of the game.
    Greenhill will be a familiar face for the Army coaching staff and players. He spent the 2017-18 school year at West Point before transferring to Lafayette where he has started eight of nine games this season while racking up 37 tackles and six tackles for loss.

Another Big Run: Senior RB CJ Amill broke off a 58-yard scoring run in the first quarter against Holy Cross. The touchdown scamper was the Leopards' longest play from scrimmage in 2018 and the longest run of Amill's career. Amill accounts for eight of Lafayette's 39 plays of 20 or more yards this season.   

On the Line: The offensive line under assistant coach Gordie Sammis leads the Patriot League in sacks allowed (1.44 per game) and tackles for loss allowed (5.67 per game). The group is headed by senior captain Kevin Zataveski from his center position while Gavin Barclay, Jake Marotti and John Burk have started all nine games. 

Kick-off Returns: Lafayette is ranked 25th nationally and second in the Patriot League for kick-off returns, averaging 23.1 yards per try. J.J. Younger averages 27.7 yards per return to lead the Patriot League (11th in the nation), but has missed the last two games due to injury. CJ Amill checks in at 22.7 yards per return and was an All-Patriot League First-Team selection at return specialist in 2017 when he racked up 558 kick return yards (the eighth most in a season in Lafayette history). 

Next Up: Lafayette and Lehigh will meet for the 154th time on Nov. 17 in college football's most played and longest continuous rivalry. The game will be played in Easton at 12:30 p.m.

The Garrett Era: John Garrett is in his second season as the head coach of the Lafayette Leopards. Garrett took over the coaching reins on Dec. 21, 2016 and saw Lafayette register a third-place finish in the conference in 2017. Garrett has more than 25 years of coaching experience at the NFL, NCAA FBS and NCAA FCS levels. Offensive coordinator stints at Richmond and Oregon State preceded his arrival on College Hill.

Fresh Faces On the Depth Chart: There have been 12 freshmen listed on the depth chart on offense, defense and special teams. Of that dozen players, four (DT Ian Grayson, DE Malik Hamm, OL Joe Grundhoffer, FS Romeo Wykle) have started at least one game.

Flags on the Field: Lafayette has shown discipline when it comes to penalties. The Leopards are averaging just 4.2 penalties per game (fifth in the nation) for 38.0 yards per game (second in the nation). Lafayette was not whistled for a penalty against Monmouth, the first time it was flag free since Nov. 18, 2006 vs. Lehigh. 

Moving Up: With 23 completions against Holy Cross, soph. QB Sean O'Malley took over eighth place in school history with 399 career completions. He surpassed Shawn McHale '97 (386 from 1994-96). In terms of career passing yards, O'Malley has 3,470, ranking 10th all-time at Lafayette. He needs 235 yards to take over ninth place held by Andrew Shoop '13 (3,705 in 2010-12).

Coaching Reunion: Army safeties coach John Loose spent 14 seasons as defensive coordinator at Lafayette under Frank Tavani, winning four Patriot League titles. Loose and his wife, Marianne, started and continue to host Lauren's First and Goal Football Camp each summer at Lafayette, raising more than $2 million for pediatric brain tumor research. Rick Lyster is a quality control coach at Army. The 2013 Lafayette graduate was a two-time All-Patriot League selection on the defensive line and spent time previously at Monmouth and Georgia Tech. Current Lafayette defensive coordinator Luke Thompson was the special teams coordinator and offensive assistant coach at Army in 2012 and 2013. In 2012, he coached the Army fullbacks as the Black Knights led the FBS in rushing offense. 

Family Affair: The Army game is a special one for junior TE Ryan Monteyne. Monteyne's father, Donald in a 1987 graduate of West Point where he played middle linebacker. Capt. Monteyne served in Desert Storm. 

Army R.O.T.C.: Three Lafayette football players, kicker Jeffrey Kordenbrock, junior wide receiver Jake Liedtka and senior safety Trent Crossan are all enrolled in the Army ROTC program. 

Major Contributions: Soph. LB Major Jordan hasn't needed much time to adjust to his starting role at WILL linebacker. After playing primarily on special teams and starting one game at linebacker last season, Jordan is second on the team in tackles with 58, including 3.5 tackles for loss. 

About Army: Opponent: Army has won its last five games and comes in with a 7-2 mark. The Black Knights' losses came to Duke in the season opener and No. 5 Oklahoma (28-21 in overtime) in week four. Since then, Army has rolled up wins over Buffalo, San Jose State, Miami-Ohio, Eastern Michigan and Air Force.  
    Senior RB Darnell Woolfolk and junior QB Kelvin Hopkins Jr. are a potent 1-2 running punch for Army, averaging 84 and 74 yards per game, respectively, from the triple-option attack. Army is second in the FBS with 306 rushing yards per game. 
    In the passing game, Hopkins has completed 37-of-69 passes for 775 yards and six TD's with three INT's. 
    Senior LB James Nachtigal has 59 stops for the Army defense, including five sacks while senior DB Mike Reynolds has a team-best two interceptions.
    Army is coached by Jeff Monken in his fifth season. Prior to Army, he spent four seasons as head coach at Georgia Southern, where he was 38-16. He studied the triple-option as an assistant under Paul Johnson at Navy and Georgia Tech. 



 
Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Sean O

#10 Sean O'Malley

QB
6' 2"
Sophomore
Romeo Wykle

#23 Romeo Wykle

DB
6' 1"
Freshman
J.J. Younger

#28 J.J. Younger

RB
5' 8"
Sophomore
Jeffrey Kordenbrock

#38 Jeffrey Kordenbrock

K/P
5' 10"
Sophomore
Major Jordan

#42 Major Jordan

LB
6' 1"
Sophomore
Trent Crossan

#45 Trent Crossan

DB
5' 9"
Senior
Ian Grayson

#52 Ian Grayson

DL
6' 0"
Freshman
John Burk

#60 John Burk

OL
6' 4"
Sophomore
Kevin Zataveski

#62 Kevin Zataveski

OL
6' 4"
Senior
Gavin Barclay

#70 Gavin Barclay

OL
6' 6"
Sophomore
Joe Grundhoffer

#74 Joe Grundhoffer

OL
6' 6"
Freshman
Jake Marotti

#75 Jake Marotti

OL
6' 6"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Sean O

#10 Sean O'Malley

6' 2"
Sophomore
QB
Romeo Wykle

#23 Romeo Wykle

6' 1"
Freshman
DB
J.J. Younger

#28 J.J. Younger

5' 8"
Sophomore
RB
Jeffrey Kordenbrock

#38 Jeffrey Kordenbrock

5' 10"
Sophomore
K/P
Major Jordan

#42 Major Jordan

6' 1"
Sophomore
LB
Trent Crossan

#45 Trent Crossan

5' 9"
Senior
DB
Ian Grayson

#52 Ian Grayson

6' 0"
Freshman
DL
John Burk

#60 John Burk

6' 4"
Sophomore
OL
Kevin Zataveski

#62 Kevin Zataveski

6' 4"
Senior
OL
Gavin Barclay

#70 Gavin Barclay

6' 6"
Sophomore
OL
Joe Grundhoffer

#74 Joe Grundhoffer

6' 6"
Freshman
OL
Jake Marotti

#75 Jake Marotti

6' 6"
Junior
OL