NOVEMBER 8, 2008
KING'S FOOTBALL STUNS FIRST-PLACE LYCOMING, 24-7
WILKES-BARRE – Freshman tailback Rich Maerten rushed for 121 yards with two touchdowns and the King's College defense forced five turnovers as the host Monarchs posted a 24-7 upset victory over visiting Lycoming College Saturday at McCarthy Stadium on Senior Day.
With the win, King's improved to 2-7 overall and 1-5 in the Middle Atlantic Conference. Lycoming, which entered the game atop the MAC standings, slipped to 6-3 and 4-2 in conference play.
The Monarchs came our right away after the opening kickoff and immediately established the run. King's would push across the first score of the game when the Monarchs assumed possession at its own 31 following a Warrior punt. A 36-yard pass to tailback Claude O'Connor would advance the ball to the Lycoming 13. The Monarchs would then take a 3-0 lead when Andrew DeRito connected on a 29-yard field goal with 0:38 left in the first quarter.
The King's defense would force another punt and began to march from its own 33. Cory Lavin, making his first career start in his first varsity action in two years, would find Justin Dalton for a 20 yard completion to the Warrior 25. Three plays later Lavin would run for 21 yards to the Lycoming seven. On the next play, Maerten would scamper into the end zone to increase the Monarch lead. DeRito's conversion would give King's a 10-0 advantage with 11:11 remaining in the second quarter.
Lycoming would answer later in the half with a 97-yard drive, ignited by Colin Dwyer finding Ryan Wagaman for 41 yards, then again for 26 yards on the next play to the King's 30. Josh Kleinfelter would carry for 19 yards to the 11. Three plays later Dwyer hooked up with Brad Shellenberger on a eight-yard scoring pass. Scott Erikson's point-after would cut the King's lead to 10-7 with 4:24 left in the first half.
The Monarchs, however, would answer right back. Lavin connected with Matt Ihlein for 30 yards to the Warrior 28. After a King's personal foul penalty, Lavin hit on a seven yard pass to Doug Mucha, followed by an 18-yard completion to Mike Verbitski to the Lycoming 15. Three plays later Lavin scored on a three-yard run and DeRito added the extra point with 0:26 on the clock as the Monarchs took a 17-7 lead into the halftime break.
Lycoming looked to answer in the first possession of the third quarter when the Warriors drove to the Monarch eight. After the drive stalled, Erikson missed a 28-yard field goal as the score remained 17-7 in favor of King's.
King's would look to put the game away when the Monarchs began to drive late in the third quarter. A 22-yard run by Maerten and a personal foul penalty on Lycoming would give King's a first down at the Warrior 11. Maerten was then stuffed for a three-yard loss, but the Monarch rookie came back on the next play to score on a 14-yard scamper over left tackle to extend the Monarch lead. DeRito added the extra point as King's lead grew to 24-7 with 13:15 left in the contest.
From there the Monarch defense came up big, forcing punts on the next two Lycoming possessions. The Warriors would get the ball back following a King's punt with 6:07 left and began to march downfield. After gaining a first down on the King's 11, the Warriors could manage just three yards on the next four plays as an incomplete pass on fourth down gave King's the ball at its own 11 with 2:24 remaining.
After a short King's punt, Lycoming took over at the Monarch 41 with 1:17 on the clock. The Warriors would move to the King's 17, but after two straight incompletions, King's safety Shane McNamara would shut the door when he intercepted Dwyer in the end zone with 0:06 left in the game.
McNamara's final pick concluded a big day for the King's defense which intercepted four passed and recovered a fumble to keep the Warrior offense at bay for most of the game.
Maerten, who rotated series in the backfield with O'Connor, enjoyed the best day of his young career after missing the first four games of the year with an injury. His career-high 121 yards on 26 carries enabled King's to surpass the 100-yard rushing mark for just the third time this season, but also for the second straight game. O'Connor was also outstanding in rushing for 61 yards on 11 carries and added two catches for 37 yards before leaving the game early in the third quarter with an injury.
Lavin meanwhile, was poised in his first varsity action since 2006. The Monarch redshirt sophomore completed 11-of-24 passes for 160 yards but did not throw an interception and made sound decisions throughout the contest. He also rushed for 48 yards on 11 attempts to aid the King's ground game. Verbitski added two catches for 28 yards while Mucha also caught two passes for 20 yards while rushing for 19 yards on two attempts.
For Lycoming, Dwyer completed 23-of-48 passes for 222 yards and one touchdown but threw four interceptions and was responsible for a fifth turnover with a poor pitch on an option play that resulted in a lost fumble. Kleinfelter rushed for 98 yards on 18 carries to pave the Lycoming offense. Ryan Wagaman had nine catches for 239 yards while Shellenberger added seven receptions for 28 yards.
King's held a 407-to-351 advantage in total yards as well as a 22-21 lead in first downs, but the Warriors accumulated much of their yardage in the fourth quarter while trying to come back. After three quarters, King's held a 361-to-249 lead in total yards while holding a 17-7 advantage in first downs. In all, the Monarchs rushed for a season-high 264 yards on the ground against a Lycoming defense that entered the game ranked first in the MAC, yielding just 85 yards on the ground each contest.
Defensively, Matt Rhodes made a game-high 10 tackles while P.J. Nivens added eight with one fumble recovery. McNamara finished with two interceptions while Brian Mitros and Tom Tulaney also contributed with interceptions. Chuck Bellitto and Ben Rosa led the Warrior defense with eight tackles each.
