OCTOBER 17, 2009
KING'S FOOTBALL FALLS TO ALBRIGHT, 34-16
WILKES-BARRE – Tanner Kelly completed 24-of-35 passes for 255 yards as visiting Albright College remained unbeaten with a 34-16 victory over host King's College on a rainy day at McCarthy Stadium.
With the win, Albright improved to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the Middle Atlantic Conference while King's slipped to 2-4 and 1-2 in league games.
Albright struck first with a 14-play, 70-yard drive, capped by a one-yard run by Mike Wilbur with 2:32 left in the first quarter.
King's responded with a five-play, 48-yard drive, keyed by a 18-yard pass from Corey Lavin to Bob Lane, a 19-yard completion to Mike Verbitski, which moved the ball to the Lion10. Two plays later, Lavin hooked up with Verbitski on an 11-yard scoring strike to get the Monarchs on the board. The extra-point, however, failed when Andrew DeRito's kick was blocked by Brett Gaul as Albright held on to a 7-6 lead with 0:11 left in the first quarter.
Later in the second period, Albright's special teams came through with a big play when Dave Harig returned a King's punt 51-yards for a touchdown. The Lions, however, would miss on the extra point when the snap was mishandled, but Albright maintained a 13-6 advantage with 3:18 remaining in the half.
King's quickly answered with a 10-play, 68-yard drive an 11-yard pass to Matt Ihlein was followed by an 11-yard pass to O'Connor. Bob Lane added an eight-yard catch as the Monarchs marched to the Albright 22. King's would then answer when Lavin hit Verbitski with a 22-yard scoring toss. DeRito added the point-after as the Monarchs tied the game at 13-13 with 1:19 left in the half.
But Albright came used an 18-yard completion from Kelly to Sean Caldwell and a 10-yard hook-up with Luke Wallace, but a subsequent late-hit penalty on the play gave Albright possession at the Monarch 31. After a 17-yard pass to Nate Romig moved the ball to the Monarch 16, the pair combined again for an 11-yarsd touchdown pass with 0:13 on the clock. John Whalen's kick then gave Albright at 20-13 lead at the half.
Later in the third, King's went on a 12-play, 70-yard drive before settling for a 28-yard field goal by DeRito as the Monarchs cut the lead to 20-16 at the end of the third quarter.
But Albright countered with an eight-play, 55-yard drive, capped by an eight-yard run by Kelly to up the lead to 27-16.
The Lions would set themselves up for one last score when Brendan Bresnahan intercepted Lavin and followed with a 17-yard return to the King's 36. The Lions would then put the game away with a two-yard run by Josan Holmes with 7:34 left in the contest.
Albright outgained King's 354-353 in total yards and posted 23 first downs compared to 18 for the Monarchs. Romig caught nine passes for 91 yards for the Lions while Caldwell added seven receptions.
For King's, Lavin was 20-33 for 236 yards with two touchdowns and an interceptions. Verbitski caught seven passes for 104 yards and two scores. O'Connor led the rushing game with 72 yards on 19 carries.
King's returns to action next week with a 1:00 p.m. game at Lebanon Valley.
