OCTOBER 3, 2009
LYCOMING FOOTBALL RALLIES PAST KING'S, 24-21
WILKES-BARRE – Visiting Lycoming College overcame a 21-10 deficit with 13 points over the final 5:39 of the game as the Warriors posted a dramatic 24-21 victory over host King's College on the Monarchs' Homecoming Day Saturday at McCarthy Stadium.
With the win, Lycoming improved to 2-2 overall and 1-0 in Middle Atlantic Conference play. King's fell to 1-3 and 0-1 in conference games.
After a scoreless first quarter, Lycoming pushed across the first points of the game when Colin Dwyer hit Josh Dixon with a 13-yard scoring pass to cap an 11-play, 59-yard drive. T.J. Chiarlonza added the point-after to give the Warriors a 7-0 lead.
The Warriors would later add to their lead in the second quarter when T.J. Chiarlonza made good on a 27-yard field goal to give Lycoming a 10-0 lead with 5:42 left in the opening half.
King's answered with a five-play, 60-yard drive, ignited by a 12-yard pass from Corey Lavin to Claude O'Connor and a 14-yard hook-up to Matt Ihlein. The Monarchs capped the drive with a 27-yard scoring pass from Lavin to Mike Verbitski with 0:29 remaining in the first half.
In the second half, King's forced Lycoming to punt on the opening possession. The Monarchs put together their most impressive drive of the game, marching 76 yards on the possession. O'Connor carried for 45 yards on eight attempts on the drive, including a three-yard scoring jaunt with 9:10 left in the third quarter. DeRito added the conversion kick as the Monarchs took a 14-10 lead.
King's came up with a big defensive play later in the quarter when Tyler Hagan intercepted Dwyer at the Monarch 38. King's used a seven-yard pass to Rob Lane and a 15-yard face-masking penalty against Lycoming to advance to the Warrior 19. Two plays later, Lavin Found Verbitski in the end zone for an 18-yarsd touchdown. DeRito was successful on the extra-point as King's lead grew to 21-10 with 13:39 left in the contest.
Later in the quarter, the Monarchs had possession deep in their own territory and were attempting to burn time off the clock. On a third-and-11 play, the Monarchs attempted a screen pass to O'Connor, but the ball bounced off the King's senior's shoulder pads and into the arms of Lycoming defensive end Anthony Marascio, who promptly returned the ball 26 yards for a Warrior touchdown. Lycoming missed on the two-point try but cut the lead to 21-16 with 5:39 left.
After forcing King's to punt on its next possession, Parker Shower came up with a big 24-yard punt return for Lycoming, giving the Warriors possession at their own 42 with 2:59 left in the contest.
After three straight incomplete passes set up a fourth-and-10 play, Dwyer connected with Ryan Wagaman to keep the drive alive with an 11-yard catch at the King's 47. A 10-yard pass to Josh Kleinfelter and an eight-yard catch by Wagaman advanced the ball to the Monarch 24. Two plays later Brad Shellenberger came up with a huge 17-yard catch and run play to the Monarch two-yard line with 0:51 to play. Two plays later, Dwyer scored on a one-yard quarterback sneak to put the give the Warriors the lead. Lycoming made good on a subsequent two-point conversion when Adam Paulhamaus caught a pass fro Dwyer after the ball was batted into the air by a King's defender, pushing the scored to 24-21 with 0:23 left in the game.
King's would regain possession on the ensuing kickoff at their own 26. Lavin would hoist a long pass down field, but the ball was intercepted by Warrior defensive back Chuck Bellitto with 0:09 left. Lycoming would then run one play as Dwyer took a knee to end the game.
Lycoming outgained King's 321-317 in total yards. The Monarchs outgained Lycoming 180-17 on the ground, but the Warriors held a 304-137 advantage through the air.
O'Connor led the King's attack with 144 yards on 30 carries and caught two passes for 13 yards, while Lavin completed 13-of-22 passes for 127 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. Lane caught four passes for 39 yards while Verbitski tallied three receptions for 49 yards and two touchdowns.
For Lycoming, Dwyer completed 28-of-48 passes for 304 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Kleinfelter, who was averaging 100 rushing yards per-game entering the contest, was held to 47 yards on 13 carries. Wagaman caught 12 passes for 127 yards while Shellenberger and Dixon caught five balls each.
Brian Mitros led King's defense with 12 tackles while Mike Schifalacqua and Ryan Cordingly added eight each. Ryan Nelson had two quarterback sacks for 18 lost yards while P.J. Nivens, Craig Geibert, and Nick Beinke added one sack each.
King's returns to the field on Saturday when the Monarchs travel to Chester to face Widener University in a 1:00 p.m. contest.
