Brandon Murray
King's fell at home to WPU, 20-6

Monarch Football Drops 20-6 Verdict to William Paterson

9/19/2009 5:23:12 PM

SEPTEMBER 19, 2009

KING'S FOOTBALL FALLS TO WILLIAM PATERSON, 20-9

WILKES-BARRE — Matt Marshall completed 21-of-33 passes for 223 yards  and Marcus McKinney rushed for 115 yards on 31 carries to lead the visiting William Paterson University football team to a 20-6 non-conference victory over host King's College in the first-ever meeting between the two programs Saturday at McCarthy Stadium in the Betzler Athletic Complex.

With the win, William Paterson improved to 1-1 while King's slipped to 1-2.

Paterson would push across the first score of the game on the sixth possession of the contest. Assuming possession on its own 34 following a King's punt, the Pioneers were ignited by  a 33-yard pass from Marshall to Joel Rivera to the Monarch 22. Seven plays later, the duo hooked up again for a three-yard scoring toss to give William Paterson the first points of the game on he final play of the first quarter. Ryan Brzycki made good on the point after as the Pioneers took a 7-0 lead.

Early in the second quarter, the Pioneers forced another Monarch punt and took over at their 45. A 15-yard run by McKinney and a 25-yard pass from Marshall to Chris Schule moved the ball to the King's 13.  Two plays later the Monarchs were flagged for pass interference giving William Paterson a first-and-goal at the two. Two plays later McKinney would score form one-yard out and Brzycki added the extra-point as the Pioneers lead grew to 14-0 with 10:18 left in the first half.

King's would respond on the ensuing possession with a 65-yard drive, ignited by a 22-yard run by Phillip Shaw and a nine-yard scramble by Cory Lavin to the Pioneer 21. After a 10-yard defensive holding penalty on William Paterson gave the Monarchs a first-and-goal from the nine-yard line. Three plays later Lavin would find Mike Verbitski in the left corner of the end zone to get the Monarchs on the board, However, King's would fail to convert on the extra-point as Andrew DeRito's attempt sailed wide left as the Monarchs trailed 14-6 with 5:42 remaining in the second quarter.

The Pioneers would get good field possession on the ensuing kickoff when the Monarchs squib-kick was returned nine yards to the Pioneer 4.  William Paterson would then use 14 plays to reach the King's 15 with 0:03 on the clock. From there, Brzycki converted a 32-yard field goal as the Pioneers took a 17-6 lead into the halftime break.

The first half statistics were telling as William Paterson held a 17-6 advantage in first downs and had possession for 20:11 compared to just 9:49 for King's. The Pioneers also outgained King's 290-to-86 in total yards running 43 plays compared to just 22 for the Monarchs.

William Paterson would receive the second-half kickoff and assumed possession at its own 42 following a 22-yard return.  A 20-yard pass from Marshall to Rivera and a 13-yard hookup to Kyle Hart advanced the ball to the King's 17. The Pioneers would reach the King's 13 where the drive would stall, but Brzycki made good on a 30-yard field goal to push the score to 20-6 with 10:17 remaining in the third quarter.   

From there the Paterson defense would continue its strong play.  

On King's next possession, the Monarchs went four-and-out and were forced to punt. Two possessions later King's defense came up big, recovering a fumble  at midfield. King's would  drive to the Pioneer 34, but on a fourth-and-eight play, excellent secondary coverage forced Lavin out of the pocket and the Monarch signal-caller was stopped four yards shy of the first down as William Paterson took over on downs.

In the fourth quarter King's was forced to punt on its first possession. On its next possession the Monarchs moved 20 yards to their own 47. But the drive would stall and on a fourth-and-five play, Lavin was again forced to scramble out of the pocket and forced out of bounds for a one-yard loss as the Pioneers again took over on downs.

King's would get the ball one last time following a Pioneers punt gave the Monarchs possession at their own 20. After a 25-yard pass from Lavin to Rob Lane, the Monarchs three two straight incomplete passes. On third-down, Lavin's pass to Verbitski was deflected and batted around in the air until Pioneer defensive back Doug Dudek intercepted the ball lying on his back at the William Paterson 20.

With only 1:50 left in the contest, the Pioneers would run three plays to run out the clock.

In al, William Paterson held a 357-to-160 advantage in total yards and amassed a whopping 40:13 in possession time compared to 19:47 for King's.  The Pioneers ran 78 plays compared to 47 for King's and William Paterson ended the game with a 17-to-9 advantage in first downs.

Rivera joined Marshall and McKinney as statistical leaders, hauling in eight passes for 112 yards and one core. Schule and Derrik Rideg added three catches each while Chris Thomas was big on special teams with three punt returns for 60 yards.

For King's, Lavin completed 8-of-22 passes for 81 yards with one touchdown and one interception while rushing for 29 yards on eight carries. Lane caught three passes for 44 yards while Verbitski also caught three balls for 25 yards and one score.   King's, which played without injured starting tailback Claude O'Connor, was led on the ground by Shaw who tallied 52 yards on 13 carries.

The Monarchs will enjoy an off week before returning to the gridiron on October 3 at 1:00 p.m. against reigning Middle Atlantic Conference champion and NCAA qualifier Lycoming College in King's Homecoming game.
 


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