SEPTEMBER 5, 2009

KING'S FOOTBALL TEAM EARNS 16-10 VICTORY IN SEASON OPENER AT RANDOLPH-MACON

ASHLAND, VA – Claude O'Connor rushed for 116 yards and Corey Lavin threw a pair of second-half touchdown passes to Ken Loomis as the King's College football team opened the 2009 season with a hard-fought 16-10 victory over defending Old Dominion Athletic Conference champion and 2008 NCAA Division III National Playoff qualifier Randolph-Macon College Saturday in Ashland, Va.

Both teams struggled to move the ball in the first  half as the Yellow jackets managed a 7-3 halftime lead. Randolph-Macon would score first when Austin Faulkner hooked up with Chase Phillips on a 26-yard touchdown pass to cap a seven-play, 61-yard drive. 

The Monarchs would counter when Jay Torres returned the ensuing kickoff 40 yards to the Yellow Jacket 41.   King's used a 10-yard pass to Bob Lane and a nine-yard run by Lavin to advance to the Randolph-Macon 21. After a six yard hook-up from Lavin to Mike Verbitski gave King's possession at the 15, the drive stalled. Andrew DeRito would get King's on the board with a 32-yard field goal to cut the lead to 7-3 with 5:31 remaining in the first quarter.

Both defense would control the game for the remainder of the half, but the Monarchs began to assert themselves over the final 30 minutes of play.

After King's forced a Yellow Jacket punt on the opening drive of the second half the Monarchs went to work. Starting from their own 27, O'Connor burst free on first down for a 48 yard-gain to give the Monarchs possession at the Randolph-Macon 25.  O'Connor would then follow with runs of 10 and four yards before fullback Doug Mucha rumbled for seven more yards and a first-down at the four. Two plays later, Lavin found Loomis alone in the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown. The extra-point kick, however, was blocked as the Monarchs took a 9-7 lead with 10:18 left in the third quarter.

The Yellow Jackets looked to answer and used 10 plays to reach the King's 25. But the Monarch defense came up with a game-changing turnover when King's sacked Faulkner, forcing a Yellow Jacket fumble. Craig Geibert would recover for the Monarchs at the 25-yard line to end the scoring threat.

The Monarchs took full advantage with a decisive nine-play, 72-yard drive. A 14-yard rush by Lavin and a 15-yard carry from Phillip Shaw moved the ball to the Randolph-Macon 34. After Shaw added seven more yards, O'Connor carried three straight times for 23 yards to give King's possession at the four.  On the next play, Lavin and Loomis hooked up again for a critical King's touchdown. DeRito made good on the extra-point kick as the Monarch lead grew to 16-7 with 0:34 remaining in the third quarter.

Randolph-Macon would cut into the lead in the fourth quarter when the Yellow Jackets drove to the King's12-yard line. Three plays would net just seven yards, and facing a fourth and three from the five, the Yellow Jackets settled for a 22-yard field goal by Josh Storm to cut the lead to 16-10 with 9:51 left in the contest.

From there, the game would turn into a battle of field position and DeRito proved to be the difference. After King's drive stalled at the Randolph-Macon 47, DeRito connected on a beautiful 37 yard punt that rolled out of bounds at the Yellow Jacket nine. After the Monarch defense held to force a Yellow jacket punt, King's took over at the Randolph-Macon 41. Unable to mount a scoring threat, King's was again forced to punt and DeRito launched a 41-yard kick that was downed at the Yellow Jacket six-yard line.

After a short run and two incomplete passes, Randolph-Macon was again forced to punt and the Monarchs special teams came through with another big play when Denzel Smith partially blocked a Ben Keyser punt, giving King's possession at the Yellow Jacket 25 with 3:46 left in the contest.. 

King's would reach the Randolph-Macon six yard-line before running out the clock.  The win marked the first time the Monarchs won season opening contests in back-to-back years since the return of varsity football at King's in 1993. The Monarchs defeated Randolph-Macon 34-13 in the 2008 season-opener in Wilkes-Barre.

The Monarchs used a dominant ground game in the second half to take control of the contest. After being held to 57 rushing yards in the first half the Monarchs amassed 179 yards on the ground over the final two quarters. Overall King's finished the game with 236 rushing yards on 37 carries, averaging 6.4 yards each attempt.

O'Connor averaged 6.8 yards per-carry on 17 attempts to power the Monarch rushing attack. Lavin added 60 yards on 11 carries while Shaw contributed 49 yards on six attempts, averaging 8.2 yards per-run.   Lavin, who is 3-0 in three career starts at King's, was also efficient behind center. The senior signal-caller completed 11-of-19 for 99 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, the first of his career which came on a desperation Hail Mary pass into the Randolph-Macon end zone at the halftime buzzer.

Verbitski led King's receivers with three catches for 52 yards while Loomis's two receptions resulted in Monarch scores. Lane and Justin Dalton also added two catches apiece.

Randolph-Macon finished the game with 225 yards but were limited to just 80 yards in the second half by the Monarch defense. Steve Matthews rushed for 84 yards on 25 carries while Faulkner completed 11-of-20 passes for 128 yards and one touchdown. Earl Peoples made a team-high four catches for 37 yards while Phillips added three catches for 38 yards and the Yellow Jacket's lone score.

Freshman linebacker Ryan Cordingly posted a team-high nine tackles for King's while Ryan Nelson added eight stops. Eric Fay and Vince Pabst contributed six tackles each.