NOVEMBER 13, 2010
MONARCHS DROP 21-17 HEARTBREAKER TO WILKES IN 15TH MAYOR'S CUP GAME
Game Stats
WILKES-BARRE – The King's College football team built a 17-14 halftime lead but the Wilkes University defense pitched a second-half shutout as the Colonels posted a 21-17 victory in the 15th annual Mayor's Cup game Saturday at the Ralston Athletic Complex.
With the victory, King's ended its first season under rookie head coach Jeff Knarr with a 1-9 overall record and a 1-5 record in the Middle Atlantic Conference. Wilkes improved to 6-4 and 5-2 in league games.
Both teams opened up playing sloppy football in the early going as penalties and mistakes prevented either offense from mounting a serious threat.
Later in the first quarter the Monarchs drew first blood thanks to a gadget play the team had not run the entire season. Wide receiver Chris Green lined up in the backfield in King's wildcat formation and handed the ball off to Eric Ofcharsky on an apparent end around. But Ofcharsky handed the ball back to quarterback Corey Lavin, who was lined up as a wide receiver but came back to the middle as if running a double-reverse. Lavin, however, would square up and found Jay Torres perfectly in stride for a 67-yard touchdown to put the Monarchs on the board. Ryan Cain added the extra-point kick as King's took a 7-0 lead with 3:19 remaining in the first quarter.
Wilkes responded with an excellent kickoff return, assuming possession at its own 48. Wilkes marched 52 yards in six plays, capped by a 10-yard run by Zach Tivald. Chris Horn made good on the conversion to tie the score at 7-7 with 13:55 left in the second quarter.
King's responded with a 23-yard kick return by Green and a subsequent penalty on Wilkes gave the Monarchs possession at the Colonel 47. King's drove to the Wilkes 19 where it faced a critical third-and-seven play. Lavin dropped back to pass and looked to throw to his left, but quickly whirled around back to his right on a well-designed misdirection play to find found Ofcharsky in the flat. The Monarch sophomore raced down the sideline untouched into the end zone to give King's its second lead of the game. Cain's was successful on the extra-point as the Monarchs built a 14-7 lead with10:42 left in the half.
Wilkes again countered with a six-play, 63 yard drive, keyed by ruins of 17 and 14 yards by Tivald. The Colonels reached the two-yard line where quarterback Chris George scored on an option keeper. Horn's point-after kick then knotted the score at 14-14 with 8:04 left in the opening half.
Late in the half King's caught a break when the Colonels fumbled on a pre-mature snap in the shot-gun formation and Ryan Kelly recovered for the Monarchs at the King's 43 with 0:14 left on the clock.
On its first play of the possession, Knarr called a hook and later and King's ran it to perfection, as Lavin found Torres 14 yards downfield, followed by a lateral to Abdalla who was racing down the right sideline. Abdalla picked up another 28 yards before being pushed out of bounds at the Wilkes 13-yard line with just 0.5 remaining in the half. From there, Cain made good on a 30-yard field goal as King's took a 17-14 lead at the halftime break.
King's held a 211-197 advantage in total yards at the half but were held to just 19 rushing yards in the opening stanza. Wilkes, conversely, rushed for 93 yards while managing 104 passing yards.
In third quarter the score remained the same until the Colonels assumed possession at its own 22 following a Monarch punt. After the Colonels used four plays to advance to its own 41, Wilkes then followed up with the biggest play of the game. George dropped back to pass and took advantage of a mistake in the Monarchs defensive coverage when he hooked up with Todd Eagles, who caught the ball without a single King's defender with 15 yards of him, to complete a 59-yard touchdown pass to cap a seven-play, 79-yard drive. Horn's third extra-point kick of the day would provide the Colonels with a 21-17 lead with 0:21 remaining in the third quarter.
From there, the Wilkes defense held firm. During King's next two possessions, the Monarchs could muster just six yards on eight plays and punted twice. But King's defense was just as stout and Wilkes was forced to punt on each of its next two possessions as well.
The Monarchs got the ball back at its own four-yard line following a Wilkes punt with 8:18 left and made a push with one last drive. Matt Spencer picked up26 yards on five carries as King's advanced to its own 34. After an eight –yard scramble by Lavin and two incomplete passes, the Monarchs faced a fourth-and-two play from its own 46. Lavin kept the drive alive when he found Spencer for six yards and a first down at the Colonel 48. Two incomplete passes and a six-yard hook-up to Jay Torres would force King's into another fourth-down play from the Wilkes 42. Lavin dropped back to pass and was flushed from the pocket. Rolling to his left and fast approaching the sideline, Lavin threw to Abdalla near the first-down marker. But Wilkes defensive back Matt Gunther dove in front of Abdalla to post a drive-ending interception as Wilkes assumed possession with 2:42 to play.
From there Wilkes was able to pick up one important first-down allowing the clock to eventually run out as the Colonels walked away with the victory.
It was another difficult loss for King's as the Monarchs dropped their fifth game of the season decided by a touchdown or less.
The Monarchs finished the game with 326 yards, managing just 115 total yards of offense in the second half. The Monarchs finished the game with just 90 rushing yards, although King's did pick up 80 yards on the ground in the second half.
Lavin (left) was named King's Mayor's Cup most valuable player for the second straight year, completing 20-of-44 passes for 236 yards with two touchdowns and one interceptions. In the process, he broke King's career record for touchdowns as his two end zone tosses gave him 33 for his career surpassing Tom Pierantozzi's mark of 31 from 1998-2001. He also moved into second-place in career passing yards with 4,035 yards, trailing only Pierantozzi who passed for 4,322 yards. Lavin's accomplishments are especially impressive since his statistics were recorded in just 22 career games, compared to 40 games for Pierantozzi.
Torres had a solid game for King's with seven catches for 133 yards and one touchdown while Ofcharsky and Jordan Haddock added four catches apiece. Spencer finished with 40 rushing yards on eight carries while Ofcharsky added 38 yards on 11 attempts.
Defensively, King's was paced by their sophomore linebacker duo of Ryan Kelly and Ryan Cordingly with 14 and 13 tackles respectively. Kelly became just the fifth player in King's history to surpass the 100-tackle plateau in one season, posting 108 on the year. Cordingly finished with 83 stops.
The Monarchs also bid farewell to seniors Lavin, Cain, Nick Beinke, John Cuiffo, Edwyn Edwards, Craig Geibert, Ken Loomis, Phil Marinelli, Ryan Nelson, Vince Pabst, Denzel Smith, and Mike Stampone, all who put on the red and gold for the final time Saturday.
