OCTOBER 20, 2011

KING'S FOOTBALL FACING MAJOR CHALLENGE AT 9TH RANKED DELAWARE VALLEY

WILKES-BARRE — The King's College football team will continue its brutal string of games against the upper echelon of the Middle Atlantic Conference when the Monarchs face three-time defending MAC champion Delaware Valley College Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at James Work Memorial Stadium.

Those unable to attend the game can follow the action two ways.

WRKC, 88.5 FM will broadcast the game and will provide an audio voice stream over the Internet at the following link: 
http://wrkc.kings.edu/list/current.html

Fans can also utilize LiveStats, available at the folowing link:
http://www.sidearmstats.com/delval/football/

The game will mark the 25th meeting between the team with the Aggies holding a 14-10 advantage. King's won six straight meetings from 1998-2003, but has since dropped the last seven games to Delaware Valley.

King's, which comes off a bye week, enters the game with a 1-4 overall record and a 1-3 mark in the MAC following a 42-10 loss to Lycoming in the Monarchs last game on October 8.  Delaware Valley, meanwhile, is 7-0 and 5-0 in the MAC after posting a 20-10 victory at Albright last week.

The Monarchs have been in the midst of a rugged schedule against the top pre-season picks in the MAC and have lost thee straight games since posting a 51-26 victory over Stevenson University on September 17.  The Monarchs have lost consecutive games to traditional MAC contenders Albright (57-17), Widener (70-0) and Lycoming two weeks ago before enjoying an off week. The break was much-needed for King's which had suffered several key injuries, including starting quarterback Joe Kirchon (Marlton, NJ/St. Joe's Hammonton), starting tailback Eric Ofcharsky (Clarks Summit/Abington Heights), and standout kicker/punter Mike Lloyd (Shippensburg/Shippensburg).

The Monarchs will enter the Delaware Valley game much healthier. Kirchon will return to the starting line-up against the Aggies after seeing limited action against Lycoming following in injury in the Widener game. Kirchon has completed 70-of-133 passes for 805 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions.  Ofcharsky is expected to return to action after missing the last two games and leads the team in rushing with 168 yards on 49 carries while catching seven passes out of the backfield. Kyle McGrath, a 5-10, 215-pound freshman, is expected to see ample time at tailback after rushing for a career-high 84 yards on 17 carries against an outstanding Lycoming College defense ranked second nationally in NCAA Division III.  Senior Matt Spencer adds 143 yards on 39 carries to add depth at tailback. Senior fullback Jordan Haddock has contributed 80 yards on 13 attempts and has caught 15 passes 76 yards out of the backfield.

Senior Jay Torres (Lebanon/Lebanon) tops the receivers with 22 catches for 380 yards and three touchdowns. Senior tight end Glenn Ford (Neptune, NJ/Red Bank Catholic) follows with 13 receptions for 128 yards while sophomore split end Chris Greene (Bear, DE/Howard) adds 10 catches for 98 yards. Sophomore Tommy Armellino (Allentown/Catasauqua) chips in with eight receptions for 149 yards.
           
Defensively, the Monarchs allow averages of 41.6 points and 424.8 yards per game. King's yields 143.0 yards on the ground and 281.8 through the air. The Monarch secondary was overhauled after the Widener game and features three different starters than the line-ups used in weeks one-through-four.

The unit is led by the junior linebacker combination of Ryan Cordingly (Berwick/Berwick) and Ryan Kelly (Boonton, NJ/Parsippany Hills). Cordingly currently tops the squad with 35 tackles and two tackles for loss while Kelly, who became just the fourth player in King's history to crack the 100-tackle plateau a year ago, follows with 33 stops. The pair combined for 16 tackles against Lycoming.

Senior safety Jim McHugh (Delran, NJ/Delran) follows with 29 tackles,  four passes broken up, and an interception, while sophomore nose-guard Jon Koslop (Hazleton/Hazleton Area) adds 19 tackles and a forced fumble. Junior defensive end Jake Lehnowsky (Mountain Top/Crestwood) contributes with 16 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, and a forced fumble, and comes off a two-sack effort against Lycoming.

King's should also benefit from the return of Lloyd who is 6-for-6 in field goals, 8-for-8 in extra points, and averages 37.6 yards per-punt.

Delaware Valley will be celebrating its Homecoming on Saturday and continue its quest for a fourth straight MAC title. The Aggies hope to get by King's and has remaining games with Lycoming (away November 5) and Widener (home on November 12) in the weeks ahead as it aims to become just the fifth team in MAC history to win four or more consecutive conference championships.
           
In its win over Albright, the Aggie offense racked up 391 total yards (162 rushing, 229 passing) while the defense held an opponent to under 300 yards (258) for the sixth time this season. The Aggies scored the first 13 points of the game and then added a fourth-quarter score to seal the game after Albright pulled to within three points in the third.
           
The Aggie defense continues to lead the conference in points allowed (10.6 avg), sacks (23), interceptions (12) and third-down conversions (20.4%). They rank second in rushing yardage allowed (88.4 avg), passing (141.3) and total yardage (229.7 avg).       
          
 Individually, All-American end Mike Jaskowski (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) and all-conference cornerback Terrance Osborne (Willingboro, NJ/Holy Cross) lead the MAC in sacks and interceptions respectively. Jasowski notched a sack at Albright to give him 6.5 in six games this season. He also 37 tackles (seven last week) and two forced fumbles on the year.
           
Osborne did not record an interception pick last week, but still leads the way with five picks for 44 yards. Osborne did have 11 tackles and four pass breakups at Albright to up his season totals to 42 stops and eight breakups.
           
Senior linebacker Ken Fowlkes (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern) was named the MAC Defensive Player of the Week as he finished with 11 tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble against Albright. Both of his sacks came in the fourth quarter to help stop the Lions' rally attempt. Fowlkes leads Delaware Valley with 46 tackles while he trails only Jaskowski on the squad with 3.5 sacks.
           
Fellow senior linebacker Chris James (Philadelphia, PA/Northeast Catholic) is third on the team in tackles with 38 and he also has two interceptions (one returned for a touchdown), one sack and a forced fumble to his credit. He notched five tackles last week.
           
Offensively, Delaware Valley is third in the MAC in total yardage (418.7 avg) and fifth in scoring (29.4 avg). They top the nine-team conference in time of possession as they hold the ball more than 33 minutes per game (33:39). 
           
Sophomore tailback Kyle Schuberth (Darby, PA/Monsignor Bonner) made school history at Albright as he netted 123 yards on 27 carries and became the first player to go over the 100-yard mark on the ground in five consecutive games. He is second in the MAC with 740 yards and eight touchdowns on 125 carries. 
           
Fellow tailback Tyler Neal (Hershey, PA/Hershey) got the call eight times against Albright and he finished with 53 yards and a touchdown. It was his third score of the year to go along with 324 yards on 77 carries.
           
Freshman quarterback Aaron Wilmer (Philadelphia, PA/George Washington) has started all seven games and has completed 98 of 164 passes for 1,495 yards and 11 touchdowns. Last week, he was 13-for-20 for 229 yards and a touchdown in the air, and also added a score on the ground.
           
Senior wideout Rodney Blango (Philadelphia, PA/West Catholic) is the team's leading receiver with 26 catches for 411 yards and three touchdowns. He had four grabs for 56 yards at Albright. Junior Chris Ruiz (Pennsauken, NJ/Camden Catholic) hauled in a scoring pass last week and finished the game with three receptions for 83 yards. Ruiz has 20 catches for 310 yards and a pair of touchdowns on the season.

Next Week:
King's will host cross-town rival Wilkes University in the annual Mayor's Cup Game Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at McCarthy Stadium. The game will be televised live regionally on WQMY, MyNetwork Television.


King's vs. DVC All-Time
(DVC leads 15-10)

1949 - W 19-13
1950 - W 32-0
1959 - W 14-12
1960 - L 14-0
1961 - L 16-12
1962 - L 7-0
1963 - L 20-6
1993 - L 55-31
1994 - L 15-14
1995 - L 13-0
1996 - W 17-13
1997 - L 38-33
1998 - W 13-7
1999 - W 21-0
2000 - W 42-6
2001 - W 38-28
2002 - W 50-14
2003 - W 35-23
2004 - L 20-19
2005 - L 28-19
2006 - L 10-0
2007 - L 27-0
2008 - L 34-19
2009 - L 47-21
2010 - L 51-7