OCTOBER 8, 2011

KING'S FOOTBALL FALLS TO LYCOMING, 42-10

FULL BOX SCORE

WILKES-BARRE – The Lycoming College defense, ranked number-one in NCAA Division III, held host King's College to 196 yards of total offense as the Warriors posted a 42-10 Middle Atlantic Conference victory Saturday at McCarthy Stadium.

With the win, Lycoming improved to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the MAC while the Monarchs fell to 1-4 and 1-3 with their third straight loss.

Tyler Floyd gave Lycoming excellent field position after a 33-yard return of the opening kickoff, giving the Warriors possession at the King's 30. Lycoming used seven plays to reach the King's 11 before the Monarch defense stiffened, limiting the Warriors to a 28-yard field goal by Mike Czap with 12:10 left in the first quarter.

Three possessions later the Monarchs answered with a 16-play drive, keyed by an 11-yard pass to Jay Torres down to the Lycoming four. But the drive would stall and the Monarchs settled for a 22-yard field goal by back-up kicker Dan Kempa to tie the game at 3-3 with 3:23 remaining in the opening period.

Lycoming immediately responded when Floyd returned the ensuing kickoff 37 yards to the King's 42. A 20-yard pass from Zach Klingler to Warren Oliver moved the ball to the 15 and two more running plays gave the Warriors a first down at the King's five. On the next play, Matt Atkinson ran to the Monarch one before being stripped of the ball by Jake Lehnowsky. As fate would have it for King's, Lycoming tight end Greg Kovacs recovered the loose ball in the end zone for a Warrior touchdown. Czap failed on the point-after but Lycoming held a 9-3 lead with 0:51 left in the first quarter

Following a King's punt, Lycoming moved from their own 43, using eight carries for 56 yards by Craig Needhammer to reach the Monarch eight. The Monarch defense again held firm as Czap connected on a 25-yard field goal to up the Warrior advantage to 12-3 with 8:47 left in the opening half.

The Lycoming defense would force another King's punt and the Warriors used a 40-yard pass from Klingler to Jarrin Campman for a first-down at the Monarch 15. But the King's defense again held true forcing Lycoming to settle for a 29-yard Czap field goal as the score grew to 15-3 with 3:45 left in the half.

The Warrior defense again stifled King's and forced the Monarchs to punt out of their own end zone, regaining possession at the King's 35. From there, the Warriors used four plays, capping the drive with a 22-yard touchdown run by Parker Showers with 0:55 on the clock as Lycoming took a 22-3 lead into the halftime break.

Lycoming set itself up by returning the second-half kickoff to its own 49. On the first play from scrimmage, Klingler found Campman alone down the right sideline for a 49-yard scoring strike as the Warrior lead grew to 29-3. The Warriors struck again three possessions later following a short King's punt, driving 39 yards on seven plays, culminating with a 17-yard pass from Klingler to Greg Kovacs to push the score to 26-3 with 2:08 left in the third quarter.
 
Midway through the fourth quarter the Lycoming defense added a touchdown of its own. With King's driving, Kody Flail ripped the ball from the hands from King's tailback Kyle McGrath while the Monarch rookie was fighting for extra yardage. Flail then ran untouched down the right sideline for a 40-yard score to give the Warriors a 42-3 lead with 6:39 left in the contest.

King's finally pushed across its lone touchdown of the game with a seven-play, 66-yard drive. A seven-yard pass from Mike Daly to Glenn Ford and four Matt Spencer runs totaling 26 yards moved the ball to the Lycoming 33. On the next play, Daly hit Jordan Buford on a 33-yard scoring strike just inside the right end zone pylon. Kempa's conversion resulted in the final points of the game as Lycoming walked off with its second straight victory.

The Warriors tallied 338 yards of total offense against the King's defense, led by Klingler who was 9-of-20 for 172 yards and two touchdowns. Needhammer rushed for 79 yards on 12 carries while Showers added 60 yards on 11 attempts. Campman led all receivers with four catches for 118 yards and one score. Czap aided the kicking game by making three field goals for the Warriors.

King's offense, which struggled in a loss to Widener last week, entered the game battling key injuries, headed by the loss of leading rusher Eric Ofcharsky with an ailing ankle for the second straight game. Monarch starting quarterback Joe Kirchon was injured in the Widener game and saw limited action against Lycoming, coming off the bench to complete 2-of-6 passes for just five yards and an interception. Daly started the game behind center and was 7-of-23 for 84 yards with one score. King's also played without its standout place-kicker/punter Mike Lloyd who was also injured last week and the loss was evident in the field position game.

A bright spot for King's was McGrath at tailback. The 5-10, 215-pound rookie came off the bench to rush for 84 yards on 17 carries. Spencer added 34 yards on 13 attempts. Ford had three catches for 24 yards while Torres made three receptions for 22 yards.

The Monarchs managed 196 yards against a Lycoming defense that held opponents to a Division III low 168.0 total yards per-game.

Ryan Cordingly led King's defense with 10 tackles while Jon Koslop followed with eight. Jim McHugh added seven stops while Lehnowsky posted three tackles, including a pair of quarterback sacks and a forced fumble.

King's will enjoy a much needed off week before the Monarchs return to the field for another difficult matchup, traveling to Doylestown on October 22 to face three-time defending MAC champion Delaware Valley College (6-0) at 1:00 p.m. at James work Memorial Stadium.