NOVEMBER 19, 2011
KING'S FOOTBALL DROPS SEASON-FINALE TO BETHANY 48-0
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BETHANY, WV -- The host Bethany College football team amassed 487 yards of total offense and limited visiting to King's College to just 74 total yards as Bison posted a 48-0 season-ending victory Saturday at Bison Field in Bethany, WV.
With the win, Bethany ended its season with a 5-5 mark while King's wrapped up a 1-9 campaign.
The game, which was rescheduled from its original September 10 date due to severe rain and flooding in Wilkes-Barre, came at a most inopportune time for the injury-depleted Monarchs. King's made the six-hour drive to Bethany without several starters who missed the game with injuries. King's, which typically travels with 66 or 67 players, made the trip with a scant 51-player travel roster.
Bethany established itself on the game's opening possession when senior tailback Eric Walker carried nine times for 52 yards and capped a 10-play, 60-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown run with 9:56 left in the first quarter.
Bethany assumed possession at its own 39 and would march to the King's 21 where the Bison faced a fourth-and-six play. The King's defense forced an incomplete pass, but the Monarchs were flagged for offsides on the play, giving the Bison a fourth-and-one from the King's 16. Bethany would keep the drive alive with a nine-yard pass to Gage Lozono at the King's seven. Two plays later Nico Irizarry scored on a three-yard run to extend the Bison lead to 14-0 with 13:06 remaining in the second quarter.
With 3:02 left in the half the Monarchs' Dan Kemp blocked a Bethany punt and Chris Shuster returned the offering 12 yards to the Bison 36. But after three straight incomplete passes by the Monarchs, Mike Lloyd entered the game to attempt a 54-yard field goal with 1:42 left in the half. The kick was short and Bethany's Tyler Scott, who was in the end zone on the kick, ran the ball out to the Monarch 10.
The Bison used five plays to reach the Monarch 47. Then, on a second-and-three play, Grimard looked downfield and found Ed Holmes at the King's five and the Bison receiver broke a tackle to find the end zone with 0:42 left in the half. The extra-point kick would give Bethany a 21-0 lead.
Things would quickly get worse for the Monarchs on its next possession. On a second-and-five play, King's quarterback Bryant Klein was intercepted by Jeff Joyce who returned the pickoff for a 40-yard touchdown with 0:18 remaining in the half as Bethany took a 28-0 lead into the halftime break.
Bethany totaled 240 yards of offense in the first half while King's could manage just 12 total yards on 23 plays.
In the third quarter, King's was forced to punt on its first possession of the second half and Bethany took over at its own 26-yard line. A 14-yard pass from Grimard to Alex Evans and a 39-yard run by Walker moved the ball to the King's 18. On the next play, Grimard found Johnathan Foster for an 18-yard touchdown pass to extend the Bison lead to 35-0 with 10:19 left in the third quarter.
After another King's punt gave the Bison possession at the Monarch 47, Walker rushed for 12 yards on the first play of the drive, then broke free for a 35-yard touchdown jaunt on the next play to push the Bethany lead to 41-0 with 7:19 remaining in the third quarter.
Midway through the third quarter the Monarchs mounted their best drive of the day when King's assumed possession at its own 31-yard line. Two passes totaling 14 yards to Jay Torres, a face-masking penalty on Bethany, and a 10-yard scramble by Klein moved the ball to the Bethany 25. A 13-yard run by Eric Ofcharsky and a seven-yard carry from Delano Mullings gave King's a second-and-three from the Bison five-yard line. There the drive stalled and facing a fourth-and-seven from the Bethany nine-yard line, Klein's pass to Torres in the end zone fell incomplete as the Bison took over on downs at its 11.
Bethany then added its final score of the game on a 13-play, 91-yard drive, culminated with a 25-yard touchdown run by Grimard with 10:47 left in the game to close out the scoring.
Grimard led the Bethany attack by completing 15-of-21 passes for 216 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for 74 yards on eight attempts and one score. Walker added 132 rushing yards on 21 carries and scored twice. Evans made six catches for 75 yards while Ed Holmes added five receptions for 82 yards and one touchdown.
Offensively, King's gained only 74 yards on 50 total plays, averaging just 1.5 yards per-play. Klein completed 7-of-16 passes for just 26 yards and was sacked five times. Tom Leganza entered the game late in the fourth quarter and was 1-of-3 for 10 yards and was sacked once.
The Monarchs managed just 38 rushing yards on 38 attempts, led by Mullings with 38 yards on 12 carries while Ofcharsky totaled 17 yards on seven attempts. Torres led King's receivers with three catches for 24 yards while Dan Kempa and Mullings chipped in with two receptions apiece.
Ryan Kelly led King's with 13 tackles while Steve Hemmig and Jake Lehnowsky contributed with 12 and 11 stops respectively.
