NOVEMBER 4, 2011

KING'S FOOTBALL HOSTING FDU-FLORHAM IN MONARCHS' FINAL HOME GAME

WILKES-BARRE -- The King's College football team will play its final home game of the season on Saturday when the Monarchs host FDU-Florham at 1:00 p.m. at McCarthy Stadium.   

The game will mark Senior Day at King's as13 Monarchs will be participating in their final contest at McCarthy Stadium. A total of 11 players and two former players now serving as student assistant coaches will be honored before the game. They include players Jake Custis, Dan DiClementi, Glenn Ford, Jordan Haddock, Joe Kirchon, Kyle Kostick, Jim McHugh, Mike Schifalacqua, Bill Schlott, Mike Selby, Matt Spencer, and team captains Mike Blessing and Jay Torres. Senior student assistants include Dan DiClementi and Bill Schlott who saw their careers curtailed due to injury.   
   

ON THE AIR:               
King's student radio station WRKC 88.5 FM will broadcast the game, which will also be voice streamed over the Internet at the following link: http://wrkc.kings.edu/list/current.html       

The game will also be available on the Internet via LiveStats at the following link:         
http://www.sidearmstats.com/kings/football/index.htm

ABOUT THE SERIES:   
This is the 19th all-time meeting between the programs with King's holding a 13-5 advantage. The Monarchs won last year's game 45-14 at McCarthy Stadium. FDU's last victory was in 2009 by a 28-21 margin in Madison, NJ.

THE COACHES:      
Monarch mentor Jeff Knarr is in his second season of rebuilding the program at King's and owns a 2-15 career record. FDU-Florham coach Brian Surace is in his first year with the Devils. Surace was a one-time King's assistant coach in the Monarchs' intern coaching program back in 1995. Surace came to FDU after serving as the offensive coordinator at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Devil assistant Scott Sperone was also a one-time King's assistant coach/intern in 2001.             

LAST WEEK:   
A week ago King's lost its fifth straight game in a 13-6 loss to cross-town rival Wilkes in a snow-filled Mayor's Cup Game.  FDU-Florham, meanwhile, dropped a 36-13 decision to Stevenson in the Devils' final home game of the season.          

KING'S ON OFFENSE:    MULTIPLE-I                     
King's is averaging  235.7 yards of total offense per-game. The Monarchs have averaged 148.9 passing yards and 86.9 rushing yards. At quarterback, freshman Bryant Klein made his first career start last week in extremely challenging field conditions, completing 5-of-11 passes for 51 yards with an interception, while rushing for 31 yards on 17 attempts with one touchdown. Sophomore tailback Eric Ofcharsky leads the team with 206 rushing yards on 65 carries and two touchdowns while adding nine catches out of the backfield for 52 yards. Freshman tailback Kyle McGrath has 202 yards on 50 attempts and has caught five passes for 31 yards. Senior tailback Matt Spencer contributes 143 yards on 39 carries.Senior fullback Jordan Haddock has rushed for 99 yards on 19 carries while catching 18 passes for 106 yards. Senior Jay Torres leads all receivers with 27 catches for 417 yards and four touchdowns. Senior tight end Glen Ford adds 16 receptions for 146 yards and one score while sophomore split end Chris Greene has contributed 14 receptions for 125 yards.

FDU-FLORHAM ON OFFENSE:    SPREAD   
The FDU-Florham offense enters the game averaging 269.4 total yards per-game. The are rushing for 126.9 yards each contest while passing for 142.6 yards per-game. Directing the offense is senior quarterback Ryan Cushman, who has completed 48.1 (103-214) percent of his passes for 988 yards with five touchdowns and five interceptions. Cushman has also run for 237 yards on 71 attempts with one score. The running attack has been paced by senior Mike Larson who has gained 311 yards on 67 carries with one touchdown. Leading the Devils' four wide receiver set is sophomore Anthony Frunicillo who has 22 catches for 238 yards and two touchdowns. Junior Jon Bennett follow with 18 receptions for 247 yards and one score. Sophomore Joe Tauriello and junior Doug Van Orden add 14 and 13 catches respectively.      

KING'S ON DEFENSE:    MULTIPLE 3-4   
King's defense has yielded an average of 409.9 total yards per-game, including 163.1 rushing yards and 246.7 passing yards each contest.  Junior inside linebacker Ryan Cordingly top the squad with 49 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack. Fellow junior linebacker Ryan Kelly follows with 44 tackles and a sack. Senior safety Jim McHugh adds 41 tackles with an interception and five pass breaks. Junior cornerback Evan Crisman contributes 25 tackles while junior defensive end Jake Lehnowsky has posted 23 tackles with 8.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. Sophomore nose-guard Jon Koslop and senior cornerback Mike Schifalacqua have 22 tackles each. Junior linebacker Jake Ksiaziewicz has posted 21 tackles with 5.5 tackles for loss. Junior cornerback Andrew Yablonsky has made 21 stops with an interception. Junior linebacker Matt Henry has made  20 tackles while  junior  safety Don Binckes has 18 tackles. 
        
FDU-FLORHAM ON DEFENSE:    3-4   
The Devil defense enters the game allowing 461.4 yards of total offense per-game, including 256.4 rushing yards and 205.0 passing yards per-contest. Junior linebacker Charlie Thomas tops the squad with 47 tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss. Senior linebacker Steve Hoverson follows with 46 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, and 6.0 sacks. Sophomore linebacker Mike Mancino adds 40 tackles while junior safety Shane Roland contributes 39 stops. Senior cornerback Steve Margolin has posted 35 tackles with four losses broken up and a fumble recovery while junior safety Joe Mancini also totals 35 tackles.  Sophomore safety Dan  Hicks has registered 26 tackles while senior linebacker Ryan Daly chips in with 23  stops and 2.0 tackles for loss. 

vs. FDU-Florham (King's leads 13-5)
1993 - L 19-6
1994 - W 26-7
1995 - W 45-40
1996 - L 32-28
1997 - W 34-31
1998 - W 20-10
1999 - L 26-20
2000 - W 36-25
2001 - W 45-7
2002 - W 21-0
2003 - W 34-7
2004 - L 15-10
2005 - W 49-21
2006 - W 21-17
2007 - W 17-14
2008 - W 16-8
2009 - L 28-21
2010 – W 45-14


NEXT WEEK:   
King's will venture to Annville on Saturday, November 12 when the Monarchs close out their MAC schedule with a 1:00 p.m. matchup at Lebanon Valley College.

KING'S VS. BETHANY OFFICIALLY RESCHEDULED   
The King's College vs. Bethany College football game, which was canceled on September 10 due to flooding in Northeastern PA, has officially been rescheduled. The Monarchs will travel to Bethany, WV on November 19 to complete the two-year agreement between King's and Bethany as part of the MAC vs. PAC Football Challenge, where members of the Middle Atlantic Conference square off against members of the President's Athletic Conference. Bethany is currently 3-4 heading into its game with Grove City on Saturday.