SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

KING'S FOOTBALL POSTS 51-26 VICTORY OVER STEVENSON IN MAC OPENER

Game Box Score

OWINGS MILLS, MD – Senior quarterback Joe Kirchon completed 25-of-39 passes for a career-high 320 yards and three touchdowns as the King's College football team introduced Stevenson University to the ranks of the Middle Atlantic Conference as the Monarchs posted a 51-26 victory Saturday at Mustang Stadium.

With the win, King's improved to 1-1 overall and 1-0 in the MAC. Stevenson, in its inaugural year of varsity football and the newest member of the MAC, slipped to 1-2 and 0-1 in league games.

King's was coming off an unexpected two-week break between games thanks to its September 10 game at Bethany College being canceled due a city-wide evacuation for flooding in Wilkes-Barre. Stevenson was highly-impressive in its second game of the season last week in posting a 46-43 overtime victory over 2010 NCAA national tournament qualifier Christopher-Newport.

The host Mustangs looked to pick up right they left off last week when Kent Harris returned the opening kickoff 55 yards to the King's 39. But on the first play from scrimmage, King's safety Jim McHugh intercepted C.J. Hopson at the Monarch four-yard line.

King's immediately went to work when Eric Ofcharsky started the drive with an eight-yard run and Joe Kirchon hit Glenn Ford for nine yards to the King's 21.  After Ofcharsky carried for two yards, Kirchon found Jay Torres for six yards to the 29. On third-and-two, Ofcharsky picked up the first down with a seven-yard run to the Monarch 36. Ofcharsky then picked up another first down with a 13-yard run to the King's 49. Two plays later Kirchon hit Tommy Armellino for a 43-yard gain to the Stevenson eight. On the next play, Jordon Haddock sliced off left tackle and into the end zone for his first career touchdown to cap a nine-play, 96-yard drive. Mike Lloyd made good on the extra-point as King's took a 7-0 lead with 10:52 left in the first half.

After Harris returned the ensuing kickoff 32 yards to the Stevenson 41, the Mustangs marched to the King's 20. But the drive stalled and Garrett Perau missed a 37-yard field goal to keep the Mustangs off the board

King's again began to move downfield when a 15-yard pass to Torres was followed by Haddock catching a 10-yard swing pass out of the backfield for a first down at the 35. After a two-yard loss, Kirchon found Ford for eight yards to the Monarch 43. On third-and-two, Ofcharsky picked up the first down with a five-yard run to the 48.On the final play of the first-quarter, Kirchon connected with Chris Greene down the right sideline for a 33-yard gain to the Stevenson 20. On the next play Ofcharsky burst off left guard into the end, zone, but a holding penalty nullified the play and moved the ball back to the Mustang 26. King's picked up seven yards to move to the Stevenson 19. Two plays later, Kirchon hit Torres up the middle in the end zone for a Monarch score. The 12-play, 80-yard drive was capped by Lloyd's extra-point kick as King's lead grew to 14-0 with 13:27 left in the first half.

Stevenson quickly responded on its next possession when, facing a third-and-nine play, Hopson avoided a sack and found Jay DeShields along down the right sideline for a 59-yard touchdown. Perau was successful on the point after as Stevenson closed to within 14-7 with 12:40 remaining in the half

On the ensuing kickoff, Mike Baldwin gave the Monarchs excellent field position with a 35-yard return to the Stevenson 48. Ofcharsky carried for five yards before Kirchon found Torres for four yards to set up third-and-one from the Mustang 39. Haddock then picked up the first down with a two-yard run to the Stevenson 37. Kirchon and Torres then hooked up on a 26-yard play to give the Monarchs a first down at the 11. Haddock then gave King's a first-down at the one with a 10-yard run. From there, Ofcharsky found the end zone off right guard to add to the King's lead. Lloyd concluded the seven-play, 46-yard drive with the extra-point kick as the Monarchs' lead grew to 21-7 with 9:34 remaining in the half.

Three possessions later King's took over at its own 31 following a Stevenson punt. Kirchon connected with Haddock out of the backfield for five yards and a penalty on the Mustangs moved the ball to midfield. Ofcharsky carried for four yards, followed by a seven yard run by Matt Spencer for a first down at the Stevenson 39. After a pair of incomplete passes forced King's into a third-and-10 situation, Kirchon hit Torres for 14 yards to the Mustang 25. Haddock then caught passes of eight and four yards on back-to-back plays to give the Monarchs a first down at the Stevenson 13 with 1:27 left in the half. After an incomplete pass, Ofcharski caught a screen pass for six yards to the seven. On third-and-four, Haddock caught a pass for one yards as King's was forced to send out the field goal team. Lloyd made good on a 24-yard field goal with 1:02 on the clock as the Monarchs took a 24-7 lead.

Stevenson then took possession at its own 35 following the kickoff. After two incomplete passes, King's was flagged for pass interference, giving Stevenson a first down at midfield. The Mustangs took advantage of the penalty as an 11-yard pass to Miller registered a first down at the King's 39. DeShields added a 16-yard catch to the 23. And the duo hooked up on the next play for 12 yards to the King's 11 with 0:06 remaining in the half. After an incomplete pass left just 0:02 on the clock, Perau converted a 28-yard field goal to bring Stevenson to within 24-10 at the half.

Ofcharsky gave King's a major boost when the Monarch sophomore took the second-half kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown. Lloyd added the point after as the Monarchs took a 31-10 lead with 14:48 left in the contest. Ofcharsky's return was the longest in King's history, surpassing the previous mark of 87 yards by Sean Frasier against Wilkes in 2000.

Stevenson again answered when Hopson connected with DeShields for a 64-yard strike down the left sideline. Perau was good on the conversion kick as Stevenson whittled the lead to 31-17 with 14:06 remaining in the third quarter.

King's looked to respond from its own 20-yard line when Matt Spencer carried for 33 yards to the Mustang 47. After an incomplete pass, Spencer rushed for six more yards to set up a third-and-four from the Stevenson 41. King's picked up the first down with a nine-yard pass play but the play was called back for holding, throwing King's into a third-and-14 situation from the King's 49. Kirchon then delivered by hitting Torres for 17 yards and a first down at the Mustang 39. Two plays later, Kirchon and Torres hooked up for a 28-yard touchdown pass. Lloyd's point-after gave the Monarchs a 38-17 advantage with 11:21 left in the third stanza.

Stevenson attempted to counter when the Mustangs drove to the King's five-yard line. On a fourth-and-two play, Hospon scrambled to avoid a sack but was tackled a yard short of the first down as King's took over at its own four.

Unable to move the ball, King's was forced to punt. Stevenson came up big when Paul blocked Lloyd's attempt and the ball rolled out of the end zone for a safety, cutting the Monarch lead to 38-19 with 6:02 left in the third quarter.

On King's next possession the Monarchs were again forced to punt from their own 25. But King's called a fake and Haddock picked up a first down with a 27-yard run to the Stevenson 48. On fourth-and-six from the Mustang 32, Kirchon came with another huge throw, connecting with Torres for 15 yards at the 17. On the final play of the third quarter, King's drew closer to the end zone as Ofcharsky ran for nine yards to the eight. Two plays later Ofcharsky took a pitch and raced onto the end zone, but another King's holding penalty wiped out the score, pushing the ball back to the 15. From there the drive stalled and Lloyd made good on a 22-yard field goal to push the Monarch lead to 41-19 with 12:34 left in the contest.

On Stevenson's next possession, Hopson found Miller for 16 yards to the 47 and the Mustang signal-caller scrambled for nine to the King's 44. A pass interference call against King's gave Stevenson a first down at the Monarch 34. Two plays later Andrew Yablonsky picked off Hobson at the King's nine and returned the interception 82 yards to the Stevenson nine. It was the second longest interception return in King's history, two yards shy of equaling the mark of 84 set by Tony Pambianco against Hartwick in 2003.

After the teams traded penalties, King's made good on the turnover when Glenn Ford caught a 10-yard touchdown from Kirchon with 9:17 to play. Lloyd's extra-point gave King's a 48-19 lead.

The Monarchs forced another Stevenson punt and took over at its own 25 with 7:55 remaining in the contest. King's used two runs for 17 yards by Kyle McGrath and a 23-yard pass to Armellino to advance to the Stevenson 35. Spencer then carried for 13 yards to the 22 before the drive stalled. Lloyd then kicked a school-record 43-yard field goal to give King's a 51-19 lead with 2:02 left. Lloyd's kick surpassed the prior mark of 42 yards by Bobby Nawrocki versus Widener in 2004.

Stevenson added a late score against the Monarch reserves when Miller caught a 53-yard touchdown pass from back-up quarterback Jared Jorgenson with 1:01 to play.

King's amassed 549 yards of total offense in the game, including 229 rushing yards on 44 attempts. Ofcharsky joined Kirchon as the team's offensive leaders, rushing for 82 yards on 20 carries while catching three passes for 15 yards. Spencer followed with 68 yards on 10 attempts while Haddock was outstanding with 66 yards on seven rushes while catching six passes out of the backfield for 22 yards. Torres topped King's receivers with nine receptions for 144 yards and two touchdowns. Ford also added three receptions for 32 yards and one score

Stevenson displayed an explosive offense that totaled 422 yards in the game but were held to just 46 rushing yards by the Monarch defense. The Mustangs were paced by Hopson who completed 20-of-41 passes for 282 yards and two touchdowns. Miller had a big day with nine receptions for 137 yards and one score while DeShields was equally impressive with six catches for 174 yards and two scores.

King's will return to the field on Saturday when the Monarchs host Albright College on Homecoming at 1:00 p.m. at McCarthy Stadium.