WILKES-BARRE -- The King's College football team will open the 2011 season Saturday when the Monarchs host William Paterson University in a 1:00 p.m. non-conference matchup Saturday at McCarthy Stadium in the Betzler Athletic Conference.    

Ticket prices are $4 for adults and $2 for students.

Kings will begin its second season under head coach Jeff Knarr and looks to continue the rebuilding process. The Monarchs finished with a 1-9 record last season, losing five games by seven points or less. Now, with a year in Coach Knarr's system,  the Monarchs will enter the year with a greater understanding on both offense and defense.

The Monarchs have a number of holes to fill with the loss of seven offensive starters, including quarterback Corey Lavin and four of five starters along the offensive line. The defense will also undergo some retooling after King's graduated its entire defensive line.

William Paterson, meanwhile, hopes to avoid a repeat of last season when the Pioneers started the season 4-1 but dropped its final five games while playing in the rugged NJAC. Included were losses to eventual NCAA Division III National Playoff qualifiers Cortland State and Montclair State.


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 GAME:  
Today's game marks the official opening of the 2011 football campaign. King's will host William Paterson University, a member of the highly-respected New Jersey Athletic Conference. The Monarchs come off a 1-9 campaign while William Paterson was 4-6 in 2010.    

ABOUT THE SERIES:
This is the third meeting between the programs with William Paterson holding a 2-0 series advantage. The Pioneers won last year's contest 14-7 in Wayne N.J. The year before, William Paterson posted a 20-6 triumph in Wilkes-Barre. The teams will continue playing next year when the Middle Atlantic Conference and the New Jersey Athletic Conference begin the MAC-NJAC Football Challenge.
        
THE COACHES:
Monarch mentor Jeff Knarr is in his second season at King's  and in his second year as a collegiate head coach. Pioneer head coach Jerry Flora is in his fourth year at William Paterson where he owns a 14-17 mark.                
 
KING'S ON OFFENSE:    MULTIPLE - I                 
Last season the King's offense averaged 308.4 yards of total offense per-game. King's rushed for 89.8 yards per-game but had a passing average of 218.6 yards each contest. King's offense will be run by senior quarterback Joe Kirchon, a first-year starter who looks to take advantage f his first career starting opportunity. Kirchon will hand the ball of to sophomore tailback Eric Ofcharsky, who rushed for a team-high 543 yards on 146 carries, while adding 32 catches out of the backfield for an additional 290 yards. Freshman Kyle McGrath is expected to handle the back-up chores. King's core of receivers will be paced by second-team All-MAC selection Jay Torres who made 44 catches for 686 yards and four touchdowns. Senior Glenn Ford moves from wide receiver to tight end after making 20 receptions for 180 yards. Sophomore Chris Greene  made his mark late last season as a multi-purpose player and finished the year with five catches for  54 yards but also spent time in the backfield as a triple threat performer.

WILLIAM PATERSON ON OFFENSE:   MULTIPLE
Last season William Paterson averaged 263.0 yards of total offense per-game, including 112.9 rushing yards and 150.1 passing yards. Running the offense is junior quarterback Ryan Gresik , a returning starter who completed  155-of-268 passes for 1,489 with six touchdowns and 12 interceptions. The receivers are topped by senior Joe Muraglia who  made  45 catches for 442 yards and three touchdowns. Junior Chris Manfredo followed with 32 receptions for 393 yards and a team-best 12.3 yards per-catch average. Junior tight end Joe Cordato chipped in with 21 catches for 234 yards and one score. The running attack will be paced by junior Dawys German who ran for  448 yards on 129 carries with three touchdowns.   

KING'S ON DEFENSE:    MULTIPLE 3-4
King's  has allowed 369.2 yards of total offense per-game, including  208.0 rushing yards and 161.2  passing yards.  Junior  linebacker Ryan Kelly became just the fourth player in King's history to crack the 100-tackle plateau with 108 stops and three sacks. Fellow junior linebacker Ryan Cordingly, a second-team All-MAC choice, followed with 83 tackles with 10.5 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks for 22 lost yards. Junior cornerback Andrew Yablonsky contributes 45 tackles with two interceptions and five passes defended. Senior free safety Jim McHugh has posted 41 tackles with four interceptions. Junior linebacker Matt Henry tallied 33 tackles and 7.5 tackles for loss with 1.5 sacks. Senior Mike Schifalacqua will start at the other cornerback position after making 12 tackles a year ago. Junior cornerback Evan Crisman had 17 tackles while sophomore linebacker Tyson Kelley posted 15 stops after starting the final  five games last season. Sophomore Chris Shuster will get the start at strong safety after making 14 tackles as a reserve in 2011. Junior Jake Lehnowsky and sophomores Jon Koslop, and Cemah Tudae-Torboh are first-year starters.  

WILLIAM PATERSON ON DEFENSE:    MULTIPLE
The Pioneer defense was solid in 2010, yielding an average of just 268.8 yards per-game, including 153.5 rushing yards and only 115.3 passing yards each contest.   Senior safety Doug Dudek led the team in tackles with 75 stops, three interceptions, and 8.0 tackles for los. Junior safety German Decena was fourth on the team with 47 tackles and three interceptions. Junior linebacker Luigi Napolitano was sixth on the team with 44 tackles and 5.0 tackles for loss.  Junior defensive back Andre Snead added 33 tackles with two interceptions.  

King's vs. William Paterson All-Time           
2009:    William Paterson 20, King's 7
2010    William Paterson 14, King's 7
 

NEXT WEEK: 
King's will make the long trip to Bethany, West Virginia to face Bethany College as part of the Middle Atlantic Conference vs. the President's Athletic Conference series, known as the MAC-PAC Challenge, where members of each conference face one another. This is the final year of the two-year agreement between the MAC and PAC. Bethany won last season's meeting 31-29 in Wilkes-Barre.