SEPTEMBER 3, 2011
KING'S FOOTBALL DROPS OPENER TO WILLIAM PATERSON, 13-6
WILKES-BARRE — Visiting William Paterson University scored twice in the first 2:24 of the game and used a stout defense the rest of the way to post a 13-6 season-opening victory over host King's College in a non-conference matchup Saturday at McCarthy Stadium.
William Paterson, a member of the New Jersey Athletic Conference, struck first on the third play of the game when a King's center snap from the shotgun formation sailed over the head of quarterback Joe Kirchon. William Paterson defensive end Damian DiIorio and Kirchon would battle for the loose ball just inside the goal line and DiIorio would come away with the touchdown recovery. Cory Mundt missed the point-after attempt as William Paterson took a 6-0 lead just 1:17 into the contest.
On King's next possession, DiIorio struck again when he sacked Kirchon on a second-and-one play, forcing another Monarch turnover. DiIorio would then recover the loose ball to give William Paterson possession at the King's 27.
After an illegal procedure penalty pushed the Pioneers back five yards. Dawys German broke free on the next play for s 32-yard touchdown run. Mundt made good on the extra point as William Paterson built a 13-0 lead with 12:36 remaining in the opening quarter.
From there, the teams battled evenly in a defensive struggle. In the second quarter King's took advantage of a William Paterson miscue when a bad snap on a fourth-down punt gave the Monarchs possession at the Pioneer 12. But the WPU defense rose to the occasion as the Monarchs lost three yards over the next three plays and were forced to settle for a 33-yard field goal by Mike Lloyd to cut the score to 13-3 with 10:03 on the clock, a lead William Paterson would take into the halftime break.
In the third quarter, King's special teams delivered when Jay Torres broke free for a 30-yard punt return to give the Monarchs possession at the William Paterson 30. King's moved to the 19 before the Pioneer defense again stiffened, forcing another Monarch field goal attempt. Lloyd would make good on his second try of the day, this time converting from 37 yards out to bring King's to with 13-6 with 1:50 remaining in the third stanza.
Both defenses, however, would control the action the rest of the way. The Pioneers had the only scoring opportunity over the final 16:50 of the game, driving 54 yards to the King's 15. But Mundt missed a 32-yard field goal attempt with 9:18 left in the contest as the score remained the same.
Both teams struggled offensively as William Paterson netted 173 yards on 55 plays against the King's defense. The Pioneers garnered 82 rushing yards on 32 attempts while passing for 91 yards on 9-of-22 attempts. German led WPU with 89 yards on 22 carries to pace the attack. William Paterson starting quarterback Ryan Gresik completed 5-of-9 passes for 23 yards before leaving the game for undisclosed reasons. Back-up Connor O'Leary was 4-of-13 for 75 yards. Joe Cordato caught three passes for 62 yards while Ray VanPeenen also had three receptions for 22 yards.
The William Paterson defense controlled tempo the entire game and held King's to a mere 70 yards of total offense. King's has held to -32 rushing yards on 27 carries, including sacks, while passing for 102. Eric Ofcharsky topped the King's ground game with 38 yards on 14 carries. Senior quarterback Joe Kirchon, making his first career start, completed 13-of-29 passes for 102 yards but was sacked seven times by William Paterson. Glenn Ford, Jordan Haddock, and Ofcharsky had three catches each while Tommy Armellion made two receptions, including a 23-yarder for the longest King's offensive play of the game.
The WPU defense posted 13 tackles for loss in te game, totaling 69 yards. Doug Dudek paced the unit with 11 tackles and 2.0 sacks. DiIorio and Jim Hamill had two sacks each.
The King's defense played well and made nine tackles behind the line of scrimmage, The unit was paced by Ryan Kelly, Jake Ksiaziewicz and Chris Shuster with eight tackles each.
King's will return to action on Saturday when the Monarchs make a five-plus hour drive to Bethany, West Virginia to face Bethany College as part of the MAC-PAC Challenge Series where members of the Middle Atlantic Conference square off against members of the President's Athletic Conference. Bethany posted a thrilling 31-29 win over King's last season at McCarthy Stadium.
