WILKES-BARRE -- The King's College football team will return to the field on Saturday when the Monarchs travel to Chester to face Widener University at 1:00 p.m. in Leslie C. Quick Stadium.   

King's will enter the game with a 1-2 overall record and a 1-1 Middle Atlantic Conference mark following a 57-17 home loss to unbeaten (4-0) Albright College last week. Widener, meanwhile, is 3-1 and 1-1 in the MAC after suffering a 35-27 loss at Wilkes.  With both teams coming of losses, the significance of the game is even greater as a second loss for either squad would likely impact any opportunity for an MAC championship.

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.muse.widener.edu/~dacrudel/xlive.htm

King's and Widener will be meeting for the 19th time with Widener holding a 15-3 advantage. The Monarchs  dropped a 36-21 decision to the Pride last season in Wilkes-Barre. King's last win in Chester came in the 2009 campaign where the Monarchs walked away with a  35-24 triumph. King's owns a 1-8 record all time playing in Leslie C. Quick Stadium.

King's will look for a much sharper performance after a number of costly mistakes and untimely penalties greatly impacted the game against Albright. King's, usually a disciplined squad not frequently penalized, was flagged for 11 penalties for 105 yards in the game, each seemingly having an impact on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.

King's young offense has made steady progress after its week-one loss against William Paterson. After a 549-yard effort versus Stevenson, the Monarchs followed with 366 yards against a senior-laden Albright defense. Senior Joe Kirchon, a first-year starter at quarterback, has completed 55-of-98 passes for 712 yards with four touchdowns and one interception. Kirchon has completed 56.1 percent of his passes while throwing for 273.3 yards per-game.  Senior wide receiver Jay Torres, a second-team All-MAC selection a year ago, tops the squad with 16 catches for 329 yards and three touchdowns. Senior tight end Glen Ford adds nine receptions for 97 yards and one score while Tommy Armellino contributes eight catches for 149 yards.

King's backfield play has been headed by sophomore tailback Eric Ofcharsky who has rushed for 168 yards on 49 carries while making seven receptions for 33 yards.  Senior fullback Jordan Haddock has been solid, rushing for 78 yards on 10 carries while ranking second on the  team with 12 catches for 62 yards. Senior Matt Spencer has tallied 71 yards on 13 attempts while freshman Kyle McGrath added 29 yards on seven carries.
 
King's defense allowed a season-high 533 yards of total offense in the game last week, including 313 through the air and 220 on the ground. Albright did the vast majority of its damage with the passing game until wearing down the King's defensive front where the Lions amassed 116 rushing yards in the fourth quarter. 

The Monarchs will need to improve its coverage against a Widener squad which threw 58 passes against Wilkes last week and averages 35.5 pass attempts each game.
 
Junior linebacker Ryan Kelly, who became just the fourth player in King's history to surpass the 100-tackle mark a year ago, has made 21 tackles in three games. Junior linebacker Ryan Cordingly, a 2010 second-team All-MAC choice, follows with 17 tackles. Senior safety Jim McHugh has registered 17 tackles with an interception and two passes broken up. Junior linebacker Matt Henry posts 15 tackles while fellow junior linebacker Jake Ksiaziewicz has tallied 13 tackles with 3.5 tackles for loss and a sack. Senior cornerback Mike Schifalacqua has made 13 tackles with three passes broken up.

Widener, meanwhile, is looking to get back on track after three straight impressive wins to start the season. The Pride opened MAC play two weeks ago by opening up a 31-0 half-time lead over perennial MAC contender Lycoming, but was forced to hold on in settling for a 21-28 triumph. Last week, Widener lost its first MAC game at Wilkes when the Pride fell behind 35-14 in the fourth quarter and rallied to within 37-27 with 1:47 left but were unable to recover the onside kick.

Widener, which totaled 441 yards of offense against Wilkes, enters Saturday's game averaging 36.5 points per-game while amassing an average of 427.1 yards each contest.    

Leading the Pride offense is junior quarterback Chris Haupt, a one-time minor league professional baseball player who was drafted by the Florida Marlins in 2005.  Last week against Wilkes, Haupt did not start after being  banged up the previous week against Lycoming. He would, however, enter the game and completed 30-of-57 passes for 327 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. On the year, Haupt has competed  56.9 (107-188) percent of his passes for 1112 yards with nine touchdowns and six interceptions.

Widener has a bevy of receivers, including four who have at least 10 catches each. Leading the core of receivers is senior Cedrick Clayton who has 22 receptions for 253 yards and three touchdowns. Freshman Anthony Davis follows with 16 receptions for 170 yards and one touchdown.

The Pride running game is also solid as the team owns a 145.8 yards per-game average. The backfield is headed by the dual threat combination of sophomore Terrant Morrison and freshman Couve LaFate. Morrison tops the team with 143 rushing  yards with two touchdowns while catching 10 passes out of the backfield for 53 yards and one   score. LaFate, meanwhile,  has run for 134 yards on 29 attempts while hauling in 11 passes for 151 yards.

Much like King's, the Widener defense is looking for an improved performance after allowing 508 yards of total offense to Wilkes. Overall, the Pride have allowed an average of 344.5 yards of total offense per-game, including 144.8 rushing yards and 199.8 passing yards.

The unit has been paced by sophomore linebacker Dylan Ditmer with 27 tackles and 2.0 tackles for loss. Junior linebackers Jamal Dorsey and Joe Wojceichowski follow with 25 tackles apiece. Sophomore safety Colin Masterman adds 21 tackles with an interception while  junior defensive end Chad Gravinese has posted 19 tackles with 7.0 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks. Sophomore defensive end Darius Johnson has tallied 17 tackles with 3.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks while freshman safety Nick Rodriguez and senior safety Gary Fish chip in with 14 tackles each.
 
NEXT WEEK:
King's continues MAC play when the Monarchs host Lycoming College Saturday, October 8 at 1:00 p.m. at McCarthy Stadium.