NOVEMBER 10, 2012

KING'S FOOTBALL CLOSING OUT SEASON WITH ANNUAL MAYOR'S CUP GAME AT WILKES

WILKES-BARRE -- One of the best small college football rivalries will resume on Saturday when the King's College football team closes out the 2012 season Saturday when the Monarchs travel to face cross-town rival Wilkes University in the 17th annual Mayor's Cup Game slated for 12:07 noon at Schmidt Stadium.

The game will feature the two Wilkes-Barre City rivals who are separated by only four street blocks along the banks of the Susquehanna River.  King's (2-7) is looking to reach the three-win plateau for the first time since the 2009 season when the Monarchs went 3-7 in the last year of former head coach Rich Mannello's tenure. The Monarchs are also looking to snap a two-game losing streak to Wilkes. The Colonels, meanwhile, are 4-5 overall and looking to avoid their second straight losing season after going 4-5 a year ago.
The game will feature the two Wilkes-Barre City rivals who are separated by only four street blocks along the banks of the Susquehanna River.

TICKET PRICES:
$5 for adults
$3 for seniors
$2 for students

ON THE AIR:
Local Live TV -  FOX 56, Kickoff 12:07 PM (Pre-Game Show at 12:00 PM)
Webstream:  www.myfoxnepa.com

Where:  All Cable system Channel. 5; Direct and Dish Channel 56; Over the air ch. 56.1

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

A live video webstream from Wilkes will also be available at:
http://wilkesathletics.ezstream.com

The game will be available on the Internet via LiveStats at:
http://www.sidearmstats.com/wilkes/football/scoreboard.aspx


ABOUT THE GAME:
The game marks the final contest of the 2012 season for both King's and Wilkes. King's enters the contest with a 2-7 overall record while standing 2-6 in the Middle Atlantic Conference. Wilkes is 4-5 overall and 3-5 in the MAC .

ABOUT THE SERIES:
This is the 26th all-time meeting between the programs with Wilkes holding a 19-6 lead. Established in 1996, this is also the 17th meeting for the Mayor's Cup which Wilkes leads 12-4.   The Colonels have won the last two meetings, taking the 2010 game 21-17 and the 2011 contest 13-6. King's last victory over Wilkes was a 33-16 triumph in 2009.

The teams played from 1946-through-1952 before the series was halted.  King's then discontinued football following the 1963 season, only to bring back the sport at the varsity level in 1993.  The teams once played for the William Pearce Trophy, which was retired in 1950. 

POST-GAME CEREMONY:
Both teams will line up at their respective 40-yard lines. One member of each squad will be honored with a Team Most Valuable Player plaque. Following the presentations of those awards, the winning squad will be presented with the Mayor's Cup by Wilkes-Barre Mayor Thomas Leighton. Fans are asked to remain off the field during this time.

THE COACHES:
Monarch mentor Jeff Knarr is in his third season of rebuilding the program at King's and owns a 4-25 career record. Frank Sheptock is in his 16th year at Wilkes and is 102-75 in his career with the Colonels. Sheptock is 2-0 in Mayor's Cup games vs. Knarr

LAST GAME:
King's played at home and dropped a 34-19 decision to Lebanon Valley College. Wilkes went on the road and fell to defending MAC champion to Delaware Valley College by a 23-7 count.

KING'S ON OFFENSE: MULTIPLE-I
The King's offense is currently ranked ninth in the MAC with an average of 292.6 total yards per-game. The Monarchs stand eighth in rushing with 127.2 yards per-game and are also rated seventh in passing with 165.3 yards. The King's offense is under the direction of sophomore quarterback Tyler Hartranft who has started the past eight games. Hartranft has completed 110-of-228 passes for 1,398 yards with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Sophomore tailback Kyle McGrath ranks second in the MAC in rushing with 879 yards on 174 carries with seven touchdowns and averages 5.1 yards each attempt. He has also caught 15 passes out of the backfield for 141 yards and one score. McGrath is 121 yards away from becoming the first Monarch running back to reach the 1,000-yard plateau since John Ortiz rushed for 1,238 yards in 2005.  He needs just 19 yards to pass Claude O'Connor (897 yards in 2009) for the most rushing yards at King's since Ortiz's milestone.

Junior tailback Judens Goimbert has been solid off the bench, adding 243 yards on 55 carries while averaging 4.4 yards per-carry. He has also contributed 11 receptions for 45 yards and one score. Sophomore split end Dan Kempa has a team-high 21 receptions for 411 yards with one touchdown. Senior split end Adam Kudlacik follows with 17 catches for 265 yards and two scores while junior wideout Josh Sanders adds 16 receptions for 187 yards. Senior tight end Matt Henry has caught 10 passes for 136 yards and one touchdown.

WILKES ON OFFENSE: SPREAD
The Wilkes offense is ranked fourth in the MAC with an average of 388.2 yards of total offense per-game. The Colonels are second in rushing at 230.2 yards each contest while also standing ninth in passing with 158.0 yards every game. The Colonels have utilized a two-quarterback approach, featuring junior Tyler Bernsten as the starter and fellow junior Alex George as the back-up.

Both players are dual-threat quarterbacks with the ability to run and pass effectively.  Bernsten has completed 53-of-110 passes for 732 yards with five touchdowns and four interceptions. He has also rushed for 414 yards on 95 carries with three touchdowns. George has completed 67-of-127 passes for 690 yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions, he has also rushed for 237 yards on 51 carries with three interceptions.

Leading the Colonel rushing attack is freshman Patrick Ingulli who has done an admirable job filling in after starter Auxence Wogou was injured in game-four.  Ingulli has played in all nine games and has tallied 479 yards on 102 carries, averaging 4.7 yards per-carry with five touchdowns.  Junior Calvin Garvin has chipped in with 267 yards with three scores and a 5.3 yards per-carry average. The Colonels' receivers are paced by freshman wide-out Peyton Bachman with 18 catches for 181 yards. Sophomore Drew Devitt follows with 16 receptions for 168 yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore Jon Conklin, junior Dan Curry, and sophomore Justin Pellowski chip in with 13 catches apiece.

KING'S ON DEFENSE: MULTIPLE 3-4
King's defense is ranked sixth in the MAC, allowing an average of 361.6 total yards per-game. The Monarchs are rated fifth against the run, yielding 139.3 yards each contest while standing 10th against the pass in giving up 222.2 yards every game. Leading the way defensively for King's is junior safety Kris Matthews also posts a team-high 70 total tackles with five pass breaks, two interceptions, one forced fumble and a recovery. Senior linebacker Ryan Kelly follows with 64 total tackles with 4.5 tackles for loss, one forced fumble and two recoveries.

Junior linebacker Jake Ksiazkiewicz has 59 tackles with 10.0 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks. Senior linebacker Ryan Cordingly has made a solid return after missing four games from injury and has totaled 47 tackles with 5.0 tackles for loss and a 9.4 tackles per-game average. Junior linebacker Ben Ray adds 43 tackles with a fumble recovery while senior defensive end Ron Garrett has registered 38 tackles with 8.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks.

Sophomore linebacker Chad Curtice has made 31 tackles with 3.5 tackles for loss while freshman defensive back Tyler Struckus checks in with 25 tackles.  Senior defensive back Evan Crisman and freshman defensive back Dakota Edwards chip in with 23 tackles and an interception apiece.

WILKES ON DEFENSE: 3-4
Defensively, Wilkes is ranked seventh overall in the MAC in allowing an average of 366.2 total yards each game. The Colonels stand sixth against the run in yielding 149.8 yards per-game while rating ninth versus the pass in permitting 216.4 yards per-contest.

The Colonel defense is led by junior linebacker Tate Moore-Jacobs who has 96 tackles with 11 tackles for loss. Fellow junior linebacker D.J. Shuttleworth follows with 62 tackles, six tackles for loss, and two forced fumbles while junior safety Paul Gaffney adds 51 tackles with two interceptions. Freshman linebacker Michael Paskas contributes 34 tackles while freshman defensive end Jason Ugwu has tallied 33 tackles, including 13 tackles for loss. Freshman cornerback Marcus Leaf has made 33 tackles with three interceptions while freshman linebacker Ty Cunningham ships in with 31 tackles.

KING'S SENIORS PLAYING FINAL GAME
The contest will also mark the final career game for 10 Monarchs seniors. Those players include Ryan Cordingly (Berwick/Berwick), Evan Crisman (Berwick/Berwick), Ron Garrett (Columbus, NJ/North Burlington), Matt Henry (Whitehall/Whitehall), Ryan Kelly (Boonton, NJ/Parsippany Hills), Adam Kudlacik (Parsippany, NJ/Parsippany Hills), Jake Lehnowsky (Mountain Top/Crestwood), Kevin Miller (Ambler/Lansdale Catholic), Seth Powers (West Islip, NY/St. John the Baptist), and Duron Wilson (Downingtown/Downingtown East).


 King's vs. Wilkes All-Time (Wilkes leads 19-6)
1946 - L 7-0
1947 - L 12-6
1948 - L 26-0
1949 - L 47-7
1950 - L 14-12
1951 - W 27-7
1952 - W 34-13
1993 - L 41-14
1994 - L 26-7
1995 - L 29-15
1996 - L 13-0*
1997 - L 23-0*
1998 - L 31-21*
1999 - L 30-6*
2000 - W 20-0*
2001 - W 28-12*
2002 - W 34-7*
2003 - L 37-0*
2004 - L 12-6*
2005 - L 36-13*
2006 - L 28-7*
2007 - L 35-0*
2008 - L 21-3*
2009 - W 33-16*
2010 – L 21-17*
2011- L 13-6*
*Mayor's Cup Games (Wilkes leads 12-4)