AUGUST 31, 2012

KING'S FOOTBALL OPENING SATURDAY AT WILLIAM PATERSON IN MAC-NJAC CHALLENGE

Directions to WPU

WILKES-BARRE — The King's College football team will kick off the 2012 campaign on Saturday when the Monarchs travel to Wayne, NJ to face William Paterson University at 1:00 PM. In addition to serving as the season-opener for both teams, the game will be a part of the MAC vs. NJAC Challenge. In the first of a two-year agreement with both conferences, teams from the Middle Atlantic Conference will face opponents from the highly-respected New Jersey Athletic Conference this week.

Other games in the MAC vs. NJAC Challenge include:  Wilkes vs. Morrisville State, Delaware Valley vs. Rowan, Lebanon Valley vs. Montclair State, Lycoming vs. Brockport State, Widener vs. Western Connecticut State, Albright vs. Kean, and FDU-Florham vs. The College of New Jersey.        
   
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://sidearmstats.com/wpunj/football/scoreboard.aspx
                                   

ABOUT THE SERIES:   
This is the fourth all-time meeting between the programs with William Paterson holding a 3-0 advantage. After the Pioneers won 20-6 in Wilkes-Barre in 2009, William Paterson won the 2010 meeting 14-7 in New Jersey before posting a 13-6 win at King's in 2011.

THE COACHES:      
Monarch mentor Jeff Knarr is in his third season of rebuilding the program at King's and owns a 2-18 career record. William Paterson coach Jerry Flora is in his fifth year and is 17-23 with the Pioneers.             

ABOUT THE OPENER:   
The Monarchs are trying to rebound off an injury-plagued 1-9 season a year ago with one of its most inexperienced squads ever.  King's returns just 10 starters overall and will include only five seniors among the starting line-up.  William Paterson, meanwhile, comes off a 4-6 season and is optimistic for improvement with the return of nine offensive and eight defensive starters among its 54 lettermen back on the roster. King's last season-opening victory came during a  16-10 road victory over Randolph-Macon in 2009.   
 
KING'S ON OFFENSE:  MULTIPLE-I FORMATION   
King's offense will be the least experienced unit on the squad with just four returning starters.  At quarterback, the Monarchs will split time between sophomores Bryant Klein (Rochelle Park, NJ/Paramus Catholic) and Tyler Hartranft (Schuylkill Haven/Blue Mountain). King's coach Jeff Knarr indicated Klein will get the start but Hartranft will also share time under center. 

Last season, Klein inherited the starting job midway through the season and, in four starts, completed 32-of-65 passes for 243 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.  At 6-1, 217-pounds, Klein is also a capable runner and brings a dual-threat to the position.  Hartranft is a transfer from Susquehanna University where he served as a backup a year ago. He is regarded as more of a pure drop-back passer.

King's looks to be more successful running the ball and hopes to improve upon the 78.8 yards per-game average of 2011. Leading the ground game will be tailback Kyle McGrath (Sparta, NJ/Pope John), a 5-10, 215-pound sophomore who boasts both speed and power. Last season McGrath served as a back-up and rushed for 216 yards on 52 carries, posting a team-high 4.2 yards per-carry average before suffering a season-ending injury on just his second carry in the eighth game last year. 

Junior Judens Goimbert (Hamilton, NJ/Hamilton East) and senior Duron Wilson (Downington/Downingtown East) will serve as capable back-ups. Senior Steve Duncan Ballston Spa, NY/Ballston Spa) and junior Slade Eigenmann (Montville, NJ/Red Bank Catholic) will serve as the team's fullbacks.

The Monarchs will field an extremely young receiving corp. as King's lost its top four pass-catchers and return only three players who caught passes in 2011.  Senior Adam Kudlacik (Parsippany, NJ/Parsippany) and junior Josh Sanders (Staten Island, NY/Burlington Township-NJ), a transfer from Division III Norwich University, will get the start.

Also rotating in at wide receiver will be junior Jordan Buford (New York, NY/St. Anthony's) and junior Darren Mitchell (Oxford, Ct./Fairfield). Buford caught six passes while Mitchell had three receptions in 2011.  At tight end, King's will utilize a pair of defensive convertees in senior Matt Henry (Whitehall/Whitehall) and junior Matt Richelmi (Wilkes-Barre/Meyers), both linebackers a year ago.

The key to King's success in both the running and passing games will be the development of an extremely young offensive line as the Monarchs returns just two starters up front.  Senior right guard Seth Powers (West Islip, NY/St. John the Baptist) and junior left guard Andrew Sandt (Whitehall/Whitehall) stand as the lone returnees. Junior left tackle Kyle Grampp (Wilkes-Barre/East Stroudsburg North) saw time as a reserve guard last year while sophomore right tackle Jim Strelecki (Telford/Souderton) will be seeing his first varsity action after playing on King's jayvee team last year. At center, the Monarchs will start freshman Mark Vetterlein (Riverdale, NJ/Pascak Valley). King's offensive line reserves on the depth chart include three freshman and a first-year sophomore transfer.

KING'S ON DEFENSE:  3–4   
Defensively, King's is more experienced with six returning starters, although only five will be available for the opener.  Pacing the Monarch defense are its linebacking corp., led by senior captains Ryan Cordingly (Berwick/Berwick) and Ryan Kelly (Parsippany/Parsippany Hills).  Cordingly, a three-year starter and a 2010 All-MAC selection, enters his fourth year as a starter and will hold down an outside linebacker position in King's 3-4 scheme. Cordingly has 206 tackles in three seasons, including 66 a year ago. Kelly, an inside linebacker, also enters his fourth year as a starter and has tallied 224 career tackles, including a team-high 73 stops last season.

Also back at inside linebacker is junior Jake Ksiazkiewicz (Plymouth/Francis Howell-Mo.) who made 21 tackles before a season-ending injury in week-seven. Sophomore Chad Curtice (Stevensville, Md./Kent Island) will start at outside linebacker and posted nine tackles after making three late-season starts a year ago.

On the defensive line, King's will be hurt by the absence of senior defensive end and team tri-captain Jake Lehnowsky (Mountain Top/Crestwood) who will miss the opener with an injury but is expected to return near mid-season. Last season Lehnowsky posted 47 tackles with a team-high 10.5 tackles for loss. With Lehnowsky's absence, King's will welcome back senior defensive end Ron Garrett who missed the entire 2011 season with an injury of his own. A projected starter at defensive end last season, Garrett last played in 2010 where he made 15 tackles as a reserve.

At the other defensive end position, sophomore Joe Cole will make his first career start after seeing time in three games as a rookie. At nose-guard, sophomore Pete Santorelli returns after playing in nine games with four starts as a freshman, making 12 tackles.

The Monarch secondary will also be inexperienced as thee of the four starters will be making their first collegiate starts. Leading the unit will be sophomore safety Kris Matthews who made four starts in 10 games played, registering 10 tackles. Junior Josh Fehnel (Walnutport/Northampton) will also start at safety and returns to the field after missing the 2011 season with an injury.  The biggest challenge for the Monarch secondary will come at cornerback where King's will start a pair of freshmen. Rookies Tyler Cruz (Whitehall/Whitehall) and Tyler Mejasic (Phoenixville/Bishop Shanahan) will face the task of containing opposing receivers.

King's kicking game will feature two new starters as freshman Lance Williams (Tamaqua/Tamaqua) will handle the place-kicking duties while sophomore Dan Kempa (Susquehanna/Blue Ridge) will punt.

WILLIAM PATERSON OFFENSE:  MULTIPLE   
On offense, junior Ryan Gresik returns after suffering a season-ending injury in the fourth game of the 2011 season. Gresik had completed 26-of-49 passes for 403 yards and four touchdowns prior to being injured. As a sophomore stater in 2010, Gresik completed 155-of-268 passes for 1,489 yards. The Pioneer running game will bank on the talents of senior tailback Dawys German who rushed for 1,020 yards and earned first-team All-NJAC honors. German became William Paterson's first 1,000-yard rusher since 1996. Junior Mick Payne is the top returning receiver, posting 14 catches for 292 yards and three touchdowns while senior tight end Joe Cordato posted 29 recetions for 340 yards and two scores.

WILLIAM PATERSON DEFENSE: MULTIPLE   
Defensively, the Pioneers ranked third last season in the NJAC in yielding just 308.8 yards of total offense per-game, while ranking sixth nationally against the pass, allowing 129.7 yards each contest.  Leading the defense is junior nose-guard Webb Geer who posted 45 tackles a year ago. Sophomore John Garbowski tallied 44 tackles and earned honorable mention All-NJAC honors as a rookie. Senior defensive back German Decena made 66 tackles with three interceptions while fellow senior Stephen Bovo posted 44 stops.   

NEXT WEEK:   
King's will make its 2012 home debut when the Monarchs host pre-season nationally-ranked Widener University at 1:00 p.m. at McCarthy Stadium.