SEPTEMBER 28, 2012

KING'S TRAVELING TO WILLIAMSPORT TO FACE MAC CO-LEADER LYCOMING

WILKES-BARRE -- The King's College football team will  return home Saturday when the Monarchs travel to Williamsport to face traditional Middle Atlantic Conference power Lycoming College at 1:30 p.m. at David Person Field.   

After suffering losses in its first two conference games, King's is looking to post a second straight MAC victory with the long-term season hopes of battling its way into conference contender status.

Against Lycoming, the Monarchs will face one of the traditional top programs in the MAC. The game could very well come down to which team stops the run, or is able to run the ball successfully. The King's and Lycoming defenses are ranked first and third respectively in the MAC against the run. The Monarchs defense is also ranked fourth overall in the MAC while Lycoming stands fifth.
       
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
     
Live video will also be offered at the following link:
http://mac.ezstream.com/broadcasts/index.cfm?fuseaction=usrbrd&broadcasterid=60601

The game will be available on the Internet via LiveStats at:     
http://www.lycoming.edu/liveStats/football/
               

ABOUT THE GAME:   
King's enters the contest with a 1-3 overall record and a 1-2 MAC mark. Lycoming, meanwhile, is 3-1 overall and 3-0 in the MAC. Lycoming's lone loss was a 24-2 season-opening defeat to Brockport State. The game will also mark King's first appearance on the Warriors brand-new synthetic turf surface at David Person Field.       
           
ABOUT THE SERIES:   
This is the 22nd meeting between the programs with Lycoming leading 15-5-1. The Monarchs have never won in Williamsport since King's reinstated football in 1993. The Warriors have won the last three games of the series, including a 42-12 victory last season in Wilkes-Barre. King's has won two of the last six games with its last victory coming by a 24-7 margin in 2008. The Monarchs also won 31-28 in 2004. The teams did not play during the 2005 and 2006 seasons due to the schedule rotation the MAC had in place at that time. King's last win against Lycoming in Williamsport came on Oct. 15, 1949, when the Monarchs posted a 6-0 win. 

THE COACHES:      
Monarch mentor Jeff Knarr is in his third season of rebuilding the program at King's and owns a 3-21 career record. Lycoming coach Mike Clark is in his fifth season and is 28-17.

LAST WEEK:   
King's registered its first victory of the season with a 55-17 home win over Misericordia University. Lycoming overcame a 14-0 second-quarter deficit to rally past Albright College 29-14 in Reading.

KING'S ON OFFENSE:    MULTIPLE-I                     
Through four games the King's offense is ranked eighth in the MAC with an average of 299.0 total yards per-game. The Monarchs are rated fifth in rushing yardage with 167.8 yards per-game while standing ninth in passing at 131.2 yards each contest. Offensively, the unit has been led by sophomore tailback Kyle McGrath who ranks second in MAC rushing with 118.8 yards per-game while totaling 475 yards on 84 carries with four touchdowns. In his last game against Misericordia he rushed for a career-high 226 yards on 20 attempts with three touchdowns. Junior tailback Judens Goimbert follows with 170 yards on 28 carries with two scores while catching five passes for 33 yards.     

The offense will be directed by sophomore quarterback Tyler Hartranft who has started the past three games. Hartranft has completed 46.5 (41-88) percent of his passes for 464 yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions. Sophomore Bryant Klein, who started the season opener at William Paterson, missed the last three games with an injury but might be cleared to play against Lycoming. Klein was 5-for-8 for 43 yards in the opener. Sophomore split end Dan  Kempa has a team-high eight receptions for 179 yards while senior tight end Matt Henry adds seven catches for 62 yards. Junior split end Jordan Buford follows with six catches for 63 yards while senior fullback Steven Duncan also has six catches for 59 yards. Junior wide receiver Josh Sanders chip in with five receptions for 40 yards.     

LYCOMING ON OFFENSE:    MULTIPLE PRO STYLE
The Lycoming offense has been tested in the early going against four quality opponents.  The Warriors are currently ranked ninth in MAC total offense with 292.5 yards per-game. Lycoming stands seventh in rushing at 145.2 yards each contest while also ranking seventh in passing with 147.2 yards per-game.  The Warriors have a solid combination at tailback  in senior Parker Showers and sophomore Craig Needhammer. Needhammer tops the squad with 217 yards on 58 carries with two touchdown while Showers closely follows with 203 yards on 58 attempts with two scores.

At quarterback, sophomore Tyler Jenny has performed well thus far, completing 59.8 (61-102) percent of his passes for 582 yards and five touchdowns and two interceptions. Senior split end Jarrin Campman has caught 18 passes for 178 yards and five touchdowns. Sophomore receiver John Sibel also has 18 catches for 156 yards. Junior receiver Matt Atkinson chips in with eight receptions for 99 yards.

KING'S ON DEFENSE:    MULTIPLE 3-4   
King's defense ranks third in the MAC, allowing an average of 316.5  total yards per-game. The Monarchs stand fifth in pass defense in yielding 208.8 yards each contest while also ranking first in rushing defense in allowing just 107.8 yards per-game. Leading the way defensively for King's is the duo of sophomore safety Kris Matthews and senior linebacker Ryan Kelly. Kelly who has posted a team-high 30 tackles this season while Matthews has tallied a team-high 30 tackles with a team-high 15 solo stops. Junior linebacker Jake Ksiaziewicz has 22 tackles with three sacks and 4.0 tackles for loss. Junior linebacker Ben Ray also has 22 tackles.

Senior defensive end Ron Garrett has registered 18 tackles with 2.5 sacks and 4.0 tackles for loss while sophomore linebacker Nick Kaijala contributes 16 tackles. Sophomore linebacker Chad Curtice has 14 tackles while rookie cornerback Tyler Cruz has 14 tackles with a team-high four pass break-ups. Sophomore nose-guard Pete Santorelli and freshman cornerback Tyler Struckus have each made 10 tackles while freshman safety Charles Fitch III and rookie cornerback have 10 tackles each with Edwards adding an interception. King's will again be without the services of standout senior linebacker Ryan Cordingly (7 tackles) who missed the last three games with an injury. With King's having a bye week next week, Cordingly is expected to return October 13 against defending MAC champion Delaware Valley.   

LYCOMING ON DEFENSE:    4-3   
Defensively, Lycoming is ranked fifth in the MAC in allowing 355.5 total yards per-game. Since allowing 493 yards against Brockport in the season-opener, the Warriors have yielded an average of 309.6 yards the past three games. The defense is paced by junior middle linebacker Kabongo Bukasa who tops the squad with 32 tackles. Sophomore safety Tanner Troutman follows with 23 tackles and three interceptions while junior defensive tackle Dwight Hentz adds 21 tackles with 4.0 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. Senior defensive end Nate Oropollo contributes 20 tackles with 9.0 tackles for loss and five sacks while sophomore cornerback Tony Flail also has 20 tackles. Senior cornerback Matt Talerico has posted 16 tackles with an interception while senior safety Caleb Shertzer has also tallied 16 stops. Sophomore defensive end Braden Zeiner checks in with 15 tackles and 1.5 sacks while senior linebacker Corey Schuster chips in with 15 stops.  As a unit, Lycoming has made 30 tackles behind the line of scrimmage for 106 yards in losses.
   

NEXT WEEK:   
King's will enjoy a bye week and will hope to get healthy for its October 13 home matchup against defending MAC champion Delaware Valley College at 1:00 p.m. at McCarthy Stadium.