KING'S FOOTBALL MAKING HOME DEUBT SATURDAY VS WIDENER IN MAC OPENER

WILKES-BARRE -- The King's College football team will open the 2012 Middle Atlantic Conference season Saturday at 1:00 p.m. when the Monarchs play host to nationally-ranked Widener University at McCarthy Stadium in the Betzler Athletic Conference.

The Monarchs are looking to rebound following a frustrating 9-3 loss to William Paterson on Saturday in which King's enjoyed a statistical advantage in virtually every category but were unable to capitalize on a number of scoring opportunities. It marked King's third straight loss to WPU by a touchdown or less.

Against Widener, the Monarchs will be hosting a team expecting to contend for the MAC title as the Pride were second in the conference last season and were picked second in the 2012 MAC Pre-Season Coaches Poll. King's was tabbed seventh in the same poll.

The game will signify the start of a new season in the MAC where each squad in the conference will play nine league games. With the addition of Stevenson a year ago and Misericordia in its first year of varsity football in 2012, MAC member schools will now play nine mandatory conference games for the first time since 2006.

Following the 2006 campaign, Susquehanna and Muhlenberg left the MAC, dropping the conference to eight teams and forcing member squads to schedule three non-conference games.

The Monarchs are attempting to win their first MAC opener since the 2006 season when King's defeated Moravian 28-23. King's has gone winless in its last five conference-opening games.

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://www.sidearmstats.com/kings/football/ scoreboard.aspx

ABOUT THE GAME:
Saturday marks the 2012 home opener for the King's Foot- ball Team as well as the first game of the Middle Atlantic Conference schedule. King's final nine games will all be against MAC teams.

ABOUT THE SERIES:
This is the 20th all-time meeting between the programs with Widener holding a 16-3 advantage. The Pride won last year's contest 70-0 in Chester in what was the worst loss in Monarch history. King's last victory over Widener came via a 35-24 triumph in Chester in 2009. The Monarchs last home win against Widener was a 31-24 victory in 2005.

THE COACHES:
Monarch mentor Jeff Knarr is in his third season of rebuilding the program at King's and owns a 2-19 career record. Widener coach Isaac Collins is in his third season at Widener and is 15-7.

LAST WEEK:
Both teams opened the season a week ago against members of the New Jersey Athletic Conference as part of the inaugural “MAC vs. NJAC Football Chal- lenge”. King's dropped a 9-3 heartbreaker at William Paterson University on a 26-yard touchdown pass with 0:07 left in the contest. Widener, meanwhile, posted a 63-17 home win over Western Connecticut State. As a result, Widener is ranked 25th nationally in this week's D3Football.com rankings. The Pride were ranked 6th in Lindy's Sports Magazine Pre-Season Poll.

KING'S ON OFFENSE: MULTIPLE-I
Last week King's managed 288 yards of total offense, including 149 yards on the ground and 139 through the air. Offensively, the team was led by sophomore tailback Kyle McGrath who rushed for a career-high 108 yards on 27 carries. In the process, he became the Monarchs' first 100-yardrushersincetheopeninggameofthe2010season.

King's used a two-quarterback attack in the game, featuring sophomores Bryant Klein and Tyler Hartranft, a transfer from Susquehanna University. The two signal-callers rotated in every two series throughout the contest. Klein started the game and was 5-for-8 for 43 yards but was sacked three times. Hartranft finished 7-for-16 for 96 yards and one interception.

Junior Jordan Buford caught a team-high three passes for 24 yards. Senior fullback Steven Duncan had two catches for 33 yards while sophomore split end Dan Kempa registered two receptions for 23 yards.

WIDENER ON OFFENSE: MULTIPLE
Widener opened the season in impressive fashion, totalling 482 yards and 63 points in its opener against Western Connecticut. The Pride totaled 352 passing yards and 130 rushing yards in the game and amassed 29 first downs. The offense is paced by senior standout quarterback Chris Haupt who was a 2011 finalist for the Gagliardi Trophy Division III player of the year award. Haupt, a former minor league baseball player who was drafted
by the Florida Marlins in 2005, has thrown for over 6,000 yards in his Widener career.

Against West-Conn, the 25-year old Haupt completed 25-of-27 passes for 298 yards with five touchdowns and one interception. The Pride had 11 different players catch passes in the game, topped by sophomore wide receiver Anthony Davis caught six passes for 79 yards and two touchdowns. Freshman split end Alec Wrieth caught four balls for 71 yards and two scores while se- nior tight end Dom DiPasquale also had four catches for 55 yards and one touchdown. Senior wide-out Steve Marrero chipped in with three catches for 54 yards.

KING'S ON DEFENSE: MULTIPLE 3-4
King's defense played well against William Paterson, allow- ing 251 total yards, including 104 rushing yards and 149 passing yards. Leading the way defensively for King's was junior linebacker Jake Ksiazkiewicz who posted a team-high eight tackles while adding two quarterback sacks. Senior linebacker Ryan Cordingly followed with seven tackles and two tackles for loss while sophomore safety Kris Matthews also added seven tackles. Senior linebacker Ryan Kelly and freshman cornerback Tyler Cruz contributed with six tackles apiece while sophomore linebacker Chad Curtice and soph- omore safety Curtice Peace tallied four tackles each. Senior defensive end Ron Garret chipped in with three tackles

WIDENER ON DEFENSE: 4-3
Defensively, Widener allowed just 181 total yards in its opener, holding West-Conn to 77 rushing yards and only 104 passing yards. The Pride also registered 11 tackles for loss in the game and forced six turnovers on four interceptions and two fumble recoveries. Junior linebacker Dylan Ditmer posted six tackles with a fumble recovery while freshman safety Vaughn Nichols-Tylor also added six stops. Senior standout linebacker Joe Wojceichowski had five solo tackle, including one behind the line of scrimmage, while sopho- more linebacker Brandon Harper had four solo tackles with one assist and one tackle for a 17-yard loss.

NEXT WEEK:
King's will play its lone Friday night game of the sea- son when the Monarchs travel to Madison, NJ to face FDU-Florham at 7:00 p.m. at Robert T. Shields Field.