NOVEMBER 16, 2013
KING'S FOOTBALL HOSTING WILKES IN 18TH MAYOR'S CUP GAME
WILKES-BARRE – The King's College football team will close out the 2013 season on Saturday when the Monarchs host cross-town rival Wilkes University in the 18
th annual Mayor's Cup Game. The game will be televised regionally on FOX-56 Television. Kickoff is set for 12:07 p.m.
King's and Wilkes, separated by three blocks just outside of downtown Wilkes-Barre, will once again play for the Mayor's Cup.
The Cup was first established by former Wilkes-Barre Mayor Thomas McGroarty and has been carried on by current Mayor Thomas Leighton. The teams once played for the William Pearce Trophy, which was retired in 1950.
King's enters the contest with a 5-4 mark and is 5-3 in Middle Atlantic Conference play. With a win, the Monarchs can secure their first season above the .500 plateau since the 2006 campaign when the Monarchs finished 6-5 after playing in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Bowl. With five wins thus far, the Monarchs have already posted their highest victory total since the 2006 squad. The Monarchs have already secured
Wilkes, meanwhile, is 4-5 overall and 3-5 in the MAC. A win for Wilkes will enable the Colonels to avoid a sub-.500 season while at the same time securing a fourth straight Mayor's Cup.
ON THE AIR:
LiveStats -
http://www.sidearmstats.com/kings/football/
Live Audio (WRKC 88.5 FM) -
http://wrkc.kings.edu/list/current.html
Live Television: The game will be televised locally on FOX-56
ABOUT THE GAME:
Saturday's game is the final game of the season for both King's and Wilkes. The teams will be playing for the Mayor's Cup for the 18
th consecutive year. The teams began playing for the Mayor's Cup in 1996 and the Colonels own a 13-4 advantage.
FAREWELL TO KINGS SENIORS:
The contest marks the final game of the season for both teams. It is also the last collegiate game for 14 King's College seniors. They include
Billy Beinke,
Eric Bohem,
Austin DiValerio,
Slade Eigenmann,
Ron Garrett,
Judens Goimbert,
Kyle Grampp,
Adam Kita,
Jake Ksiazkiewicz,
Darren Mitchell,
Mike Pagnotta,
Ben Ray,
Matt Richelmi,
Josh Sanders,
Andrew Sandt, and
Cemah Tudae-Torboh. Eigenmann, Garrett, and Ksiazkiewicz are King's team tri-captains.
ABOUT THE SERIES:
This is the 27th all-time meeting between the programs with Wilkes owning a 20-6 lead. Wilkes has won the last three meetings, including a 44-32 shoot-out a year ago at Wilkes. King's last victory in the series came in 2009 when the Monarchs posted a 33-16 triumph at McCarthy Stadium.
THE COACHES:
Monarch mentor Jeff Knarr is in his fourth season of rebuilding the program at King's and owns a 7-28 career record. Wilkes coach Frank Sheptock is in his 18th year and owns a 107-79 record.
LAST WEEK:
King's saw its five-game win streak come to an end with a 52-20 loss at Widener University. Wilkes, meanwhile, dropped a 31-27 heartbreaker at home to Delaware Valley College.
KING'S ON OFFENSE: MULTIPLE-I
King's enters the game averaging 28.7 points and eighth in the MAC in total offense with a 330.6 yards per-game average. The Monarchs rank fourth with 215.2 passing yards and ninth with 115.4 rushing yards each contest. Junior quarterback
Tyler Hartranft has completed 132-of-252 passes for 1,940 yards with 15 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Hartranft is three touchdown passes away from equaling King's record of 18 touchdown passes shared by Chris Barnic (2006) and Corey Lavin (2009). Junior tailback
Kyle McGrath has rushed for 623 yards on 179 carries with eight touchdowns, averaging 69.2 yards per-game. He has also caught 20 passes for 163 yards. Sophomore tailback
Patrick Robinson has 45 rushes for 246 yards while catching nine passes for 146 yards. King's receiving corp is led by junior
Dan Kempa with 56 catches with 1,044 yards and nine touchdowns. Kempa is the first player in King's history to surpass the 1,000-yard receiving plateau. He also needs two receptions to set a new Monarch single-season reception mark.
WILKES ON OFFENSE: SPREAD
The Colonels come into the game ranked eighth in the MAC in scoring with 21.4 points per-game while standing 10th with 309.6 total yards each contest. Wilkes stands fifth in rushing yards (169.0) and ninth in passing (140.6). Running the Wilkes' offense is freshman quarterback Taylor Young who has completed 73-of-142 passes for 911 yards with seven touchdowns and eight interceptions. Sophomore running back Patrick Ingulli has rushed for 778 yards on 173 carries with six touchdowns and averages 86.4 rushing yards per-game. Senior Calvin Garvin has aided the rushing attack with 277 yards. The Wilkes receiving corp. has been paced by freshman David Claybrook who has a team-high 32 catches for 466 yards and three touchdowns. Junior Jonathan Conklin follows with 17 receptions for 262 yards and three scores. Junior tight end Drew Devitt has nine receptions for 142 yards and one touchdown.
KING'S ON DEFENSE: MULTIPLE 3-4
Defensively, the Monarchs are ranked in the MAC in allowing 32.0 points per-game and is seventh in total defense, yielding 374.0 total yards per-game. The Monarchs stand fifth against the run in yielding 156.5 yards and are also eighth against the pass at 217.5 yards each contest. Junior linebacker
Nick Kaijala leads the team with 69 total tackles with 11.0 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks. Sophomore defensive back
Anthony Martuccio has contributed with 64 tackles, two interceptions, and two forced fumbles while junior safety
Kris Matthews has 61 tackles with two interceptions. Senior defensive end
Ron Garrett has posted 57 tackles with 11.5 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks while seeing his five straight games scoring a defensive touchdown end last week. Junior linebacker
Chad Curtice has 50 tackles with 10.5 tackles for loss and 5.0 quarterback sacks. Senior linebacker
Ben Ray has made 43 tackles while junior defensive tackle Pete Santorelli adds 39 tackles with 5.0 tackles for loss and one interception.
WILKES ON DEFENSE: 3-4
The Wilkes defense is ranked fifth in the MAC in allowing only 22.9 points per-game while the Colonels also stand eighth in total defense in yielding 401.1 total yards per-game. Wilkes is led by senior linebacker Tate Moore-Jacobs who leads the MAC with 100 tackles, including 10.0 tackles for loss. Junior safety J.T. Keer follows with 61 tackles while junior cornerback Omar Richardson adds 50 tackles with 2.0 sacks and two interceptions. Senior linebacker D.J. Shuttlesworth adds 49 tackles with 4.5 tackles for loss while sophomore cornerback Marcus Leaf has tallied 49 tackles with two fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles. Freshman defensive end Michael Fitz has made 30 tackles with 5,5 tackles for loss and 2,0 sacks while sophomore linebacker Nick Gray and sophomore safety Jared Powell chip in with 29 and 27 tackles respectively.
LAST YEAR
The 2012 Mayor's Cup Game was the highest scoring contest in the history of the rivalry. The teams combined for 77 points as the Colonels won 44-32 on their home field. The teams also combined for 955 yards as King's held a 518-437 advantage in total yards. Wilkes quarterback Tyler Bernsten was the Colone's MVP after completing 2-of-19 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 89 yards on 10 carries and scoring twice. King's wide receiver
Dan Kempa was the Monarch MVP, catching 10 passes for a school-record 237 yards and three touchdowns.
IN MEMORY OF
For the second straight week, the King's football will wear a black "K" decal on the right side of their helmets. The decal will be worn in memory of three recently deceased members of the King's Community. Matthew Wescavage and Peyton Walker were both students at King's this Fall and Betty Didgeon was a long-time college employee. All three passed away in recent weeks and the initials B.D., P.W., and M.W. all appear inside the "K" logo to honor their memory.
King's vs. Wilkes (Wilkes leads 20-6)
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
2012 - L 44-32
