Box Score

NOVEMBER 16, 2013

KING'S FOOTBALL PULLS OFF 35-28 COMEBACK WIN OVER WILKES TO RECAPTURE MAYOR'S CUP

WILKES-BARRE — In as improbable a finish as one could ever see, Patrick Robinson returned a blocked punt 10 yards for a touchdown with just 0:08 left in regulation as the King's College football team rallied from a 21-0 third quarter deficit to shock visiting Wilkes University 35-28 in the 18th annual Mayor's Cup Game Saturday at McCarthy Stadium in the Betzler Athletic Complex.

With the win, King's concluded the season with a 6-4 overall mark and a 6-3 Middle Atlantic Conference ledger, posting the program's first winning campaign since 2006. Wilkes, meanwhile, concluded its year with records of 4-6 and 3-6.

In a bizarre ending, the teams combined to score 28 points over the final 4:20 of the game.

The Monarchs trailed 21-14 and went on a 10-play, 55-yard drive to tie the score on a 14-yard pass from Tyler Hartranft to tailback Kyle McGrath with 4:20 left in the contest.  

On Wilkes' next possession the Colonels marched to the King's 23. But on a third-and-five play Colonel quarterback Tyler Young was stripped of the ball on an option keeper by Monarch senior linebacker Jake Ksiazkiewicz and King's teammate Kris Matthews scooped up the loose ball and raced 75 yards for a touchdown. Kevin Mulvihill's conversion gave the Monarchs a 28-21 lead with 2:15 left in the contest.

On Wilkes ensuing possession the Colonels caught a break on fourth-and-four from their own 27-yard line when an offensive lineman appeared to move and Monarch defensive end Ron Garrett crossed the line of scrimmage and made contact expecting a penalty to be called on the offense. But game officials discussed the play and elected to call the penalty against King's, keeping the Colonel drive alive at its own 27. On the next play Young found David Claybrook down the right sideline for a 68-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 28-28 with 1:14 remaining in regulation.

King's would get the ball back and was unable to advance as the Monarchs were forced to punt. Wilkes would regain possession at its own 35 with 0:38 on the clock. After a sack and two incomplete passes, Wilkes was forced to punt with 0:16 to play. After the center snap, King's Josh Sanders blocked Jordan Fredo's punt and teammate Patrick Robinson picked up the loose ball and raced the final 10 yards untouched to give King's an improbably lead with 0:08 to go.

Wilkes would get the ball back on the ensuing kickoff in an attempt to come back but a long throw downfield with 0:01 left fell incomplete to end the game.

It was a game of dramatic shifts after Wilkes dominated the first half of play. The Colonels took a 1-0 first quarter lead with an eight play, 57-yard drive, coped by a two-yard run by Patrick Ingulli. Fredo's extra-point kick gave the Colonels a 7-0 lead with 3:54 remaining in the opening stanza.Wilkes added to its lead in the second quarter with a 12-play, 70-yard drive that culminated with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Young to tight end Alex George with 7:08 on the clock, enabling the Colonels to take a 14-0 lead into the half-time break.  Wilkes controlled the first half of play, out gaining King's 207-to-118 in total yards.

In the second half Wilkes kept the pressure on, taking the second-half kickoff and marching 89 yards on 13 plays to find the end zone when Young hooked up with Claybrook for a seven-yard touchdown pass. Fredo's conversion kick gave the Colonels a 21-0 lead with 8:01 to play in the third-quarter.

It was there that the Monarch began to work their magic.

King's took the ensuing kickoff and put together its best drive of the game, going 74 yards on 11 plays, capped by a Hartranft quarterback sneak to het the Monarchs on the board. Mulvihill's point after would bring King's to within 21-7 with 1:42 remaining in the third period.

The craziness would begin on Wilkes' next possession when the Colonel were forced to punt to start the fourth quarter of play. Punting from their own 22, Robinson blocked Fredo's punt attempt and Monarch freshman Ryan Singely recovered at the Wilkes 13. King's was unable to move the ball, however, and facing a third-and-10 play, Hartranft found Darren Mitchell for 10 yards and a first-and-goal at the Colonel three. Three plays later McGarth would score on a one-yard run as the Monarchs cut the lead to 21-14 with 11:10 left in the contest.

The Colonels would assume possession following the kickoff at their own 27  but the Monarch defense held firm, forcing a Wilkes punt. Fredo delivered a 42-yard punt and King's Dan Kempa responded with a 14-yard return to start the Monarchs off at their own 45.  The Monarchs were flagged for a holding penalty on second down and later faced a third-and-17 play from thereon 38. There, Hartranft hit Robinson for 11 yards to the King's 49. Now, with a fourth-and-six staring at them squarely in the face, King's came through again when Hartranft found Vince Albano for 17 yards to the Wilkes' 34.  

The Monarchs appeared to stall when a short run and two incomplete passes forced KIng's in a fourth-and-seven play, its second fourth-down attempt of the drive. As he did previously, Hartranft was on target again, this time finding Mitchell for 19 yards to the Wilkes 12.  After a two-yard rush in g loss on first down, Hartranft dropped back on the next play and found McGrath out of the backfield and the junior tailback raced 14 yards to the end zone to tie the game at 21-21 with 4:20 left, setting the stages for a wild series of events.

For King's, late-game heroics has become common place over the final seven weeks of the season. After starting the season out with a 0-3 record, King's posted a double-overtime victory over Misericordia for its first win on October 5. A week later King's rallied from a 24-21 deficit in the fourth quarter to post a 31-24 road win over Stevenson.  On October 26, the Monarchs came back from a 14-7 deficit to upset perennial MAC contender Delaware Valley 21-14 in overtime before coming back from a 24-21 deficit to Lycoming to win 28-24 on a touchdown with 0:09 left in the contest.

Statistically, Wilkes had the advantage in the game, out gaining King's 404-to-262 in total yards while owning a 21-to-15 lead in first downs. But ultimately, Wilkes failure to hold onto the ball and King's special teams heroics enable the Monarchs to come away with the victory while snapping Wilkes' three-game winning streak in the series.

King's offensively was paced by Hartranft who completed 18-of-35 passes for 199 yards and one touchdown. McGrath, who was held to 32 rushing yards on 15 carries, did the job out of the backfield, catching seven passes for 51 yards and one score. Five other receivers had two catches each, including Dan Kempa who set a new single-season school record with his 58th catch and extend his school-record single-season yardage mark to 1,057 yards.

Defensively for KIng's junior safety Kris Matthews was named King's team most valuable player of the game. Matthews posted 12 tackles broke up one pass, and scored on a 75-yard touchdown return to help ignite the Monarchs' comeback. The defense was also aided by Ksiazkiewicz who in his last collegiate game, returned to the line-up after missing the last three games with an injury to post 12 tackles and the key forced fumble that led to Matthews' return. Nick Kaijala added nine tackles and one sack  while Ben Ray tallied eight stops.

For Wilkes, Ingulli rushed for 80 yards on 19 carries while Young finished the game completing 14-of-23 passes for 220 yards and three scores.  Claybrook was named Wilkes' team MVP after catching seven passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns while adding 40 rushing yards on four attempts.