OCTOBER 24, 2014

KING'S FOOTBALL EYEING FOURTH STRAIGHT WIN, LOOKING TO SNAP SEVEN-GAME LOSING STREAK TO ALBRIGHT

WILKES-BARRE – The King's College football team will be looking to post its fourth straight victory of the season on Saturday when the Monarchs travel to Reading to face Albright College at 1:00 p.m. at James Shirk Stadium.

Tickets for the game are set at $7 for reserve seating, $5 for general admission, $3 for seniors children age-five or below are free.

King's is in the midst of attempting to replicate last season when the Monarchs started out 0-3, before winning five straight games. The 2014 squad also began the season with a 0-3 mark but has won three straight to improve to 3-3 on the year.

In order for the Monarchs to win a fourth straight the team will have to do so against an Albright squad it has not defeated since 2006. The Lions, however, are a team looking to rebuild after being a MAC contender for several years. The Lions won the 2009 MAC title and won eight games in both 2012 and 2013 before suffering major graduation losses after last season.
 
ON THE AIR:

Live Video:  http://albright.ezstream.com/broadcasts/index.cfm?fuseaction=usrbrd&broadcasterid=60614&mobi=0

LiveStats: 
http://www.sidearmstats.com/albright/football/


ABOUT THE SERIES:
This is the 20th all-time meeting between the teams with Albright owning a 13-5-1 advantage. Albright won last season's game 48-29 in Wilkes-Barre and has won seven straight against the Monarchs. King's last win over Albright was a 38-14 home win in 2006. The last time the teams played at Shirk Stadium in Reading, Albright won 41-10. King's last victory in Reading came by a 35-7 count during the Monarchs' MAC championship season in 2002. King's longest game in program history came in 2001 when the Monarchs defeated Albright 35-32 in four overtimes in Wilkes-Barre.

THE COACHES:
Monarch mentor Jeff Knarr is in his fifth season of rebuilding the program at King's and owns a 13-33 career record. Albright coach John Marzka is in his eighth season and stands at 55-29.

LAST WEEK:
King's improved to 3-3 overall and 3-2 in the MAC after a 45-17 win over FDU on Saturday in Madison, NJ.  Albright comes off a bye week but stands at 2-4 overall and 1-4 in the MAC after a 38-20 home win over FDU-Florham two weeks ago.

KING'S ON OFFENSE: MULTIPLE-I
After six games King's is ranked sixth in the MAC with an average of 322.7 yards of total offense per-game. The Monarchs are ranked sixth in scoring offense at 19.6 points per-game.  The King's ground game also stands sixth in the MAC with 121.3 yards each contest while the passing game is sixth with 201.3 yards per-game. Senior quarterback Tyler Hartranft has completed 90-of-171 passes for 1,178 yards with five touchdowns and six interceptions. Hartranft has also picked up timely yardage with his feet, rushing for 177 yards on 49 attempts, averaging 3.6 yards per-carry.

Junior running back Patrick Robinson has rushed for 248 yards on 56 carries, averaging 4.4 yards per-carry. He has also caught 21 passes out of the backfield for an additional 269 yards and one score. Senior running back Kyle McGrath has 204 rushing yards on 20 carries and has caught 12 passes for 108 yards. Last week became the sixth King's runner to surpass the 2,000-rushing yard plateau and has 2034 yards on the ground during his career.
 
Senior wide receiver Dan Kempa has caught 32 passes for 498 yards and three touchdowns while ranking second nationally in kick return yardage, averaging 36.8 yards each return. Freshman wide-out Tyler Marroni adds eight catches for 110 yards while sophomore tight end Jay Thomas has also caught eight passes for 104 yards and one touchdown. Freshman wide-out Marquis Miller has five receptions for 43 yards while senior Antoine Basquiat has four catches for 40 yards.

ALBRIGHT ON OFFENSE:  MULTIPLE
The Albright offense is ranked eighth in the MAC with 251.3 total yards per-game and stand seventh in scoring with 19.3 points per-game. The Lions are eighth in passing offense, averaging 135.9 yards each contest while rating eighth in rushing with 111.8 yards per-game.

Junior quarterback Pat Wise directs the Albright offense and has completed 64-of-115 passes for 615 yards with four touchdowns and four interceptions.  Junior running back Dwayne Randall tops the team with 231 yards on 60 carries with two touchdowns and averages 3.8 yards per-attempt. Sophomore Danny Tighe follows with 163 yards on 27 carries with two scores and averages 6.0 yards each carry.

The receiving corp. is paced by sophomore Vinny Williams with 19 catches for 259 yards, a 13.6 yards per-catch average, and one touchdown. Dan Grillo follows with 15 receptions for 147 yards and one score. Malik Gilmore adds 11 catches for 137 yards and 12.5 yards each catch.

KING'S ON DEFENSE: MULTIPLE 3-4
Defensively, the Monarchs rank third in MAC total defense in yielding 317.5 yards per-game. Kings is also fourth in scoring defense in allowing 20.2 points each contest. The Monarchs rank fifth in pass defense in surrendering 189.0 yards through the air and are also fifth in rushing defense in permitting 128.5 yards on the ground.
 
Sophomore inside linebacker Bobby Russell tops the squad with 60 tackles and ranks second in the MAC with a 10.0 stops per-game average. Senior safety Kris Matthews followed with 44 tackles and is seventh in the MAC with 7.3 tackles per-game. He also has one interception and four pass break-ups. Senior inside linebacker Nick Kaijala adds 43 tackles and is eighth in the MAC at 7.2 tackles per-game. He also adds 4.5 tackles for loss. Junior outside linebacker James Burke contributes 31 tackles and a sack while junior safety Anthony Martuccio has contributed 24 tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss with two interceptions and three pass break-ups.

Freshman outside linebacker Hassan Maxwell, has made 23 tackles with 2.5 tackles for loss, an interception, and a sack. Junior cornerback Justin Burke has 20 tackles with an interception and three pass-breaks while junior defensive end Michael Martina has registered 19 tackles with 4.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. Freshman cornerback Justin Foster has 12 tackles and leads the MAC with four pass interceptions. Senior defensive lineman Peter Santorelli, has made 12 tackles with 1.5 tackles for loss.

ALBRIGHT ON DEFENSE:  MULTIPLE
Albright currently stands sixth in the MAC in total defense, allowing 351.2 yards per-game. The Lions are also fifth in scoring defense as opponents have scored 28.3 points each contest. Albright is third in MAC rushing defense in yielding 109.5 yards every game but stand ninth in passing defense in surrendering 241.7 yards per-contest.

Colton Ryan tops the squad with 50 tackles, including 7.5 tackles for loss and an interception. Steve Barroso follows with 43 tackles with 7.0 tackles and 4.0 sacks while Hunter Riggs adds 39 tackles, and 2.5 tackles for loss. Joe Magosin contributes 35 tackles with three interceptions while Rich Kuhn has posted 26 tackles with 10.0 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. Mark Capetola has made 25 tackles with 10.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.

Donte Thomas has registered 25 tackles with two interceptions while Jamal Hayden chips in with 21 tackles with 8.0 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks. As a team, Albright has tallied 54 tackles for loss, including 17 sacks.

NEXT WEEK:
King's will return home with a 1:00 p.m. match against MAC co-leader Delaware Valley College.
 
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