NOVEMBER 1, 2014
KING'S FOOTBALL PLAYING FINAL HOME GAME SATURDAY VERSUS WIDENER,
18 SENIORS TO PLAY LAST GAME AT McCARTHY STADIUM WILKES-BARRE – The King's College football team will play its final home game of the 2014 campaign when the Monarchs host its second nationally-ranked foe in as many weeks. King's will face another major challenge on Saturday when the Monarchs host 11
th ranked Widener University at 1:00 p.m.
Tickets for the game are set at $5 for adults, $2 for non-King's students, while children under age-six will be admitted free. King's will also honor 18 senior players prior to the start of the game.
As King's enters week-nine of its season the Monarchs stand at 3-5 overall and 3-4 in the MAC. With two games left King's faces Widener, then closes out its season November 15 against cross-town rival Wilkes in the annual Mayor's Cup Game.
Widener is ranked 11
th nationally in both the American Football Coaches Association and D3Football.com polls.
ON THE AIR:LiveStats:
http://www.sidearmstats.com/kings/football/ Live Audio (WRKC-88.5 FM):
http://wrkc.kings.edu/list/current.html ABOUT THE GAME:It is week-nine of the 2014 season and King's is looking to pull off what would be the biggest upset of the MAC campaign if the Monarchs are able to unseat 11th ranked Widener University. King's is hoping to bring itself with one win of the .500 plateau heading into next week's season finale. Widener, meanwhile, is playing a game that has little meaning in the MAC standings.
Even though the Pride are tied with Delaware Valley (8-0, 7-0 MAC), the game has little bearing on the conference title and the NCAA berth. Should Widener fall to King's and Delaware Valley defeat FDU-Florham, the Pride would need to defeat Delaware Valley to claim a share of the MAC title but Widener would be awarded the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA national playoffs.
Saturday's game is also the final game for 18 King's senior players. Those players include
A.J. Hubiak,
Chad Curtice,
Tyler Hartranft,
Vince Albano,
Steve Hemmig,
Dan Kempa,
Derick Brown,
Greg Minardi,
Kyle McGrath,
Bill Ardoline,
Kris Matthews,
Dylan Kelly,
Nick Kaijala, Pete Santorelli,
Lionel Rice,
Jim Strelecki,
Antoine Basquiat,
Joe Cole.
ABOUT THE SERIES:This is the 22nd meeting between the programs with Widener owning a 18-3 advantage. Widener won last season's meeting 52-20 in Chester. King's last win against Widener was a 35-24 decision in 2009 in Chester. King's last home win over Widener was in 2005 when the Monarchs won 31-24.
THE COACHES:Monarch mentor Jeff Knarr is in his fifth season of rebuilding the program at King's and owns a 13-35 career record. Widener head coach Mike Kelly is in his first year and is 8-0.
LAST WEEK:King's dropped a tough 24-21 verdict to unbeaten (8-0, 7-0) MAC co-leader and 17th ranked Delaware Valley. Widener, meanwhile, is ranked 11th nationally and stands at 8-0 overall and 7-0 in the MAC after posting a 34-23 victory over Stevenson.
KING'S ON OFFENSE: MULTIPLE-IAfter eight games King's is ranked sixth in the MAC with an average of 338.3 yards of total offense per-game. The Monarchs are ranked eighth in scoring offense at 20.4 points per-game. The King's ground game stands sixth in the MAC with 138.4 yards each contest while the passing game is seventh with 199.9 yards per-game. Senior quarterback
Tyler Hartranft has completed 126-of-228 passes for 1,566 yards with seven touchdowns and six interceptions. Hartranft has also rushed for 244 yards on 71 carries.
Senior running back
Kyle McGrath has 421 rushing yards on 108 carries with four touchdowns and has caught 18 passes for 141 yards. Junior running back
Patrick Robinson has rushed for 312 yards on 70 carries, averaging 4.6 yards per-carry. He has also caught 24 passes out of the backfield for an additional 298 yards and one score. Senior wide receiver
Dan Kempa has caught 51 passes for 732 yards and six touchdowns while ranking second nationally in kick return yardage, averaging 31.5 yards each return. Freshman wide-out
Tyler Marroni adds 12 catches for 162 yards while sophomore tight end
Jay Thomas has caught nine passes for 120 yards and one touchdown. Freshman wide-out
Marquis Miller has six receptions for 52 yards.
WIDENER ON OFFENSE: MULTIPLEWidener enters the game second in the MAC with 456.9 yards of total offense per-game and are also second in scoring with 38.3 points per-game. The Pride are second in MAC passing at 273.5 yards and third in rushing with 183.4 yards each contest. Sophomore quarterback Seth Klein has completed 62.8 (135-215) percent of his passes for 1,989 yards with 23 touchdowns and two interceptions. Senior receiver Anthony Davis has 44 catches for 757 yards and 13 touchdowns. Sophomore Montrell Taylor-Hicks follows with 14 receptions for 291 yards and four scores while junior Phillip Ragona also has 14 receptions for 261 yards and three scores.
Sophomore Blaine Price chips in with 12 catches for 196 yards. Senior tailback Terrant Morrison has rushed for a team-high 677 yards on 115 carries, with four touchdowns, averaging 5.9 each attempt. Fellow senior Couve LaFate has 268 rushing yards on 78 carries with two scores. Colby McMaster contributes 167 yards on 26 carries for a 6.4 yards per-carry average while Robert Getz chips in with 165 yards 39 attempts.
KING'S ON DEFENSE: MULTIPLE 3-4Defensively, the Monarchs rank fifth in MAC total defense in yielding 331.0 yards per-game. Kings is also fourth in scoring defense in allowing 21.9 points each contest. The Monarchs rank second in pass defense in surrendering 190.3 yards through the air and are also sixth in rushing defense in permitting 140.8 yards on the ground.
Sophomore inside linebacker
Bobby Russell tops the squad with 73 tackles with 9.0 tackles for loss and ranks third in the MAC with a 9.1 stops per-game average. Senior inside linebacker
Nick Kaijala adds 49 tackles and is fifth in the MAC at 7.9 tackles per-game. Senior safety
Kris Matthews followed with 59 tackles and is seventh in the MAC with 7.1 tackles per-game. He also has one interception and five pass break-ups. Junior safety
Anthony Martuccio has contributed 43 tackles and 5.5 tackles for loss with two interceptions.
Junior outside linebacker
James Burke contributes 38 tackles and a sack while freshman outside linebacker
Hassan Maxwell, has made 33 tackles with 2.5 tackles for loss, an interception, and a sack. Junior defensive end
Michael Martina has registered 29 tackles with 5.5 tackles for loss while freshman cornerback
Justin Foster has 17 tackles and is tied for second in the MAC with four pass interceptions. Senior defensive lineman
Peter Santorelli, has made 14 tackles with 2.5 tackles for loss.
WIDENER ON DEFENSE: 4-3The Widener defense enters the game ranked first in MAC total defense, allowing 238.9 yards of total offense each contest. The Pride are also in MAC scoring defense, yielding just 10.6 points per-game. Widener ranks first in MAC rushing defense in permitting teams to run for just 41.6 yards each game. The defense is also fourth in pass defense in allowing just 197.3 yards per-contest.
Sophomore safety Kevin Burns leads the Pride with 53 tackles, including 15.0 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. Senior linebacker Brandon Harper follows with 51 tackles with 9.0 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks. Junior defensive end Stacey Sunnerville adds 35 tackles with 7.0 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. Junior defensive end Jamal Goodman has 29 tackles with two interceptions while sophomore safety Sean Titus contributes 29 tackles with an MAC-leading six interceptions.
Junior defensive end Brandon Jones has posted 27 tackles with 8.0 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks; sophomore linebacker Jacob Behornar has tallied 26 tackles with 3.5 tackles for loss; while senior corner Ameer Sorrell also has 26 tackles with three interceptions. Junior defensive end Shakore Phillip chips in with 23 tackles, and 7.0 tackles for loss.
NEXT WEEK:King's will play its final game of the season with the annual Mayor's Cup Game at Wilkes University Saturday at 12:00 noon at Schmidt Stadium.
