SEPTEMBER 25, 2015

KING'S FOOTBALL TRAVELING TO DEL-VAL FOR SATURDAY NIGHT MAC GAME

WILKES-BARRE --  The King's College football team will look to even its overall record at 2-2 when the Monarchs travel to Doylestown to face traditional Middle Atlantic Conference power Delaware Valley University Saturday at 7:00 p.m. in James Work Memorial Stadium.

ON THE AIR:
The game will be available online via LiveStats and Live Video. Go to the following links to access both.

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

Video: https://livestream.com/DelValAthletics

ABOUT THE GAME:
Saturday is the first-ever night meeting between King's and Delaware Valley as the teams square off at 7:00 p.m. in Doyleston.  This is only the second year the Aggies have had lights at James Work Memorial Stadium. The game is the third of the MAC slate with the Aggies entering at 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the MAC. King's, meanwhile, is 1-2 overall and 1-1 in the MAC.        

ABOUT THE SERIES:
This is the 29th all-time meeting between the teams with Delaware Valley holding a 17-11 advantage. The teams have split the last two meetings with the Monarchs winning  21-14 in overtime in 2013 in Doylestown while the Aggies posted a 24-21 triumph over King's last season in Wilkes-Barre.    

THE COACHES:
Monarch mentor Jeff Knarr is in his sixth season of rebuilding the program at King's and owns a 15-38 career record. Delaware Valley coach Duke Greco is in his second year and is currently 11-3.

LAST WEEK:
King's celebrated Homecoming at McCarthy Stadium with a dramatic 35-28 overtime victory over FDU-Florham when the Monarchs scored on their first possession, then sealed the win by recovering an FDU fumble on the ensuing possession.  Delaware Valley, meanwhile, had little trouble in a  28-7 road victory over Misericordia.

KING'S ON OFFENSE:  MULTIPLE-I

The Monarchs, totally retooled at the skill positions, have averaged 267.0 yards of total offense over the course of the first three games. King's has rushed for 121.3 yards while passing for 145.7 yards.  Senior quarterback Tom Hehre has completed 46-of-90 passes for 372 yards with one touchdown and six interceptions while rushing for 95 yards on 31 attempts with three touchdowns. Freshman tailback Gabe Brown owns a team-high 202 rushing yards on 50 carries with two touchdowns. Junior Zack Funk adds 82 yards on 15 carries.  

Junior Mike Palmer tops the receivers with 15 catches for 166 yards and two scores while sophomore Matt Demarco, a transfer from Division I-AA Monmouth, follows with 13 receptions for 89 yards. Sophomore split end Marquis Miller has seven catches for 43 yards while fellow sophomore Tyler Marroni has five receptions for 60 yards. Junior tight end Jay Thomas chips in with three receptions for 41 yards but could miss the game with an injury. King's returns four offensive line starters, including senior center Mark Vetterlein, senior tackle Evan Foster, junior guard Andrew Zub, and junior tackle Jake Dever. Zub, however, could also miss the game with an injury.    
    
DELAWARE VALLEY ON OFFENSE:  MULTIPLE    
After three games the Delaware Valley offense is averaging 408.3 total yards per-game after amassing 515 yards against Misericordia last week. The Aggies are rushing at a 235.3 yards-per-game clip while passing for 173.0 yards. The offense is led by junior quarterback Danny Farley, a Division I-AA transfer from Rhode Island. Farley has completed 44-of-82 passes for 519 yards with two interceptions and has yet to throw a touchdown.

The Aggie ground game has been outstanding thus far  with depth and talent.  Junior Robert Cleveland has 146  yards on 33 carries while Armani Fuller has 180 rushing yards on 19 attempts for a 9.5 yards per-carry average. In addition, sophomore Devauntay  Ellis adds 199 yards on 22 carries, averaging 9.0 yards per-carry.  In addition, dual-threat junior wide receiver Tyler Bing has 10 catches for 116 yards while rushing for 122 yards on 11 carries, good enough for an 11.1 yards per-carry average. Freshman wide receiver Eric Shorter tops the squad with 12  receptions for 152 yards while senior tight end James Norton contributes with seven catches for 107 yards.    

KING'S ON DEFENSE:  MULTIPLE 3-4    

The Monarchs defense enters game-three allowing 380.0 yards of total offense per-game after yielding 303 total yards to FDU-Florham last week.  Senior defensive end Michael Martina currently leads the defense with 21 tackles and 5.0 quarterback sacks thus far. Sophomore safety Jake Mannetti follows with 20 tackles and three tackles for loss. Senior safety Anthony Martuccio adds 18 tackles with an interception and forced fumbled. Junior linebacker Bobby Russell, a 2014 All-MAC selection, has made 17 tackles with one sack, one interception, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one blocked field goal.  

Senior linebackers Chad Curtice and Monroe Sherman have posted 10 tackles each while sophomore cornerback Justin Foster and sophomore lineman Jacoby Foresman have made nine stops. Senior linebacker James Burke and freshman lineman Chris DeGaetano chip in with eight tackles apiece.  A trio of seniors - cornerbacks Tyler Mejasic and Justin Burke, along with defensive end Gary Poulson - each have seven tackles. The Kings defense has averaged 2.7 quarterback sacks per-game over its first three contests.    

DELAWARE VALLEY ON DEFENSE:  MULTIPLE    
The Delaware Valley defense is allowing opponents an average of 372.3  yards of total offense per-game. The Aggies are yielding 236.7 passing yards and 135.7 rushing yards each contest.  Senior linebacker Matt Smith tops the unit with 33 tackles with two tackles for loss . Sophomore safety Shawn Miller follows with 26 tackles. Senior safety Danny Wynne adds 23 tackles while senior linebacker Ethan Snyder contributes 22 stops. Junior defensive end Eric Boyes has tallied 21 tackles with 4.0 tackles for loss and one sack  while senior linebacker Rashaad Lightly has made 18 tackles with 4.0 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks. Senior cornerback Bobby Marterella has posted 16 tackles with three pass breaks while sophomore linebacker Nick Wright and sophomore defensive tackle Marc Isaac chip in with 15 and 14 tackles respectively.
 
NEXT WEEK:
King's travels for the second straight week, venturing to Owings Mills, MD to face Stevenson University in a 1:00 p.m. MAC contest.