SEPTEMBER 5, 2015

KING'S FOOTBALL HOSTING MORAVIAN IN 1ST NIGHT GAME AT MCARTHY STADIUM

WATCH COACH KNARR'S PRE-GAME VIDEO INTERVIEW

WILKES-BARRE --  The King's College football team will open the 2015 season on Saturday when the Monarchs play host to Moravian College in a non-conference matchup at McCarthy Stadium. The contest will also serve as the first night football game since the Monarchs began playing varsity football games at the Betzler Athletic Complex in 1993.

King's is looking to improve on a 4-6 record of a year ago while Moravian is coming off a 5-5 mark. The Monarchs enter the season with the task of replacing its top-four offensive players, including three who graduated near to top of ing's school-records in several categories.  A veteran defensive unit will look to establish itself from the start until the offense matures.

ON THE AIR:
The game will be available online via LiveStats and WRK Radio, 88.5 FM. Go to the following links to access both

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

WRKC:   http://wrkc.kings.edu/list/current.html


ABOUT THE GAME:
Saturday is the season-opening game for both King's and Moravian. It also stands as the first ever night football game at King's since varsity football returned in 1993.Tonight's game is a non-conference matchup between schools representing the Middle Atlantic Conference (King's) and the Centennial Conference (Moravian).

ABOUT THE SERIES:
This is the 14th all-time meeting between the teams with King's holding a 7-6 advantage. Moravian was a member of the MAC until departing following the  2006 season. The last time the teams played at King's was in 2005 with Moravian posting a  29-18 triumph.

THE COACHES:
Monarch mentor Jeff Knarr is in his sixth season of rebuilding the program at King's and owns a 14-36 career record. Moravian coach Jeff Pukszyn is in his fourth year and stands at 11-29.

LAST YEAR:
King's traveled to Bethlehem for the first meeting between the teams since 2006 and came out on the short end of a 33-14 decision. The Greyhounds held a 13-7 lead at the half but outscored the Monarchs 20-7 during the second half.

KING'S ON OFFENSE:  MULTIPLE-I

The Monarchs will be completely revamped at the skill positions and lost their top-four offensive players from last season. Taking over the quarterback duties is senior Tom Hehre who played in all 10 games last season as a back-up. Hehre completed 6-of-12 passes for 55 yards while rushing for  151 yards and averaged 4.3 yards per-carry.  With the loss of its top two running backs, the Monarch backfield is completely revamped. Freshman Gabe Brown and junior Zack Funk are expected to split time at tailback.  The wide receiver position welcomes back sophomore Tyler Marroni who made 19 catches for 276 yards. Fellow sophomore Marquis Miller added 13 receptions for 97 yards.

Junior Mike Palmer and sophomore Matt Demarco, a transfer from Division I-AA Monmouth, will also play major roles. Junior tight end Jay Thomas also returns after making 10 catches for 129 yards in 2014. King's welcomes four offensive  line starters back including senior center Mark Vetterlein, senior tackle Evan Foster, junior guard Andrew Zub, and junior tackle Jake Dever.

MORAVIAN ON OFFENSE:  MULTIPLE
Moravian returns eight starters from an offensive unit that averaged 361.3 yards per-game last year. Leading the charge is junior quarterback Mike Hayes, who started all 10 games  in 2014 and completed 144-of-268 passes for 1,681 yards with 13 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. In last year;s game he completed 15-of-29 asses for 197 yards with two touchdowns and one interceptions. Junior tailback Chris Negron earned all-Centennial laurels after rushing for 858 yards on 206 carries with nine touchdowns. Negron also made 12 catches out of the backfield for 116 yards and two more touchdowns.

Sophomore Backup Eddie Redmond added 727 yards on 112 carries with two scores as a freshman. Leading the list of  returning receivers is junior Jalen Snyder-Scipio who posted a team-high 41 catches for 513 yards and five touchdowns. Junior Liam Nolan followed with 35 receptions for 477 yards with three scores.

KING'S ON DEFENSE:  MULTIPLE 3-4

The Monarchs defense is by far the most veteran of King's units with 10 returning starters. The group is led by 2014 All-MAC selection Bobby Russell at linebacker. Last season Russell ranked fourth i the MAC with 9.2 tackles per-game, totaling 92 on the year. King's welcomes back fifth-year senior Chad Curtice who missed the entire 2014 season with an injury. In 2013 Curtice made 57 tackles with 10.5 tackles for loss and 5.0 sacks. Senior safety Anthony Martucio also returns after posting 54 tackles with two interceptions. 

Two more starters return at linebacker in senior James Burke and sophomore Hassan Maxwell. Last season Burke registered 43 tackles while Maxwell tallied 42 stops. Senior defensive end Michael Martina is another returning starter who had 37 tackles with two sacks while sophomore cornerback Justin Foster added 22 tackles with four interceptions. Senior cornerback Tyler Cruz made 20 stops while fellow senior cornerback Justin Burke also had 20 tackles, despite missing the last three games with an injury. Senior defensive end Gary Poulson and sophomore safety Jake Manetti contributed 14 tackles each while senior cornerback Tyler Mejasic chipped in with 10 stops.

MORAVIAN ON DEFENSE:  MULTIPLE
The Moravian defense returns seven starters from last year's defense that allowed 369 yards per-game, including 151 rushing yards. The unit is paced by senior defensive back Anthony Orlando, the son of former NFL player Bo Orlando of Berwick. Last season Orlando missed two games but made 52 tackles with three sacks.  Junior cornerback Noah Miller posted 46 tackles with nine pass-breaks.

Senior cornerback Jimmy McCarthy followed with 46 tackles and five interceptions. Senior linebacker Brendan Downey tallied 44 tackles with 3.0 sacks. Junior nose-guard Jon Snyder  posted 34 tackles with 3.0 sacks. Senior lineman Ryan Pysher added 23 tackles with  3.0 sacks while senior tackle Dan Bracken contributed 23 tackles with 2.5 sacks. Senior defensive end Tom McCabe chipped in with  13 tackles.

NEXT WEEK:
King's opens  the 2015 MAC schedule at Widener University in Chester at 1:00 p.m.