OCTOBER 20, 2016
KING'S FOOTBALL TEAM COMES OFF BYE WEEK, TRAVELING TO FACE FDU-FLORHAM
WILKES-BARRE —Fresh off a bye-week, the King's College football team will return to the field on Saturday when the Monarchs travel to Madison, NJ to face Middle Atlantic Conference rival FDU-Florham at 1:00 p.m. at James T. Shield Field.
King's enters the game with a 3-3 overall record and a 3-2 MAC mark after defeating Misericordia 42-35 in its last game on October 8. FDU-Florham, meanwhile, is 2-4 overall and 2-3 in MAC play after a 59-7 loss at Albright on Saturday.
Fans unable to attend the game can follow online at the links below:
Live Video:
http://fdudevils.com/watch/?Live=25
LiveStats:
http://www.sidearmstats.com/fduf/football/
ABOUT THE SERIES:
This is the 24th meeting between the teams with King's holding a 16-7 advantage. The Monarchs have won three straight games in the series, including a 35-28 overtime victory last season in Wilkes-Barre. FDU's last victory was a 30-14 triumph in a 2012 contest played in New Jersey. The Devils also won the previous season (2011) 17-3 at King's, marking the only time FDU defeated King's two straight seasons.
LAST SEASON'S MEETING:
In a back-and-forth game, King's scored on a five-yard Matt DeMarco run with 0:14 left to send the game to overtime tied at 28-28. King's scored on the first possession on a one-yard
Tom Hehre run. King's linebacker
Bobby Russell recovered a FDU fumble on the Devils' first play in overtime to seal the victory. It was the time the teams went to overtime in the 23-year history of the rivalry.
THE COACHES:
Monarch mentor Jeff Knarr is in his seventh season at King's and owns a 20-46 career record. FDU coach Brian Surace, who was an assistant coach at King's in 1995 as a post-graduate intern, is 9-47.
KING'S ON OFFENSE: MULTIPLE
King's is fourth in the MAC in scoring at 26.7 points per-game. The Monarchs are fifth in total offense with 380.0 yards, ranking first in passing (288.0 ypg) and ninth in rushing (92.0).
Junior quarterback
Zach Whitehead has completing 60.3 (149-247) percent of his passes for 1,696 yards with seven touchdowns and five interceptions. He is 37 competitions away from breaking the school record of 185 competitions set by Corey Lavin in 2010. In Whitehead's first two games of the season he set new single-game school-records in pass completions (40), pass attempts (63), and passing yards (421), while equaling the King's mark of single-game touchdown passes (4).
King's receivers have been solid all season. Returning senior all-MAC receiver
Mike Palmer has made a team-high 34 receptions for 386 yards and two touchdowns. Junior
Tyler Marroni posts 30 patches for 453 yards and two scores while fellow junior
Marquis Miller has also hauled in 30 passes for 245 yards. Nine different King's players have caught at least eight passes.
In the backfield, freshman
Alvonte Thompson has 228 net yards on 44 attempts and averages 5.2 yards per-carry. He also adds 10 receptions for 114 yards and one score. Senior
Zack Funk has 152 yards on 41 carries with four touchdowns while catching eight passes for 47 yards. Whitehead is a capable runner who has gained 225 yards on 65 carries with eight touchdowns.
KING'S ON DEFENSE: 3-4
Defensively, King's ranks eighth in the MAC in allowing 34.3 points and eighth in yielding 434.8 total yards per-game. The Monarchs are eighth against the run in yielding 201.8 yards and stand seventh against the pass in allowing 233.0 yards.
Leading the King's defense thus far is junior linebacker
Bruce Damon who tops the MAC with 83 tackles while adding 9.5 tackles for loss, and 6.0 sacks. Senior linebacker
Bobby Russell, a two-time All-MAC selection, follows with 56 tackles, two interceptions, and a forced fumble. Junior safety
Jake Manetti adds 44 tackles with an interception while sophomore defensive end
Chris DeGaetano contributes 27 tackles. Freshman safety
Joe Davis adds 23 tackles and three pass breaks while junior defensive lineman
Jacoby Foresman also posts 23 tackles.
Junior linebacker
Hassan Maxwell and senior linebacker
Brandon Gonzalez check in with 21 tackles apiece. Sophomore defensive end
Jordan O'Hearn has garnered 20 tackles while junior cornerback
Justin Foster and freshman cornerback
Eli Vascos both have 18 tackles. Sophomore linebacker
C.J. Curry chips in with 17 stops.
FDU-FLORHAM ON OFFENSE: SPREAD
FDU is ranked is ranked eighth in MAC scoring at 16.7 points per-game and is also eighth in total offense with 328.0 yards each contest. The Devils are third in passing yards (257.5 ypg) and last in rushing (70.5).
Sophomore quarterback Jagger Green runs the Devil offense and has completed 128-of-211 passes for 1,301 yards with six touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Sophomore running back Robert Young tops the ground game with 215 yards on 57 carries with one score. Freshman Steve Iannone adds 166 yards on 26 attempts and averages 6.4 yards per-carry.
Sophomore Mike Panzarino tops the Devil receivers with 44 catches for 477 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Esaun Mobely has 33 exceptions for 494 yards and three scores. Freshman tight end John Pellegrini adds 24 receptions for 279 yards and two touchdowns.
FLORHAM ON DEFENSE: MULTIPLE
The Devils stands ninth in MAC in scoring defense, allowing 37.8 points per-game. FDU is seventh in total defense in yielding 412.2 yards per-game. The Devils are seventh against the run (165.0 ypg) and eighth (247.2 ypg) versus the pass.
Heading the defense is sophomore linebacker Isaiah Turner who has a team-high 55 tackles with 9.0 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. Senior safety Troy Scales follows with 31 tackles with a sack and forced fumble. Sophomore safety Liam Casey adds 29 tackles with an interception while senior cornerback Mike Brown and senior defensive end Trey Smith chip in with 22 tackles apiece.
NEXT WEEK
King's will return home to McCarthy Stadium on Saturday to face undefeated MAC leader and nationally ranked Stevenson University at 1:00 p.m.
