OCTOBER 29, 2016

KING'S FOOTBALL FALLS TO 12TH RANKED STEVENSON 41-20

WILKES-BARRE --  Visiting Stevenson University built a 27-7 half-time lead and remained unbeaten with a 41-20 victory over host King's College in a Middle Atlantic Conference matchup Saturday at McCarthy Stadium.

With the win Stevenson, ranked 12th nationally by the American Football Coaches Association and 14th by D3Football.com, improved to 8-0 overall and 7-0 in he MAC King's slipped to 4-1 and 4-3.

Stevenson struck first after it held the Monarchs on the game opening possession. With the Monarchs forced to punt, Stevenson blocked the kick and recovered at the King's eight-yard line. The Mustangs would score on a one-yard run to take a 7-0 lead just 2:46 into the game.

The Monarchs countered with a 11-play, 63-yard drive capped by a 21-yard pass from Zach Whitehead to Marquis Miller to knot teh game at 7-7 with 8:00 to go in the opening quarter. 

Stevenson answered with a nine-play, 73 yard drive, capped by a 32-yard run by Devonte Williams as the Mustangs took a 14-7 lead with 3:27 left in the first period.

After a King's punt Stevenson struck again with a four-play, 56-yard drive to fins the end zone on a two-yard run by Dontae Ayers with 14:30 remaining in the half to push the score to 21-7.

Following another King's punt, Stevenson moved 63 yards in 10 plays, capped by a three-yard run by Ayes to give the Mustangs a 27-7 advantage at 7:58, a lead they would take into the half-time break.

King's missed out on a golden opportunity on the second possession of the second half when the Monarchs moved 64 yards on nine plays. But on a fourth-and-goal from the Stevenson two, Whitehead's pass to Tyler Marroni fell incomplete in the back of the end zone. 

The Monarchs, however, would find pay-dirt late in the period with a nine-play, 60-yard drive, culminated by a 36-yard scoring strike to Marroni to trim the lead to 27-14 with 3:21 to play in the third quarter.

But Stevenson answered with a 10-play, 52 yard drive to register a 30-yard field goal from Tim Sternfeld to push the score to 30-14 with 14:42 to play.

The Monarchs, however, were unable to respond when King's was driving. With the ball at its own 47, Whitehead was pressured and his pass to Alvonte Thompson in the flat was intercepted at the Monarch 46.

Stevenson took advantage a used a 30-yard touchdown run by Williams to build a 38-14 lead with 11:58 remaining.

King's followed up with a 12-play, 72-yard drive to again rech the end zone when Whitehead hooked up with Mike Palmer for a four-yard scoring toss to cut the score to 38-20 with 7:32 on the clock.

But King's tried an onside kick and Stevenson recovered an drive to the Monarch two before settling for a 22-yard field goal with 0:39 to play to set the final score.

Stevenson outgained King's 412-386 in total yards in the game while holding a 21-19 advantage in first downs. The Mustangs out-rushed the Monarchs 270-57 while King's held a 329-142 lead in passing yards.

Whitehead completed 29-of-45 passes for 329 yards with three touchdowns and an interception while rushing for a team-high 23 yards. Palmer caught seven passes for 31 yards and a score while Marroni hauled in five passes for 96 yards and one touchdown. Marroni now has 1009 receiving yards in his three year career.  Miller chipped in four catches for 79 yards and one score while Austin White also caught four passes.  Thompson, who rushed for 186 yards last week against FDU, was held to 16 yards on six carries.

Defensively for King's, Bruce Damon had 14 tackles and surpassed the 100-tackle mark for the season. Bobby Russell followed with 11 stops.

Devontae Williams rushed for 203 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries while Daniel Williams completed 19-of-28 passes for 142 yards. Devin Salisbury led Mustang receivers with  eight catches for 60 yards.

The Monarchs will play their final home game of the season on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. against Widener University on Senior Day at McCarthy Stadium.