NOVEMBER 10, 2016
 
KING'S FOOTBALL TRAVELING TO FACE CROSS-TOWN RIVAL WILKES IN 21st MAYOR'S CUP GAME
 
Read the Citizen's Voice feature on Jr. Wide Receiver Tyler Marroni

WILKES-BARRE –The King's College and Wilkes University football teams will once again battle for city bragging rights when the Wilkes-Barre-based rivals square off in the 21^st Mayor's Cup Game Saturday at 12 noon at Wilkes' Schmidt Stadium in Edwardsville.

The game will be televised live for the 10^th straight year by FOX 56 TV. Here si the link for FOX 56 webcast.
http://fox56.com/resources/ftptransfer/wolf/livestream/index.html

King's enters the game with a 4-5 overall record and a 4-4 MAC mark after falling to Widener University 30-17 in the Monarchs' home finale.  Wilkes, meanwhile, is 3-6 overall and 3-5 in the MAC after the Colonels posted its biggest victory of the year with a shocking 38-35 upset over previously undefeated MAC leader Stevenson University.  Stevenson (8-1/7-1 MAC) was ranked 12^th and 14^th nationally by the AFCA and D3Football.com prior to losing to Wilkes.
 
Fans unable to attend the game can follow online at the links below:
 
Live Video:  http://www.gowilkesu.com/sports/2015/7/31/GEN_0731155646.aspx
 
LiveStats:  http://www.sidearmstats.com/wilkes/football/
 
WRKC, 88.5 FM:  http://wrkc.kings.edu/list/current.html
 
LAST WEEK          
King's dropped a 30-17 decision to Widener University in the Monarchs' last home game of the season.  Wilkes upended previously unbeaten Stevenson 38-35.      
 
LAST SEASON'S MEETING:                    
Last season Wilkes jumped all over King's early as three Monarch turnovers resulted in a 17-0 first quarter lead for the Colonels. King's fought back to make it a 24-17 game but Wilkes held on for a 24-17 win at King's McCarthy Stadium.
 
ABOUT THE SERIES:                
This is the 30^th all-time meeting between the programs with Wilkes holding a 22-7 lead. King's won the last meeting at Schmidt Stadium 27-21 in 2014. King's has won two of the last three games with Wilkes, including a 35-28 victory in 2013. Wilkes won three straight from 2010-12. Five of the last six meeting have been decided by six point or less, including the last three contests.          

THE COACHES:      
Monarch mentor Jeff Knarr is in his seventh season at King's and owns a 21-48 career record. Wilkes coach Trey Brown is in his third year at Wilkes and is 7-22.
 
KING'S ON OFFENSE:   MULTIPLE
The King's offense is ranked fourth in scoring in the MAC with 27.7 points per-game while also standing second in total offense at 405.6 yards. The Monarchs are first in MAC passing with 286.0 yards each contest while standing eighth in rushing at 119.6 yards per-game.         
 
Junior quarterback Zach Whitehead has completing 59.4 (221-372) percent of his passes for 2,533 yards with 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions. In his 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). Whitehead set another school record with 2,522 passing yards, surpassing the previous record of 2,295 yards set by Chris Barnic in 2005. He also surpassed Corey Lavins's single-season mark of 370 pass attempts with his 372nd pass of the year. Whitehead needs three touchdown passes to break King's record of 18 shared by Lavin and Barnic.
 
Returning senior all-MAC receiver Mike Palmer has a team-high 48 catches for 530 yards and four touchdowns. Junior Tyler Marroni follows with 47 receptions for 682 yards and three scores while junior Marquis Miller has 42 receptions for 406 yards and two touchdowns. It marks the first time in program history that four King's receivers have caught 40 or more passes in the same season.

In the backfield, freshman Alvonte Thompson has 448 rushing yards with two touchdowns on 85 attempts and averages 5.3 yards per-carry while adding 15 catches for 143 yards and two more scores. Senior Zack Funk has 217 yards on 60 carries with five touchdowns while catching 12 passes for 92 yards. Whitehead is also a fine runner who has gained 412 yards on 114 carries with 11 touchdowns.     
 
KING'S ON DEFENSE:   3-4 
Defensively, King's ranks seventh in the MAC in allowing 32.2 points each game and is ninth in yielding 421.1 total yards per-game. The Monarchs are eighth against the run in allowing 192.8 yards and stand sixth against the pass in  permitting 228.3 yards. Leading the King's defense thus far is junior  linebacker Bruce Damon who tops the MAC with 117 tackles, while adding 12.5 tackles for loss, and 8.0 sacks. Senior linebacker Bobby Russell, a two-time All-MAC selection, is fourth in the MAC with 78 tackles and two interceptions.

Junior safety Jake Manetti adds 62 tackles and two interceptions while sophomore defensive end Chris DeGaetano adds 46 tackles. Freshman safety Joe Davis contributes 40 tackles while junior defensive lineman Jacoby Foresman has 35 tackles. Junior linebacker Hassan Maxwell has made 31 tackles junior cornerback Justin Foster registers 25 stops.
 
Freshman safety Trevor Hill adds 24 tackles while freshman cornerback Eli Vascos posts 23 tackles with seven pass-breaks. Senior cornerback Tyler Mejasic and junior defensive lineman Mike have both made 22 stops while senior linebacker Brandon Gonzalez and sophomore linebacker C.J. Curry chip in with 21 tackles apiece. 
 
WILKES ON OFFENSE:   SPREAD 
The Colonel offense ranks sixth in the MAC in scoring with 25.3 points per-game while standing fifth in total offense with 380.3 yards each contest. The Wilkes offense is ranked fourth in MAC passing with 254.1 yards while standing seventh in rushing with 187.5 yards.
 
Two weeks ago Wilkes unleashed a new weapon in freshman quarterback Jose Tabora. With senior starter Ryan Dailey going down with an injury, Tabora has stepped in and been highly impressive The last two weeks he has led Wilkes to wins over Lycoming and Stevenson by going a combined 39-of-65 with five touchdowns through the air while rushing for 117 yards on 33 carries with three more scores.
 
Overall on the year he is 59-99 for 738 yards with six touchdowns and five interceptions in eight games, six as a back-up. He has also rushed for 313 net yards on 68 carries. Last week against Stevenson, he earned MAC "Offensive Player of the Week" honors after completing 30-of-48 passes for 453 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 36 yards.

With Daly's status uncertain, King's must al be prepared for him to play. Daly has completed 137-of-219 passes for 1,525 yards with 12 touchdowns and eight interceptions.  Dailey is also a capable runner with 174 yards, but sacks have helped reduce his net rushing yardage to 43 yards.

Senior running back Jacob Brook tops the squad with 434 rushing yards on 106 carries with three touchdowns. Sophomore Devon Fink adds 139 yards on 49 attempts.
 
Senior wide receiver William Deemer tops the Colonels with 45 catches for 587 yards nd five touchdowns. Junior tight end Garrett Armstrong follows with 30 receptions for 338 yards and four scores. Junior split end Ryan Richards has 23 catches for 169 yards and one touchdown while junior receiver Aaron Coyne chips in with 21 receptions for 250 yards and three touchdowns.

WILKES ON DEFENSE:   MULTIPLE
Wilkes is eighth in MAC scoring defense in yielding just 36.6 points per-game and is also seventh in total defense in allowing 411.0 total yards per-game. The Colonels are last in MAC pass defense in yielding 247.9 per-game through the air.  Wilkes is fifth against the run in allowing 163.1 yards on the ground each contest.

Senior linebacker Tanner Stengel is second in the MAC with 104 total tackles and has 8.5 tackles for loss with 3.0 sacks. Junior safety Isaiah Robinson follows with 67 tackles with six pass breaks. Sophomore linebacker Lucas Wood has tallied 48 tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss while fellow sophomore linebacker Jordan Stiles contributes 44 tackles with 7.0 tackles for loss. Senior cornerback Marcellus Hayes has posted 43 tackles with nine break-sups while senior cornerback Ondre Roberts chips in with 41 tackles and 11 break-ups.
 
FINAL GAME FOR SENIORS
Saturday will make the final game for 13 King's players at Wilkes' Schmidt Stadium. Seniors include Andres Armstrong, Jake Dever, Zack Funk, Brandon Gonzalez, Eric Haenggi, Brian Hicks, David Hicks, Mikhail Kniaziewicz, Tyler Mejasic, Mike Palmer, Bobby Russell, and Andrew Zub. Junior Marquis Miller will also play his final game as he will be transferring to the University of Notre Dame next year as part of King's 3+2 Engineering program agreement with Notre Dame.  

FOX BROADCAST:
This is the 10^th season FOX 56 is broadcasting the game. The game can be seen at the following stations/outlets:  WOLF Fox56; Service Electric Cable channel 505HD and channel 5 non-HD; Blue Ridge Cable channel 608HD; Direct TV channel 56; Dish TV channel 56; Over the Air Channel 56. The game will be called by Bob Ide and Joe DeMelfi. Erin Dugan is the sideline reporter.
 
 
King's vs. Wilkes All-Time
(Wilkes leads 22-8 overall, Wilkes leads 14-6 in Mayor's Cup Games)

Year          Winner           Score
1946:        Wilkes            7-0
1947:        Wilkes            12-6
1948:        Wilkes            26-0
1949:        Wilkes            47-7
1950:        Wilkes            14-12
1951:        King's             27-7
1952:        King's             34-13
1993:        Wilkes            41-14
1994:        Wilkes            26-7
1995:        Wilkes            29-15
1996:        Wilkes            13-0* (Mayor's Cup Begins)
1997:        Wilkes            23-0*
1998:        Wilkes            31-21*
1999:        Wilkes            30-6*
2000:        King's             20-0*
2001:        King's             28-12*
2002:        King's             34-7*
2003:        Wilkes            37-0*
2004:        Wilkes            12-6*
2005:        Wilkes            36-13*
2006:        Wilkes            28-7*
2007:        Wilkes            35-0*
2008:        Wilkes            21-3*
2009:        King's             33-16*
2010:        Wilkes            21-17*
2011:        Wilkes            13-6*
2012:        Wilkes            44-32*
2013:        King's             35-28*
2014:        King's             27-21*
2015:        Wilkes            24-17*
*Mayor's Cup Game