NOVEMBER 3, 2016
 
KING'S FOOTBALL FACING HOSTING WIDENER ON SENIOR DAY
 
WILKES-BARRE –The King's College football team plays its final home game of the season on Saturday when the Monarchs host Middle Atlantic Conference rival Widener University Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at McCarthy Stadium. Prior to the game King's will recognize 13 players taking the McCarthy Stadium turf for the final time.
 
King's enters the game with a 4-4 overall record and a 4-3 MAC mark after falling to undefeated Stevenson University last week 41-20 while perennial MAC contender Widener stands at 5-3 and 5-2 in conference games.
 
Fans unable to attend the game can follow online at the links below:
 
Live Video:  http://livestream.com/kingscollege
 
LiveStats:  http://www.sidearmstats.com/kings/football/
 
WRKC, 88.5 FM:  http://wrkc.kings.edu/list/current.html
 
LAST WEEK          
King's dropped a 41-20 decision to undefeated MAC leader and 12th ranked Stevenson University. Widener fell at home to second-place Albright 33-9.
           
LAST SEASON'S MEETING:                    
Last season King's traveled to Widener for a week-two meeting and dropped a 43-20 verdict to the Pride. Widener built a 17-0 halftime lead and never trailed in the game.
 
ABOUT THE SERIES:                
This is the 23rd meeting between the programs with Widener holding a 19-3 lead. The Pride won the last game the team's played in Wilkes-Barre by a 55-6 count in 2014. King's last win over Widener was in 2009 when the Monarchs won 35-24 in Chester. The Monarchs last home win versus Widener came in 2005 with a 31-24 victory.           

THE COACHES:      
Monarch mentor Jeff Knarr is in his seventh season at King's and owns a 21-47 career record. Widener coach Mike Kelly is in his third year and is 23-8.
 
KING'S ON OFFENSE:   MULTIPLE
The King's offense is ranked fourth in scoring in the MAC with 29.0 points per-game while also standing second in total offense at 403.5 yards. The Monarchs are second in MAC passing with 277.8 yards each contest while standing eighth in rushing at 125.8 yards per-game.         
 
Junior quarterback Zach Whitehead has completing 59.9 (191-319) percent of his passes for 2,181 yards with 17 touchdowns and seven 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). Last week he established a new King's single-season record for completions and is 115 yards away from breaking Chris Barnic's mark of 2,295 yards set in 2005. He is also 52 pass attempts away from the Monarchs' single-season record of 370 set by Corey Lavin in 2010.                    
 
Returning senior all-MAC receiver Mike Palmer has a team-high 45 catches for 448 yards and four touchdowns. Junior Tyler Marroni follows with 37 receptions for 570 yards and three scores while junior Marquis Miller has 35 receptions for 354 yards and two touchdowns. In the backfield, freshman Alvonte Thompson has 430 rushing yards with two touchdowns on 80 attempts and averages 5.4 yards per-carry while adding 14 catches for 133 yards and two more scores. Senior Zack Funk has 189 yards on 51 carries with four touchdowns while catching nine passes for 62 yards. Whitehead is a fine runner who has gained 382 yards on 92 carries with 11 touchdowns.         
 
KING'S ON DEFENSE:   3-4        
Defensively, King's ranks seventh in the MAC in allowing 32.5 points each game and is eighth in yielding 414.4 total yards per-game. The Monarchs are eighth against the run in allowing 199.9 yards and stand fifth against the pass in  permitting 214.5 yards. Leading the King's defense thus far is junior  linebacker Bruce Damon who tops the MAC with 110 tackles, while adding 9.5 tackles for loss, and 6.0 sacks. Senior linebacker Bobby Russell, a two-time All-MAC selection, follows with 71 tackles and two interceptions.

Junior safety Jake Manetti adds 55 tackles and two interceptions while freshman safety Joe Davis and sophomore defensive end Chris DeGaetano contribute 36 tackles apiece. Junior defensive lineman Jacoby Foresman has 32 tackles while junior cornerback Justin Foster and freshman safety Trevor Hill add 24 tackles. Junior linebacker Hassan Maxwell contributes 23 stops while senior linebacker Brandon Gonzalez posts 21 tackles. Sophomore linebacker C.J. Curry and freshmen cornerback Eli Vascos chip in with 20 tackles. 
 
WIDENER ON OFFENSE:   MULTIPLE        
The Pride rank  fifth in the MAC in scoring with 27.3 points per-game while standing fourth in total offense with 374.0 yards each contest. The Widener offense is ranked sixth in MAC passing with 186.5 yards while standing third in rushing with 187.5 yards.
 
Senior quarterback Alex Krivda has completed 55.4 (128-231) percent of his passes for 1,351 yards with five touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Freshman running back Chris Randle leads the team with 459 yards on 119 carries with six touchdowns.  Sophomore Donte Harrell follows closely with 443 yards on 76 carries with four scores and averages 5.8 yards per-carry. Sophomore Montrell Hicks-Taylor adds 238 yards on 35 attempts with three touchdowns and averages 6.8 yards each attempt.
 
The receivers are paced by sophomore D'Andre Sapp with 37 catches for 297 yards and one touchdown. Hicks-Taylor follows with 28 receptions for 387 yards while senior Haydn Warren adds 25 catches for 271 yards. Senior Connor Schlegel has caught 18 passes for 187 yards while senior Blaine Price chips in with 14 receptions for 228 yards and averages a team-high 16.3 yards per-catch.

WIDENER ON DEFENSE:   4-3     
Widener is fourth in MAC scoring defense in yielding just 20.4 points per-game and is also second in total defense in allowing 275.5 total yards per-game. The Pride own the top-rated rush defense in permitting just 59.0 yards per-game while standing sixth against the pass in yielding 216.5 yards each contest.
 
Senior linebacker Steve Gozur tops the unit with 65 tackles and 19.0 tackles for loss with 2.5 sacks. Junior lineman Casey Kerschner follows with 37 tackles with 9.0 tackles for loss with 5.5 sacks while senior linebacker Tyrone Bundy adds 36 tackles with 6.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.

Sophomore defensive back Kenny Watson contributes 29 tackles while sophomore lineman Vince Char has posted 27 tackles with 15.0 tackles for loss and 7.0 sacks. Junior defensive back Kyle Lowery has registered 26 tackles with two interceptions while senior defensive end Byron Cooper chips in with 25 tackles with 10.0 tackles.
 
FINAL HOME STAND FOR SENIORS
Saturday will make the final home game for 13 King's players at McCarthy Stadium. Seniors include Andres Armstrong, Jake Dever, Zack Funk, Brandon Gonzalez, Eric Haenggi, Bryan Hicks, David Hicks, Mikhail Kniaziewicz, Tyler Mejasic, Mike Palmer, Bobby Russell, and Andrew Zub. Junior Marquise Miller will also be recognized as he is playing his final year and will be transferring to the University of Notre Dame as part of King's 3+2 Engineering program agreement with Notre Dame.          
 
NEXT WEEK
King's will close out the season with the annual Mayor's Cup Game when the Monarchs travel to face Wilkes-Barre city rival Wilkes University at 12:00 noon at Schmidt Stadium.