WILKES-BARRE, PA (October 10, 2018) – Saturday will mark the first-ever trip for the King's College football team to Alvernia University, as the Monarchs travel to Reading, PA to battle the Golden Wolves in Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) play Saturday at noon. Alvernia will be holding Homecoming Saturday, as the program celebrates its first-ever season with NCAA Division III football. The Monarchs are coming off a 41-25 loss to Widener last weekend despite outgaining WU 474-326 while posting a season-best 27 first downs in the loss.

Event Details
Opponent: at Alvernia University (1-4, 0-4 MAC)
Date: Saturday, October 13, 2018
Time: 12 p.m.
Location: Reading, PA – Alvernia Stadium (Directions)
Tickets: Adults - $6, Seniors - $4, Children 12 and under - Free
Live Coverage: (Live Video) (Live Stats)

Things To Know:
Tailgating Map at Alvernia

That's What He Said: "It's pretty much full steam ahead, take it one week at a time and we look back on the season and look at what we built throughout the year from that standpoint...just looking at getting the execution to match the effort right now. " – Head Coach Jeff Knarr on taking stock at the halfway point or doing that at the end of the season.



Last Time Out For King's: The hosting Monarchs dominated most statistical categories against Widener, but two costly turnovers in the first quarter pushed the Pride out to a 24-3 first quarter lead in a 41-25 victory. Despite that, King's saw a stand-out performance from sophomore quarterback Tommy Klock for the second straight week.

Klock finished with a big day in the loss for KC, as he was 21-of-33 for 229 yards and three touchdowns through the air, adding 116 yards rushing on 16 attempts. Running back Jordan Downes posed 69 yards rushing, adding five catches for 73 yards.

King's was able to get the ball to its receivers more Saturday, as Boccella led the group with five catches for 79 yards. Costantino finished with five receptions, 38 yards and a score, and Joel Whitteker hauled in a pair of completions for 29 yards. Defensively, sophomore Mando Sallanvanti made 11 tackles to lead the way, and Myles Shelton posed 10 takles (5 solo), two sacks, a forced fumble and fumble recovery.

Senior Devrin Baynard added seven stops along with a sack, and Charles McCall and Izuchukwu Mozie each finished with six tackles. King's chalked up a season-high 28 first-downs on Saturday, going a solid 7-for-17 on third downs. KC was also 3-for-4 on fourth downs, outgaining Widener in total offense 474-326. The Monarchs added a season-high 26 completions, and out-rushed their visitors 193-162.

The Book on the Monarchs (2-3, 1-2 MAC):

• King's has alternated losses and wins in each of their first five games, sandwiching wins against Hartwick College and Lycoming with losses to Moravian, Stevenson and Widener.
• The Monarchs come into the contest with the league's top turnover ratio at 0.80, ranked No. 42 in the nation.
• As of Thursday, King's leads Division III in kick return average, allowing only 9.45 yards per kick return this season.
• After posting no sacks the first week at Moravian, King's has had at least two sacks in each of their last four games highlighted by nine against Lycoming and four last week.
• King's has recovered a fumble on defense in all five games and have 13 takeaways on the year after five games.
• Saturday's 281 yards through the air by the Monarchs were the most this season, and the most since last year's season finale against Wilkes.
• After entering the Widener game 1-for-5 on fourth downs this year, King's picked up three of its four attempts last Saturday.
• Freshman quarterback Tyler Moore completed his first collegiate pass against Widener, hooking up with sophomore Joel Whitteker for his first collegiate catch.
• Junior running back Jordan Downes is 10^th in the nation in all-purpose yards, averaging 181.6 yards a game for KC. Downes is fifth in the MAC in rushing with 384 yards, while also posting 185 receiving and 334 yards on kick returns.
• Sophomore Gabe Boccella caught a career-best five balls on Saturday, including an acrobatic diving 32-yard catch in the fourth quarter.
• Klock threw for over 200 yards and rushed for over 100 last Saturday, something no King's quarterback has done in the last 10 seasons.
• Sophomore defensive back Elijah Demosthene is second in the league in passes defended with 1.3 per game.
• King's has scored points on 16 of its last 18 trips to the red zone.
• Freshman Jack Barreras is 7-of-8 this season on field goal attempts and is only three field goals shy of tying the school record for field goals in a season with 10 by Ryan Cain in 2010.

Last Time Out for Alvernia: Misericordia University (4-1, 3-0) kept up the scoring pace with 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter in a 45-33 win over Alvernia University (1-5, 0-5) Saturday afternoon in Middle Atlantic Conference football action at Mangelsdorf Field. Alvernia freshman Malcolm Carey posted a pair of records with 230 yards rushing and five touchdowns.

Both teams scored a pair of touchdowns in the first quarter and a pair in the third quarter.  Alvernia got a touchdown late in the second quarter and held Misericordia to just a field goal in the frame and took a 20-16 lead into the halftime break.

The Wolves led 33-31 at the end of three, but Misericordia scored a touchdown on its first possession of the fourth quarter aided by a short field following a fumble recovery and scored again on a 6-plus minute drive later in the quarter to close the scoring with under two minutes to play.

The Cougars racked up 530 yards of total offense and the Wolves weren't far behind finishing with a season-best 398.  Misericordia quarterback Brady Williams threw for 184 yards and rushed for 148 and two touchdowns. All 11 touchdowns in the game came on the ground.  Ten of the 11 were scored on plays of less than 10 yards. 

The Book on the Golden Wolves (1-4, 0-4 MAC):

• Alvernia is its first year of existence, and wasted no time getting its first program win in a 26-21 win over Gallaudet on the opening week of the season.
• Since then, it's been four straight losses in conference play, falling to FDU-Florham, Delaware Valley University, Wilkes University and Misericordia.
• Head coach Ralph Clark comes to Alvernia after serving as a defensive coordinator at Seton Hill University.
• Alvernia is averaging 19.4 points per game this season, second-lowest in the conference while allowing 38.0 points per game which is also 10^th in the MAC.
• The Golden Wolves run the ball well, posting 147.2 yards on the ground per game but allow just over 220 yards rushing a game.
• AU's pass defense is second-best in the conference, allowing only 174.4 yards a game through the air. The Golden Wolves have just five sacks on the year, fewest in the league.
• Running back Malcolm Carey is second in the conference in rushing with 96.0 yards per game, scoring nine touchdowns.
• Alvernia has converted 17.2 percent of its third downs this season, 11^th in the MAC.
• Vincent Redmon is sixth in the MAC in solo tackles with 24, while teammate Tajon Whiten is 12^th in the conference in total stops with 40.
• Moses Ulyssee has defended five passes on the season, picking off two passes for Alvernia.
• Alvernia has attempted just one field goal, a 24-yard make by Ben Strausser last week against Misericordia.
• Freshman Keiron Black earned his first game of action last week at Misericordia and was solid throwing for a program-high 176 yards.

Against Alvernia All-Time: This will be the first meeting between the two schools in football, as Alvernia started its program this fall.

Up Next: King's will follow its trip to south Reading, PA this weekend with another road game, this time heading to north Reading to take on Albright College at 1 p.m. October 20 in Gene L. Shirk Stadium.