WILKES-BARRE, PA (September 7, 2019) – In front of a packed house of red-clad Monarch faithful, the King's College football team got its 2019 season underway with a solid 23-20 victory over visiting Moravian College in non-conference play from McCarthy Stadium.

The Monarchs (1-0) got a huge game from senior running back Jordan Downes, who finished with 154 rushing yards and a touchdown while posting five catches for 42 yards. King's also saw its young signal caller Tyler Moore, making his second career start, have an efficient contest while making some big throws in big spots. Moore finished 25-for-34 for 267 yards and two touchdowns.

One of those touchdown passes from Moore came on the opening play from scrimmage for the Monarchs, as Moore hit junior receiver Gabe Boccella on a flea flicker for a 65-yard touchdown to put King's up 7-0 a minute into the contest.

On the next drive for Moravian, the Greyhounds drove all the way five-yard line, but King's junior Jaret Horn sacked Christopher Mills forcing a fumble and recovering the loose ball to give the Monarchs the ball back.

After that, King's would go on the best drive of the game for either team, putting together a 16-play, 88-yard march that ended in a seven-yard touchdown pass and catch from Moore to junior Tim Costantino. On the drive, King's converted three third downs, as well as a 4th-and-5 from the Moravian 40 on a Jordan Downes seven-yard catch.

The Greyhounds would get onto the board at 9:40 of the second quarter, as Mills connected with Eddie Olsen on a 33-yard touchdown completion on 4^th and 3 to finish a 4-play, 40-yard drive. Both defenses would force punts before King's got the ball with 3:52 to go in the first half. After moving the ball down to the 28-yard line of Moravian, it appeared that Moore had connected with Boccella again in the end zone by Tim Valentine ripped the ball away from the King's receiver to keep the game at 14-7.

The Monarch defense though would force a punt late in the half to send the game to intermission with the hosts up 14-7. On the first drive of the second half for King's, the Monarchs moved the ball down to the Moravian 18-yard line but freshman Justin Timonte missed from 35-yards out to give the ball to the Hounds.

That would set up a 10-play, 80-yard drive for Moravian, which was capped by a three-yard touchdown toss from Mills to Andrew Lelie to tie the game at 14-14 with 6:28 to go in the third quarter. Both defenses would force three-and-outs on their next possessions, but a fake punt by Moravian with 1:35 to go in the third was unsuccessful, giving King's great field position.

Moore would complete the first four passes of the drive, two to Costantino, while a Moore to Downes hookup on 4^th and 13 gave King's goal to go going into the 4^th quarter. Moravian would hold the Monarchs though, as Timonte hit his first collegiate field goal from 20 yards out to give the Monarchs the lead at 17-14.

On the next play from scrimmage for Moravian, Mills went deep down the middle but was picked off by Tommy Gilmore at the King's 47 to give the ball right back to the King's offense. It was the fourth career interception for Gilmore, who had three as a sophomore in 2018.

Wasting no time, the Monarchs handed the ball off to Downes on their first play of the drive, and it looked as though it was going nowhere as he headed towards the home sideline. Seeing a hole, Downes cut back, eluded four tacklers and jetted down the left sideline 53 yards to pay dirt to give King's a nine-point lead at 23-14.

The Greyhounds wouldn't go away, taking the next drive and going 69 yards over the next 10 plays before Roberto Diez pushed in from a yard out with 8:44 to go in the game to make it 23-20. The visitors would force King's into a 3-and-out on the next possession, but the Monarchs defensive unit was up to the task. On 3^rd-and-9, Mills looked like he had an open Nick Petros, but senior Gene Gibbons knocked the ball away to force another punt.

That was the last time the Hounds would touch the ball though, as the Monarchs held the ball the rest of the way converting two third downs including the game-clinching run on 3^rd-and-9 with just over a minute to go. On the play, Boccella took a reverse and came around the left side before being tackled at the 1-yard line. Two kneel downs later, and the Monarchs would have their first win of the season.

On the contest, King's outgained their visitors 427-298, while picking up 21 first downs to the 19 of the Greyhounds. KC was strong on third downs, converting 46.7 percent (7-15) while hosting Moravian to just 25 percent on the key down (3-12).

King's saw Boccella finish with six catches for 91 yards, while also running for nine yards, and Costantino added five catches for 57 yards and a score. Freshman Joe Herman added five receptions for 49 yards, and junior Brandon Cohen totaled four grabs for 28 yards.

Defensively, junior Mando Sallavanti chalked up eight total tackles, adding a quarterback hurry, and Horn had seven tackles. Myles Shelton had six tackles and a team-high two hurries and senior Mikal Butler had four tackles and two pass break-ups. Junior Izu Mozie and freshman Jassiem Lettsome each had one tackle for loss.

Mills finished 17-for-34 for 194 yards and two scores for MC, while Diez rushed for 87 yards on 15 carries. Olsen finished with 82 yards through the air on five receptions. Noah Breidinger led all defensive players with 11 tackles for Moravian.

The Monarchs are off next before traveling to Hartwick College (0-1) Saturday, September 21 at 2:30 p.m. in Oneonta, NY for the final non-conference contest of the season.