WILKES-BARRE, PA (October 21, 2023) -- The King's College football team remained unbeaten in front of their home crowd at McCarthy Stadium, defeating the visiting Eastern University 28-18 on Saturday afternoon in the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) match up. With the victory, the Monarchs improved to 6-1 overall and 5-1 in the conference, while the Eagles dropped to 2-5 with a 2-4 MAC record.
 
King's (6-1, 5-1 MAC) took control from the start, scoring on their second straight opening possession as Russell Minor-Shaw connected with EJ Schreiner for a set of passes over 46 yards before rushing for 16 yards to set up first and goal. After a quick four-yard gain from Jayon Hailey, Minor-Shaw punched it in from a yard out to put the Monarchs ahead, 7-0. Eastern (2-5, 2-4 MAC) put together their own scoring drive on their second shot, connecting for a 20-yard field goal as King's led, 7-3, with 6:08 remaining in the opening quarter.
 
A pair of big gains from Minor-Shaw saw the senior run for 20 and 12 yards before finding Tyler Carey for a 29-yard reception to set up a red zone opportunity. On the next play, Minor-Shaw ran it in for a two-yard touchdown run as the Monarchs held a 14-3 edge heading into the second. The Eagles seemed to put together another scoring drive, but on 3^rd and 7 from the King's seven, a pass from Brett Nabb was intercepted by Alex Tristan at the two-yard line to give the Monarchs possession with 8:30 to play.
 
After a quick three-and-out by the Monarchs defense, the Monarchs used just three plays to find the end zone again as it would be the Minor-Shaw and Mike DiGregorio connection for a 20-yard touchdown reception with 2:05 left in the half. Eastern ran down the clock in the half, and their offense drove down the field all the way to the King's 27-yard line, but Tristan intercepted another pass in the end zone to allow the Monarchs to run out the final nine seconds and enter the break with a 21-3 edge.
 
The Eagles got the ball to start the third, and after forcing a four-play drive the Monarchs defense delivered on a fake punt attempt to gain possession on the Eastern 42-yard line. After an explosive 31-yard run from Minor-Shaw, a quick rush from Hailey set up a six-yard touchdown pass to DiGregorio as the lead increased to 28-3 with 10:28 left in the third.
 
Eastern had possession going into the fourth, but Joe Carchio forced a fumble in his second straight contest that was recovered by Sean Lavine to put the ball back into the hands of the Monarchs. A pair of empty drives and two King's miscues set up back-to-back touchdown drives from the Eagles as they closed within 28-18 with 5:20 remaining. The Monarchs used a 12-yard run from Minor-Shaw, a big pass interference penalty, and a 16-yard reception to Schreiner to run down the clock and secure the 28-18 victory in the MAC contest at McCarthy Stadium.
 
Minor-Shaw had a stellar day all around, completing 11-of-14 for 175 yards with two touchdowns while also running for 101 yards on 16 carries and a pair of touchdowns. Schreiner led the Monarch receivers with 60 yards on four catches, while Hailey added 47 receiving yards on three receptions and 27 rushing yards on 11 carries. Additionally, Carey totaled 29 yards, and DiGregorio added 26 with two scoring catches.
 
The trio of Carchio, Dallas Solomon, and Jake Ruppert all posted 10 tackles in the win, with both Solomon and Carchio adding 2.5 tackles for a loss of seven yards and Ruppert adding 0.5 tackles for 3 yards lost. Tristan added six tackles to go with his two interceptions, while Jared Reto recorded seven tackles with a pass break up.
 
On special teams, Anthony Prato punted twice, first for a single-game record tying 73 yard punt while the other went for 52 yards for an average of 62.5 yards per punt. Carey returned one kickoff for 25 yards, while Theo Mazias went 4-for-4 on extra point attempts.
 
Brett Nabb was a bright spot for the Eagles in the loss, completing 22 passes on 35 attempts for 238 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Jeremiah Avrilien led the Eastern rushers with 23 yards on seven carries, while Nassik Smith recorded a team-high 89 receiving yards on six catches with a touchdown. On defense, Gashawn Moody posted a game-high 12 tackles with 0.5 tackles for loss of a yard with a fumble recovery.
 
As a team, the Monarchs out gained the Eagles 311-295 for the game, rushing for 125 yards while limiting Eastern to 57 yards on the ground. King's remained efficient in big situations, going 5-for-8 on third down and 4-for-5 in the red zone.
 
The Monarchs will head out of Wilkes-Barre for back-to-back road trips, first traveling to Chester, Pa. to take on Widener University on Saturday, October 28 at 1:00 p.m. before taking the trip to Stevenson on November 4.