WILKES-BARRE, PA (November 9, 2023) -- In their regular-season finale, the King's College football team looks to remain unbeaten at home and secure a home bowl game against Alvernia University on Saturday afternoon at McCarthy Stadium. The Monarchs are coming off an important 16-8 Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) win on the road at Stevenson, defeating the Mustangs in Owings Mills, Md. for the first time since 2013, while the Golden Wolves earned their first win of the 2023 season, 28-16, last weekend against Albright. King's will also honor its graduating members and the cheerleaders ahead of the game as well as Veteran's Day Appreciation Day.

Event Details:
Opponent: vs. Alvernia (1-8, 1-7 MAC)
Date: Saturday, November 11, 2023
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Location: Wilkes-Barre, PA - McCarthy Stadium (Directions)
Tickets: $5 for Adults, $2 for Seniors, $2 for Non-King's Students showing I.D. Free for children age-six and King's showing I.D.
Live Coverage: (Live Video) (Live Stats)

Things to Know:
King's vs. Alvernia Game Notes
King's vs. Alvernia Flip Card
Tailgating Policy
Pet Policy
Spectator Policy



The Coaches: Skyler Fultz opens his first season as the head coach of the Monarchs with Saturday's contest. Fultz spent the last eight seasons in his second stint with King's, serving as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. During his time at King's, the Monarchs have turned into an offensive powerhouse, as his offensive units have produced All-MAC players at all positions while boasting record-setting units during each of his years as offensive coordinator. The 2023 campaign featured quarterback Tyler Moore's record-breaking season, setting four new career passing records and both touchdowns in a game and in a season records under the direction of Fultz. Steve Azzanesi is in his second full season at the head of the Golden Wolves program, totaling a record of 4-15 at Alvernia, including 1-13 in the MAC. He coached six All-MAC student-athletes, including a first-team selection, four second-team honorees, and one honorable mention nod.

Looking at Alvernia: The Golden Wolves have been playing well as of late on their way to their first win of the 2023 campaign. As a team, the Golden Wolves average 15.4 points on 277.2 yards per game while giving up 35.6 points on 370.6 yards per contest. Elijah Carr is the heart of the Alvernia defense, setting a new single-season record with 94 total tackles, while Jamel Fleming has defended seven passes and Stefan Rich has posted 11.0 tackles for loss. Offensively, Ozmere Jones leads the run game with 187 yards on 57 carries with a touchdown, while Dachan Thompson is the leading receiver with 43 catches for 878 yards and five touchdowns at 97.56 yards per game. Quarterback Colin Payne gets the most snaps, completing 155 passes on 316 attempts with 12 touchdowns for 234.00 yards per contest in his nine appearances.

Home Threads: For their final home game of the regular-season, King's will wear their classic red jerseys with gold pants and the staple of the gold helmets.

Single Digit Tough:  The Monarchs award single digits based on merit, leadership and are retained throughout their time at King's. The 2023 roster returned two single-digit members from last year while adding four more ahead of this season. Just this week, the King's coaching staff announced that Colin Hazleton will dawn a single digit for the remaining two games of the 2023 season. The Monarchs now have seven Single Digit Tough players: Jassiem Lettsome (0), Joe Carchio (1), Teone Sherrod (2), Tyler Carey (3), Colin Hazelton (4), Dallas Solomon (8), and Nate McGlone (73).

Captains this Weekend: King's has named all of its senior honorees as honorary captains this weekend. At the coin toss, the Monarchs will send out its six senior Single Digit Tough members in Jassiem Lettsome, Joe Carchio, Teone Sherrod, Colin Hazelton, Dallas Solomon, and Nate McGlone.

A Look at the Monarchs:

• King's will look to replace three All-MAC players in Brandon Cohen (TE), Tyler Moore (QB), and Brendan Mozeleski (LB), but return the remaining five honorees in first teamer Teone Sherrod (CB), second team honorees Tyler Carey (WR/Returner), Dallas Solomon (DL), and Joe Carchio (DB), and honorable mention recipient Amir Gibson (DB)
• Teone Sherrod returns after a breakout campaign in 2022, earning AFCA Division III Coaches' All-America First Team, D3football.com All-America Second Team, and D3football.com All Region 1 First Team honors. Sherrod was also a Cliff Harris Award Finalist and earned a spot on the D3football.com Preseason All-America Third Team. He returns to help lead the Monarchs secondary that lead the MAC in interceptions.
• The Monarchs have no shortage of veteran talent on this year's squad, returning nine players that were listed as seniors in 2022. This week's two-deep features 18 seniors listed, while the defense returns all but three starters from 2022.
• King's enters the season with a total of 12 coaches on staff, and of that group five are King's graduates or soon-to-be graduates. (Ben Bakanas, Brandon Cohen, Tommy Gilmore, Brendan Mozeleski, Enzo Poulson).
• King's was picked to finish third in the MAC Preseason Coaches' Poll among the 10 conference schools. Alvernia was slated to finish seventh.
• The defense continues to reign supreme in the MAC, ranking second in scoring defense (17.0 points per game), total defense (233.8 yards per game), passing defense (127.4 yards per game), and passing defensive efficiency (95.2%). The run defense also ranks third at 106.3 yards per contest. Additionally, the Monarchs are holding teams to a conference-low 13.6 first downs per game while ranking third in fourth down conversions at 31.6%.
• On offense, the Monarchs rank third in total offense (331.8 yards per game) and passing offensive efficiency (133.0%). King's rank second in first downs with 18.6 per game and third down conversions at 39.5%.
• The punt return game still tops the MAC at 9.8 yards per return behind Mike DiGregorio's conference-best 9.8 yards per return. On the flip side, Anthony Prato leads the MAC punters with 37.6 yards per punt.
• Russell Minor-Shaw currently ranks second in rushing in the MAC at 76.9 yards per game with 10 touchdowns, while Jayon Hailey ranks 11th at 40.1 yards per contest and Brennan Robinson is 15th at 34.0 yards per game. DiGregorio sits ninth in the MAC with his 47.3 yards per game, while Hailey (12th), EJ Schreiner (17th), and Tyler Carey (21st) all appear among the top MAC receivers. Overall, Minor-Shaw leads the MAC in total offense at 248.7 yards per game, and Hailey places fifth in all purpose yards at 86.8 yards per game.
• Joe Carchio remains at the top of the MAC tacklers, ranking fifth at 8.2 tackles per game, second at 14.5 tackles for loss on the season, and ties for first with three forced fumbles. He adds seven passes defended as well.
• Jared Reto sits at 12th at 6.9 tackles per contest. Jake Ruppert (26th) and Colin Hazelton (34th) also appear among the conference's top tacklers list, with Hazelton ranking fourth with 13.0 tackles for loss and Dallas Solomon coming in at 15th with 9.0 tackles for loss.
• Amir Gibson is currently tied for second in passes defended with 12, while Teone Sherrod adds eight, Alex Tristan posts seven, and Ruppert adds five. Additionally, Tristan is tied for second in the MAC with four interceptions and Gibson is tied for fourth with three. 

Up Next: King's secured a bowl-game bid with their win over Stevenson and await the result of this Saturday's contest against the Golden Wolves as well as the result of the Widener-Delaware Valley game to determine the location and opponent for the Centennial-MAC Bowl Series game next Saturday, November 18.