WILKES-BARRE, PA (September 21, 2023) -- In their final match up before their bye week, the King's College football team makes their final preparations ahead of Saturday's Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) showdown between the Monarchs and conference-power house #25 Delaware Valley University. The Monarchs are back on the road for the third time this season and are coming off their 56-0 win over Albright in their home opener last weekend. The Aggies open their home schedule this weekend against King's, and the reigning conference champions are coming off a 29-6 win over Eastern on Saturday.

Event Details:
Opponent: at #25 Delaware Valley (2-1, 2-0 MAC)
Date: Saturday, September 23, 2023
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Location: Doylestown, PA - Robert A. Lipinski Field at James Work Stadium (Directions)
Live Coverage: (Live Video) (Live Stats)

Things to Know:
King's vs. Delaware Valley Game Notes
Tailgating 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. Duke Greco has turned his alma mater into a national powerhouse over the past nine seasons, amassing an 82-13 overall record with six NCAA appearances, three trips to the NCAA quarterfinals, five consecutive MAC championships, and two Centennial-MAC Bowl Series championships.

Looking at Delaware Valley: The Aggies look very similar to the Monarchs in the team statistics, averaging 339.3 yards of total offense per game, while limiting their opponents to 223 yards per contest. Delaware Valley's offense is paced by running back Jay Wright who has amassed 355 rushing yards and five touchdowns through the first three weekends. Quarterback Louie Barrios IV has completed 22 passes on 51 attempts with a pair of touchdowns and interceptions for 321 yards, while the receiver group is balanced behind Jasiah Davis and Ryan Loughlin with six catches and a touchdown each. Delaware Valley's defense follows the lead of Nick Chapman who has totaled 28 tackles, including 14 solo, with 5.0 tackles for a loss of six yards. Jacquez Mabin posts a team-high 3.0 sacks and 5.0 tackles for loss, while Micah Bootman holds a team-leading three break ups to go with an interception.

Travel Gear: This weekend, King's will arrive in Doylestown wearing their road white jerseys with gold pants. As always, the Monarchs carry on the tradition of sporting their 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. The Monarchs now have six Single Digit Tough players: Jassiem Lettsome (0), Joe Carchio (1), Teone Sherrod (2), Tyler Carey (3), Dallas Solomon (8), and Nate McGlone (73).

Captains this Weekend: In their final contest in September, the Monarchs will send out Joe Carchio, Jassiem Lettsome, and Dallas Solomon to represent the defense, while Nate McGlone will represent the offense at Saturday's coin toss.

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 so-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. Delaware Valley was slated to finish first.
• There were several milestones achieved against Albright last weekend, as Tyler Carey surpassed 1,000 receiving yards, Shemar Ellis achieved 1,000 rushing yards, and Joe Carchio recorded his 200th tackle for their careers.
• As a team, the Monarchs rank first in both scoring defense and total defense, holding teams to an average of 11.0 points on 197.3 yards per game, while the offense ranks second in both scoring offense and total offense, amassing 41.7 points on 396.3 yards per contest.
• The King's run game ranks second in both offense (176.7 yards/game) and defense (93.0 yards/game), led by three in the top 20 including Russell Minor-Shaw (8th) with 53.3 yards a contest, Brennan Robinson (11th) with 39.0 yards per game, and Jayon Hailey (18th) at 29.7 yards per night. This defensive effort is led by Colin Hazelton who is tied for 11th in the MAC with 1.00 tackles per loss per game and both Carchio and Dallas Solomon (tied for 15th) with 0.83 tackles for loss per game. Additionally, the defensive line duo of Jasiem Lettsome and Solomon who rank among the top lineman in the MAC with 1.5 sacks each.
• The passing offense is third in the MAC at 219.7 yards per night, scoring the second-most touchdowns (10) with an offensive efficiency of 165.9 percent. Minor-Shaw ranks third among MAC quarterbacks with 655 yards at 218.3 yards per game and an efficiency of 185.9, completing the most passes (57), throwing the second most touchdowns (10), and standing as the only remaining quarterback without an interception. He finds four of his receivers among the top 20 in the MAC, led by Hailey (6th) at 59.7 yards per game, Ej Schreiner (9th) at 50.0 yards per contest, Mike DiGregorio (t-14th) at 38.7 yards per night, and Tyler Carey (18th) with 36.3 yards per game.
• On defense, the Monarchs passing defense ranks second, holding teams to 104.3 yards per game and a defensive efficiency of 87.2 percent. Both Teone Sherrod and Jake Ruppert are tied with five other defenders with four passes defended so far this season, both with three break ups and an interception.
• Additionally for the defense, Carchio leads the balanced attack, ranking 10th in the MAC with 21 tackles at 7.0 tackles per game.
• The King's punt return game is second in the MAC, averaging 15.1 yards per return on seven attempts for a conference-high 106 yards. Also on special teams, King's has attempted the most PATs in the MAC, going 17-for-18 through three weekends.
• Conversions have been a point of emphasis for the Monarchs this season as they lead the first-down category in the conference, totaling 66 first downs (22.0 per game) while holding their foes to 28 (9.3 per game). On third down, the King's defense has allowed just nine successful conversions on 38 attempts to lead the MAC. Fourth down has been near-perfect so far this season, completing 9-of-11 to lead the conference, while the defense ranks second having allowed one conversion in six tries.
• In the red zone, King's is the only team in the conference to remain perfect, going 11-for-11 with 11 touchdowns, while the defense is holding teams to 3-for-5 with two touchdowns and a field goal.

Up Next: Next weekend, the entire Middle Atlantic Conference will observe a bye weekend. King's will then return to McCarthy Stadium on Saturday, October 7 as they host FDU-Florham at 12:00 p.m. The game will also be the Monarchs Hilinski's Hope and Morgan's Message Dedication game to help support mental health efforts on college campuses.