Wilkes University held King's to just 100 yards of total offense in the second half, taking a 21-3 win for the Colonels sixth-straight win over their cross town rival. Linebacker
Drew Letcavage (Kulpmont, Pa./Mt. Carmel) was named Wilkes' Most Valuable Player of the game, tallying 16 tackles to help the Colonels keep the Mayor's Cup.
King's dominated the first quarter, racking up 137 yards on 23 plays and used all but 1:40 on the clock and held the Colonels to just four plays for eight yards. Despite controlling every aspect of the game, the Monarchs were able to come up with their only score of the contest – a 21-yard field goal by Andrew DeRito.
The Monarchs started their first possession on their own 35-yard line and quickly marched through Wilkes' defense, running the ball 10-straight times for 51 yards. The Colonels stopped Claude O'Connor on a third and goal play at their own three yard line before DeRito put them on the board with the field goal.
After holding Wilkes to just three plays, the Monarchs continued to run at will, going 76 yards in 13 plays, 11 of which were of the running variety. King's quarterback Olayinka Soda completed his first pass attempt to Doug Mucha on a screen play that went for 24 yards which put the Monarchs on their own 42-yard line. Richard Maerten then carried the ball five-straight times for 22 yards reaching the Wilkes 36. King's continued to march down the field before Soda's second pass of the drive was intercepted by
Kevin Gerhart (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) at the Wilkes four yard line.
“I thought we were able to neutralize their momentum in the first quarter,” head coach Frank Sheptock said. “We did not have the ball long, but we were opportunistic. They were getting great separation up the middle, but we were able to make adjustments in the second quarter.”
Those changes worked as King's had the ball just one time in the second period, going just nine yards in three plays before Wilkes took over with 9:56 to go in the first half. The Colonels took over at their own 25-yard line where they drove 75 yards in 15 plays that took more than seven minutes off the clock.
Rob Johnson (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) found
Gennaro Zangardi (Pittston Township, Pa./Pittston) on the left side of the end zone for his first touchdown catch of the year from 13 yards out to give Wilkes a 7-3 advantage after
Chris Horn (New Tripoli, Pa./Northwestern Lehigh) converted his 16
th consecutive extra point.
Johnson would finish the day with 160 yards passing, completing 14-of-20 with three touchdowns, two of which went to Zangardi.
The Colonel defense held the Monarchs once again, giving the ball back to Wilkes with 1:34 to go in the half where Johnson orchestrated a drive that went 50 yards in four plays that was capped off with a 20-yard scoring strike to Zangardi in the back of the end zone. Johnson was flushed out of the pocket before he rolled to his left, hitting Zangardi on the run directly under the goal post.
“I thought
Rob Johnson (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) stepped up and made some plays today. He did a great job of improvising and making things happen,” Sheptock said.
The offense would continue to roll on its next possession, driving 60 yards in six plays before Johnson found
Jordan D'Emilio (Stowe, Pa./Saint Pius X) at the five yard line where he dove in for the score giving Wilkes a commanding 21-3 lead.
The Colonels finished with 114 yards rushing led by
Harry Reese (Plymouth, Pa./Wyoming Valley West)'s 58 yards, while the defense held the Monarchs to just 83 yards, marking the first time this season they have not thrown for more than 100 yards.
“One of the things that has helped our program is that the guys realize you can't take things for granted. This week we didn't have to fire them up. They were eager and ready to play,” Sheptock said.
The final home game will come next weekend when Wilkes hosts Delaware Valley at 1 p.m. at Ralston Field.
