box score

Down 10-7 late in the fourth quarter, quarterback Rob Johnson (Bridegwater, N.J./Bridgewater) found Gennaro Zangardi (Pittston Township, Pa./Pittston) in the back corner of the end zone with 5:45 to go giving the Colonels a 14-10 lead. They would eventually hold on for a 14-12 win over Muhlenberg, snapping a six-game non-conference losing skid.

Muhlenberg was able to rack up 381 yards of total offense, but the Colonel defense came up big when it needed to. Behind the performance of Kevin Gerhart (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin), who finished with a game-high 15 tackles and the interception that set up the game-winning touchdown by Zangardi, Wilkes broke Muhlenberg's momentum on several occasions. Gerhart picked off a pass from Justin Kreamer at the Muhlenberg 43-yard line and ran it back to the 28 before Johnson and Zangardi hooked up a play later. “Myself, Corey Gilroy (Dunmore, Pa./Dunmore) and Darnell Corbin (New Brunswick, N.J./New Brunswick) have all been here a while and coach pulled us aside and said we are the play-makers on this team. We took it personally and went out there and tried to make something happen,” Gerhart said.

All three proved to be difference makers in the win as Gilroy blocked a field goal attempt just before halftime, and soon later intercepted a pass in the end zone in the third quarter, while Corbin had an interception on Muhlenberg's last possession. “I am now 1-6 in non-conference games,” Gerhart said. “Going into this game we didn't talk about winning the MAC or anything like that, we just talked about going 1-0. Right now it feels like we won the Super Bowl.”

Muhlenberg got on the board first when Michael Katz hit a 17-yard field goal with 4:39 to go in the first quarter. The score would stay that way until Terrence Dandridge, who ran for a game-high 124 yards on 24 carries, scored from five yards out with 5:05 to go in the half to make it 10-0. Wilkes had a chance to cut into the lead midway through the second quarter, but a 43-yard field goal attempt by Chris Horn (New Tripoli/Northwestern Lehigh) sailed wide right for the first miss of his collegiate career.

Wilkes was only able to manage 98 total yards of offense in the first half while giving up 220. “Offensively we struggled a little bit and defensively we had some breakdowns, but we composed ourselves and it showed,” head coach Frank Sheptock said.

The Colonels were finally able to eat up yardage offensively in the third quarter as they went nine plays, 91 yards in 4:59 for their first touchdown of the season. Johnson scampered a career-long 37 yards to the end zone on an option play from the middle of the field. “That is a play we didn't want to show until the second half,” Sheptock said. “We have been running reps on that play since the spring. Robby makes good decisions on that play and it showed,” said the Colonel coach. Horn's extra point cut the Mule lead to three.

Muhlenberg threatened once again as they marched down to Wilkes' five-yard line, thanks to a 30-yard run by Andy Curley on a fake punt. Five plays later, Gilroy leaped in front of Phil Cresta in the end zone to make the interception with 14:54 to go in the game.

With Wilkes leading 14-10, Muhlenberg marched down the field once again; traveling 39 yards before Corbin all but sealed the win with his interception with 1:56 to go in the game. Ironically, Corbin was injured two plays prior to making the play.

Wilkes tried to run out the clock with three-straight running plays, but Muhlenberg's defense stopped it short of the first down with 11 seconds to go. Sheptock elected to take a safety as punter Nick Genuardi (Sparta, N.J./Sparta) ran to the back of the end zone then out of bounds for a safety with five seconds to go. The Mules attempted several laterals on the ensuing kickoff, but a recovered fumble by the Colonels would end the game. “Those five seconds couldn't go fast enough. Nick did a great job in getting those six or seven seconds off the clock,” Sheptock said.

“We didn't start out real well, but we couldn't have scripted it any better. We were down and somehow found a way to come back and win,” said Sheptock.

The Colonels will try to make it 2-0 when they host Montclair State at 1 p.m. next Saturday.