Warren Ruda

WILKES GROUND GAME PROPELS COLONELS OVER STEVENSON 43-34 ON SENIOR DAY

11/12/2011 4:48:00 PM

WILKES GROUND GAME PROPELS COLONELS OVER STEVENSON 43-34 ON SENIOR DAY

EDWARDSVILLE – The Wilkes University football team rushed for a season-high 384 yards on the ground including a 184-yard, two touchdown performance from senior captain Zach Tivald (Edison, NJ/Edison) as the Colonels posted a 43-34 Middle Atlantic Conference victory over Stevenson University on Saturday afternoon at Schmidt Stadium in the Ralston Athletic Complex.

Wilkes sees its 2011 campaign end at 4-5 overall and 4-4 in league play. Stevenson, in its first year as a member of the MAC, ends its season at 2-8 overall and 1-7 in conference games.

The visitors jumped out of the gates early as quarterback C.J. Hopson took a 55-yard rush all the way for an opening drive touchdown to give the Mustangs an early 7-0 lead. Wilkes responded with the running game as Tivald went for 13, 16, and seven yard rushes to place the ball at the Stevenson 2 following a long kickoff return from Andrew Regan (Boonton, NJ/Boonton). From there, Tivald dove into the end zone from two yards out to tie the game at 7-7 with 9:29 left in the opening period.

The Mustangs went on the offensive on their next drive going 53 yards on seven plays capped off by a Hopson pass to Jae DeShields from 12 yards out to take back the lead, 14-7.

The Colonels would drive down the field where they would stall at the Stevenson 14. Wilkes elected to try a 31-yard field goal, but Geoffrey Arentz (Stevens, PA/Lancaster Catholic)'s kick missed wide right and the score remained 14-7 in favor of the visitors.

Stevenson began another promising drive on the ensuing possessions, but Hopson would fumble the snap and Wilkes' Paul Gaffney (Sparta, NJ/Sparta) was there to recover the loose ball setting up the Wilkes offense at their own 38. From there, another long, ground-heavy drive took the Colonels to the Stevenson 2. This time it was quarterback Alex George (York, PA/West York) who would run home from two yards out tying the game at 14-14 with 10:42 left in the second quarter.

Stevenson didn't wait long to respond as Hopson found a streaking DeShields down the right side for a 65-yard touchdown completion. Following a missed extra point that was blocked by Wilkes' Josh Brito (Little Falls, NJ/Passaic Valley), Stevenson took a 20-14 lead with 10:26 left until the break.

Wilkes used yet another long, dramatic drive highlighted by a George 16-yard completion to Shawn Gregson (Dingmans Ferry, PA/Delaware Valley) to setup the Colonels at the Stevenson 7. Tivald went back to work carrying twice before George snuck in from the one to tie the game at 20-20 with 4:44 left until the break. Jordan Fredo (Williamsport, PA/Williamsport Area) came on in relief of Arentz, but the sophomore kicker missed wide left to keep the game deadlocked.

The Wilkes defense would tighten and force a Stevenson three and out as the Colonels took over at their own 49. George went to the air and found Kyle Driscoll (Columbia, NJ/North Warren) for a 34-yard completion to pace the ball in Stevenson territory at the 17. Tivald pounded his way to the Stevenson 14, then took a screen pass from George and found more running room taking the ball down to the Stevenson 1. George kept it on the QB keeper for his second one-yard touchdown run of the contest. Wilkes grabbed a 27-20 lead heading into the break.

Wilkes claimed some breathing room in the third quarter as the Colonels opened up a three touchdown lead midway through the stanza. George found Ryan Behrman for a 23-yard touchdown completion then followed that score with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Driscoll, the first of his Colonel career, to push Wilkes out to a comfortable 41-20 advantage with 4:01 left in the third quarter.

Stevenson got one back before the end of the third as Hopson hit DeShields for their third connection of the game to cut the deficit to 41-27. The Mustangs made good on their first drive of the fourth as Ryan Crawley rushed for a score form three yards out to keep the game within reach, 41-34 with 12:12 left in the contest.

Wilkes continued to keep the ball on the ground eating up a lot of the clock on their next drive. The Colonels drove down to the Stevenson 1 for the fourth time in the game, but a fumble on the goal line gave Stevenson hope as the Mustangs recovered the Colonel miscue. After two incompletions the Wilkes defense came up with a big play stopping the Mustangs from grabbing a first down forcing a punt from inside the 10. A bad snap flew over the head of Stevenson punter Brad Cummings and into the back of the end zone for the safety pushing the Wilkes lead to 43-34 with 4:05 remaining.

After Wilkes ran down the clock to: 15, Stevenson had one last chance to climb back, but two incomplete passes ended their hopes of a comeback.

Wilkes rushed for a season-high 384 yards and four scores as the MAC's leading rushing team didn't disappoint in their final contest of 2011. Tivald was nearly unstoppable on the ground all afternoon finishing with a season-high 184 yards on 40 carries and two touchdowns in his final game in the Navy and Gold. He finishes his career as the school's fifth all-time leading rusher with 2,493 total yards. George was efficient on the ground posting 98 yards on 21 attempts and two scores, both from one-yard out. Auxence Wogou (Hackettstown, NJ/Hackettstown) added 54 yards on nine carries.

George fared well through the air finishing 13-of-19 for 174 yards and two touchdowns. Driscoll enjoyed the finest afternoon in his young Wilkes career with three catches for 55 yards and one touchdown. Gregson also finished with three catches for 27 yards. Behrman had the one touchdown catch for 23 yards.

Hopson went 12-for-26 for 256 yards passing and three scores, while also leading the Mustang ground game with 118 yards and one touchdown.

On defense, Wilkes was led by Justin Pellowski (Mt. Carmel, PA/Mt. Carmel) with nine tackles and one sack while Jake Sarson (Belvidere, NJ/Belvidere) had six stops and one sack. Rob Houseknecht (South Williamsport, PA/South Williamsport) and Joe Chrismer (Mountaintop, PA/Crestwood) each totaled five tackles. Stevenson's Donnell Brown, the MAC's leading tackler, finished with a game-high 18 stops and one fumble recovery.

Prior to kickoff, Wilkes honored its 18 senior team members for all their hard work and dedication to the Colonel football program over their careers. Wilkes will enter its 66^th year of competition in 2012 as the Colonels look to build from this season's experience.

Print Friendly Version