WILKES FOOTBALL SUFFERS 65-26 DEFEAT AT ALBRIGHT IN MAC OPENER
READING, PA – Albright College exploded for six touchdowns through the air and two more on the ground to post a 65-26 win over visiting Wilkes University in both teams' Middle Atlantic Conference opener Saturday afternoon from Shirk Stadium. It marked the first contest for the Colonels since September 3rd after last week's game at Waynesburg University was canceled due to flooding in the Wyoming Valley. The 65 points is the second most allowed by a Wilkes defense since 1991 where Cortland St. posted 67 points in a 67-6 victory.
With the loss Wilkes drops to 0-2 overall and 0-1 in conference play. Albright improves to 3-0 and 1-0 in league games.
After Albright took a 3-0 lead after one quarter of play, Wilkes answered with a 55-yard touchdown connection from Alex George (York, PA/West York) to Tim Bousson (Shamokin, PA/Shamokin) to give the Colonels a 7-3 advantage with 13:29 left in the first half. The host Lions wasted little time on the offensive using two scores, one through the air (27-yard pass from Scott Pillar to TJ Luddy) and one on the ground (four-yard run by Josan Holmes) to take a 17-7 lead with 5:16 left in the second quarter.
On the ensuing Wilkes possession, George used his legs and arm to lead the Colonels down into Albright territory. After an 18-yard completion to Todd Eagles (Downingtown, PA/Downingtown East) placed the ball on the Albright 11 yard-line, the two hooked up again on the next play to cut the deficit to 17-13 after Geoff Arentz's extra point attempt was blocked.
Albright then used a five-play, 65-yard drive capped off by a Holmes one yard touchdown run to push the lead to 24-13 with just :34 seconds remaining in the first half. After two running plays and an incomplete pass, Wilkes decided to take a knee and head to the half down 24-13.
On the opening drive of the second half, Albright stormed down the field with three completed passes for 65 yards to place the ball at the Wilkes 25. Three straight quarterback rushes got the Lions inside the Colonels five yard-line. From there, Lions quarterback Adam Galczynski found Marty Reinhardt for a three-yard touchdown completion to extend the lead to 31-13 with 11:49 left in the third quarter.
Two straight Wilkes turnovers gave the ball back to Albright and the Lions made good on both opportunities. After a Wilkes fumble stopped a promising drive, Albright used a five-play, 78-yard drive capped off by a Jake Bakala touchdown pass to take a commanding 38-13 lead. Following a Wilkes interception on their ensuing drive, Albright capitalized with another score, this time a 40-yard touchdown pass from Bakala to Galczynski as the lead swelled to 44-13 with 6:55 left in the third.
The Colonels finally got some momentum together on offense as two George runs (21 yards and 12 yards) put Wilkes at the Albright 12. From there Auxence Wogou (Hackettstown, NJ/Hackettstown) ran in from the one to give Wilkes a bit of life, down 44-20 with 5:55 left in the third.
The Albright offense would continue to click on all cylinders to start the fourth, as Luddy threw the Lions fifth touchdown pass of the contest hitting Scott Pillar for a 52-yard score to up the lead to 51-20. On Wilkes' first possession of the fourth quarter, the Colonels offense would stall forcing a Jordan Fredo (Williamsport, PA/Williamsport Area) punt, The Lions would block the Fredo punt and recover in the Colonel endzone to extend the lead to 58-20 with 11:42 left in the game. After the Lions sixth touchdown pass gave Albright a 65-20 advantage, Wilkes used an eight-play, 72-yard drive capped off by an Andrew Regan (Boonton, NJ/Boonton) six-yard touchdown run to finish the scoring for both squads.
George was solid under center finishing 16-of-26 for 236 yards and two touchdowns. It marked the second straight game the sophomore signal caller threw for over 200 yards. Eagles led the receivers with six catches for 63 yards and one score. Wilkes was unable to get anything going on the ground as George led the ground attack with 59 yards on 12 carries. Wogou finished with 51 yards on eight carries, while Zach Tivald (Edison, NJ/Edison) was held in check with eight carries for 21 yards.
Tate Moore-Jacobs (New Cumberland, PA/Cedar Cliff) led the Colonel defense with a game-high 10 tackles. Rob Houseknecht (South Williamsport, PA/South Williamsport) followed with eight tackles, while James Moore (Orwigsburg, PA/Blue Mountain) added four tackles and three sacks.
For Albright, Galczynski went 20-of-26 for 377 yards and three scores. Holmes finished with 18 carries for 60 yards and two touchdowns. Pillar had a huge day catching the ball making nine catches for 220 yards and two scores.
Wilkes will look to bounce back Saturday when they make their home debut on Homecoming against MAC foe Widener University at 1:00 p.m. at the Ralston Athletic Complex. A ceremony for the dedication of Schmidt Stadium will take place prior to kick-off.
