Warren Ruda

Wilkes captured its third straight Mayor's Cup victory over King's Saturday 44-32

WILKES FOOTBALL COLLECTS THIRD STRAIGHT MAYOR’S CUP VICTORY WITH 44-32 WIN OVER KING’S ON SENIOR DAY

11/10/2012 6:07:00 PM

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WILKES FOOTBALL COLLECTS THIRD STRAIGHT MAYOR'S CUP VICTORY WITH 44-32 WIN OVER KING'S ON SENIOR DAY

EDWARDSVILLE, PA – Junior quarterback Tyler Berntsen (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris Central) threw for 185 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 89 yards and two more scores to lift host Wilkes University to a 44-32 Middle Atlantic Conference victory over cross-town rival King's College Saturday afternoon in the 17^th annual Mayor's Cup game at Schmidt Stadium.

It marks the third straight Mayor's Cup victory for Wilkes as the Colonels have dominated the all-time series with their cross-town foes winning 21 of 27 contests against the Monarchs. The 76 total points scored also set a Mayor's Cup game record for points scored between the two teams.

Wilkes closes out its 2012 campaign with a 5-5 overall mark standing 4-5 in MAC play. King's ends its season with a 2-8 overall record, going 2-7 in league contests.

The Wilkes offense was in rhythm early in the contest scoring touchdowns on its first five possessions of the game. The Colonels took the opening kickoff and used a five play, 55-yard drive capped off by a 13-yard touchdown pass from Berntsen to tight end Dan Curry to give Wilkes a 7-0 lead with 12:40 left in the first.

The Monarchs answered with a scoring drive of their own as quarterback Tyler Hartranft connected with wide out Dan Kempa for a 47-yard completion moving the ball into Wilkes territory. Three plays later the duo hooked up again this time from 14 yards out to cut the lead to 7-6 following a blocked extra point attempt.

Following a short kickoff that placed Wilkes in excellent field position at its own 46, the Colonels offense went to the ground game and freshman running back Patrick Ingulli (Hawley, PA/Wallenpaupack) delivered his longest run of the season taking a Berntsen handoff 46 yards to the house pushing the lead to 14-6 with 9:42 left in the opening frame.

The Wilkes defense provided a big turnover on King's next possession as the Monarchs were driving once again when Hartranft's pass was picked off by rookie corner Marcus Leaf (Reading, PA/Berks Catholic) in the endzone for a touchback. Wilkes used its longest drive of the afternoon going 80 yards on 14 plays as Berntsen found Jonathan Conklin (Sussex, NJ/Vernon) for a 19-yard touchdown with twenty-one second left in the first quarter. A Jordan Fredo (Williamsport, PA/Williamsport Area) extra point made the score 21-6 Wilkes.

King's next drive took a majority of the second quarter as six penalties were called during the possession halting play. Facing a fourth and nine from the Wilkes 31, Hartranft found Kempa for their second touchdown connection down the left side of the field to cut the Wilkes lea to 21-13 with 4:54 left in the half.

Berntsen continued to put pressure on the King's secondary finding Conklin for a big game over the middle (38 yards) to move the Colonels into King's territory at the 21. PJ Incremona (Wood Ridge, NJ/Wood Ridge) came on in relief of Ingulli and bullied his way to the goal line before scampering in from one yard out to push the lead back to double digits at 28-13.

Another big defensive turnover, this time a J.T. Keer (Lehighton, PA/Marian) interception gave the Wilkes offense the ball back with time left before the halftime buzzer. Keer went stride for stride with a Monarch receiver turning at the last second to pickoff the pass. Berntsen went 2-for-3 on the drive including a 24-yard completion to Drew Devitt (Sinking Spring, PA/Wilson) setting the Colonels up at the King's 3. The junior signal caller used his legs to do the damage going in from three yards out to extend the Wilkes lead to 35-13 with 1:14 left in the second quarter.

King's used one last quick strike to end the half as Hartranft found Kempa for a 51-yard scoring pass with :52 left on the clock. Wilkes continued to hold a 35-20 advantage at the break.

After each team punted the football away on its opening second half drives, Wilkes looked to push the lead and put the game out of reach early in the third quarter. A beautifully design quarterback bootleg put Berntsen in open field rushing 53 yards for a Colonels

touchdown as Wilkes led 42-20 with :19 left in the third.

Two one-yard touchdown runs, first from Hartranft and the second from Kyle McGrath gave King's life midway through the fourth as the Monarchs cut the Wilkes lead to 44-32. Following the second touchdown, King's elected to go for two, but the pass was intercepted by Leaf, his second of the game, and returned 100 yards for a safety on the play.

King's made one last scoring push with 5:20 left, but Tate Moore-Jacobs (New Cumberland, PA/Cedar Cliff) picked off Hartranft at the six yard line to seal the win for the Colonels and send the eight Wilkes senior members off with a victory in their final home contest.

Berntsen was efficient all day finishing 12-for-19 on the afternoon while being named Wilkes' Most Valuable Player of the game. Ingulli collected his third 100+ yard game finishing with 140 yards on 21 carries and one touchdown. Incremona posted 26 yards and one score on eight carries.

Conklin led the Wilkes receivers with five catches for 83 yards and one score.

The Colonel defense caused four turnovers throughout led by Leaf's two picks and five tackles. Moore-Jacobs closed out his junior year with nine tackles and his fourth interception of the season. He also eclipsed the 100+ tackle mark for the season for the second time in his career. Michael Paskas (Rutherford, NJ/Rutherford) and DJ Shuttleworth (Leesport, PA/Schuylkill Valley) each added nine stops.

Hartranft finished 27-for-40 for 408 yards and three touchdowns, with all three scores going to Kempa. Kempa caught 10 passes for a school-record 237 yards on way to being named game MVP for King's.

Jake Ksiaziawics led the Monarchs defense with a game-high 12 tackles.

Wilkes returns a majority of its offensive and defensive starters in 2013 looking to make a run at an MAC championship next season.

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