DALLAS, PA – Behind freshman wide receiver David Claybrook (Piscataway, NJ/Piscataway)'s career day receiving (6 receptions/103 yards/2 touchdowns), the Wilkes University football team posted a 33-14 Middle Atlantic Conference victory at Misericordia University Saturday afternoon at Mangelsdorf field.

Wilkes evens its overall mark at 2-2 and moves to 1-2 in MAC play following the win. Misericordia remains winless at 0-4 and 0-3 in league games. The win also marked the 300th victory in the program's 68-year history.

The Wilkes defense came up big early when DJ Shuttleworth (Leesport, PA/Schuylkill Valley) forced a Jeff Puckett fumble returning the ball 26 yards into the endzone. An illegal block on the return negated the touchdown as the Colonel offense took over deep in Misericordia territory. The drive stalled at the Misericordia 11 as Wilkes settled for a Jordan Fredo (Williamsport, PA/Williamsport Area) 29-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead.

After the Wilkes defense caused a four and out, the Colonels offense began at the Misericordia 32 after a 22-yard punt. Two rushing plays moved the ball to the Cougar 8 before Taylor Young (Catawissa, PA/Southern Columbia) found Claybrook deep in the right side of the endzone for a Wilkes touchdown. A Fredo extra point extended the advantage to 10-0 with 1:28 left in the first quarter.

Misericordia answered with a 9-play, 62-yard drive capped off by a Puckett one yard touchdown sneak to cut the Wilkes lead to 10-7 with 2:31 left until the half. A promising Wilkes drive to end the half stalled at midfield as the Colonels ran out the first half clock facing a fourth down play.

The Colonels wasted little time finding the endzone to start the second half as the ground game, primarily PJ Incremona (Wood Ridge, NJ/Wood Ridge), moved the ball into Misericordia territory. From there, Young found Jonathan Conklin (Sussex, NJ/Vernon) on a fade route to the left side for a 23-yard touchdown reception, his second throwing score of the contest, as Wilkes took a 17-7 lead early in the third quarter.

Misericordia responded scoring its second touchdown of the afternoon when Puckett found a streaking Juwan Petties-Jackson for a 43-yard touchdown reception on the next possessionn. An extra point cut the Wilkes advantage to 17-14 with 7:45 left in the third quarter.

The Young-Claybrook connection struck again midway through the fourth quarter as Young found a wide open Claybrook down the left side of the field on a post route for a 32-yard touchdown. It marked Claybrook's second scoring reception of the day putting Wilkes ahead 24-14 with 10:24 left in the game.

Facing a fourth and one on its own 29 yard-line, Misericordia would be stuffed at the line of scrimmage as the Wilkes defense came up with a game-clinching play to setup the offense once more. Wilkes settled for a 26-yard field goal to up the advantage to 27-14 with just under seven minutes remaining.

One more Misericordia four and out led to a Patrick Ingulli (Hawley, PA/Wallenpaupack) three-yard touchdown run to seal the victory for Wilkes as the Colonels picked up their first MAC win of 2013, 33-14.

Young was poised in the pocket in his first collegiate start finishing 13-for-21 for 179 yards passing and three scores. He also ran for 40 more yards on broken plays and direct runs. Ingulli led the ground attack with 62 yards on 18 carries, while Incremona followed with 60 yards on 13 attempts. As a team, Wilkes rushed for 182 yards and one touchdown.

Claybrook was outstanding on the edge for the Colonels posting career-highs in catches (6), touchdowns (2) and yards (103). Alex George (York, PA/West York) added four catches for 31 yards including several first down receptions from his tight end position late in the contest.

Tate Moore-Jacobs (New Cumberland, PA/Cedar Cliff) led the Wilkes defense with 11 tackles, 1.5 coming for a loss. Michael Paskas (Rutherford, NJ/Rutherford) followed with 11 stops while Michael Fitz (Phillipsburg, NJ/Phillipsburg) made eight tackles in his first collegiate start at defensive end.

Wilkes returns home next Saturday hosting Lebanon Valley College at 1:00 p.m. at Schmidt Stadium. The game marks Homecoming 2013 for Wilkes where the 1993 MAC Championship team and MAC All-Century selections will be honored prior to the game and at halftime.