MADISON, N.J. –It took a total team effort on Friday evening as the offense was hot in the first half and cooled off in the second of the Wilkes University football team's 31-16 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham in a primetime Middle Atlantic Conference matchup under the lights. The constant producer throughout the night was the defense, which had its strongest contest of the season against a high-powered offense.

The Colonels improved to 3-2 in conference and 4-3 overall with the win. The current three-game win streak is the longest for Wilkes since the Colonels matched that streak twice during the 2009 season.

The defense was the story of the game, limiting FDU-Florham quarterback Jagger Green, who entered the game seventh in the nation averaging 322.2 yards-per-game and fourth with 20 passing touchdowns to just 169 yards through the air, one touchdown, and three interceptions. Wide receiver Mike Panzarino entered the game ranked No. 1 in Division III in receptions and receptions-per-game, second in receiving yards-per-game, tied for third in touchdown catches, and fourth in receiving yards, leading the MAC in each, but the Colonels were up to the task as he finished with four receptions for 33 yards and zero scores.

Wilkes started the night off in fast fashion, scoring on each of its first two possessions. After FDU-Florham won the coin toss and deferred, the Colonel offense marched 88 yards in eight plays capped by a 49-yard Jose Tabora (Egg Harbor Township, NJ/St. Augustine Prep.) pass to Juan Salas-Negron (Laurys Station, PA/Parkland) and David Kutteroff (Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg) PAT to go up 7-0 with 10:13 remaining in the first quarter.

Wilkes cut the Devils first drive of the game short after five plays when Devon Fink (Pottstown, PA/Pottsgrove) intercepted Green's third-and-four pass attempt from their own 36 at the Colonels 38-yard line, giving the Colonels the ball back and decent field position. Wilkes proceeded to drive 62 yards over seven plays, with Tabora hitting three receivers and running back Jason Wiley (Port Chester, NY/Port Chester ) picking up 19 yards on the ground leading to a Tabora 20-yard scoring strike to Jeff Steeber (Shickshinny, PA/Berwick), followed by a second PAT from Kutteroff.

Kutteroff was forced into a long kickoff because of a penalty after the play, setting up the Devils for a short field starting at their own 43. FDU-Florham took advantage as Green connected on five-of-six pass attempts in a seven-play, 57-yard touchdown drive to cut the Colonels lead to 14-7, which is where the score stood at the end of the first quarter.

Wilkes had the ball as the first quarter became the second, but it was much of the same as Tabora completed six-of-eight pass attempts to march the Colonels 80 yards in 12 plays as he again found Steeber in the end zone with a 24-yard touchdown toss with a Kutteroff PAT to follow as Wilkes went up 21-7 with 9:59 remaining in the first half.

After the Colonels forced the Devils to punt following a six-yard drive that netted nine total yards, Nick Yanik (Edison, NJ/Edison Twp.) took the FDU-Florham kick from the Wilkes 21 and scampered 25 yards to give the Colonels another manageable start from its own 46. The offense refused to slow down as Tabora found Steeber yet again in the end zone with a 39-yard completion capping off an eight-play, 54-yard drive as Wilkes extended its advantage to 28-7 with 2:45 on the first half clock following yet another Kutteroff PAT.

On the ensuing kickoff, Josh Rainey took the kick at the Devil's 16 and sprinted through the Colonels' coverage team, appearing to be off to the races before Kutteroff brought him down at the Wilkes 47-yard line. It was a fortunate play by the freshman kicker because after a three-yard run and an incomplete pass, Green threw his second interception of the game, this time to Nahjir Woods (Piscataway NJ/Piscataway ) at the Colonels' 30, returning it five yards to the Wilkes 35.

Wilkes held the ball as the half wound down but FDU-Florham was able to keep the Colonels out of the end zone as the team chose to kick a 31-yard field goal with six seconds remaining as Wilkes entered halftime with a 31-7 lead. The 31 first half points are the most the Colonels have put up since week two of the 2014 season, when Wilkes posted 34 points over the first 30 minutes of a 41-7 victory over Misericordia.

The third quarter was a different story, as four Colonels drives resulted in zero points. The Devils began to chip away as Wilkes' first drive resulted in a punt attempt with the snap sailing past the punter and out of the end zone for a safety. After taking the ensuing punt from their own 41 after a 16 yard return, FDU-Florham marched 59 yards in seven plays capped by five-yard touchdown pass from Panzarino as Wilkes held steady at 31-16 with 7:49 remaining in the third.

The defense kept the Devils off the field in the fourth quarter as Fink snatched his second interception, this time on a pass attempt by Rainey, a wide receiver. This one loomed large as Fink took it away at the Wilkes two-yard line on a short field and returned it to the Colonels 26 to give the offense some breathing room.  

Both teams were unable to score over their next two drives as Wilkes punted twice and FDU-Florham once, but with the Devils making steady progress into Colonel territory the defense struck again as Michael Murphy (Boyertown, PA/Boyertown) intercepted a Green pass at the Wilkes 35-yard line to keep the score 31-16 in the Colonels favor with 4:31 left in the game. The interception sealed the game as Wilkes was able to run out the clock with four first downs as FDU-Florham had one remaining timeout to burn after using one in the third and earlier in the fourth.

Tabora again was masterful, finishing 25-of-38 with 313 yards and four touchdown passes. Brandon Taragna (Telford, PA/Souderton) led the ground game as he totaled a career-high 62 yards on nine carries. Steeber hauled in nine receptions for 127 yards, reaching 100 catches for his career with the sixth one of the night, also contributing three scores through the air. Salas-Negron chipped in five catches for 75 yards and a touchdown.

Bud Moyer (Tamaqua, PA/Tamaqua) finished with a team-high eight total tackles. Fink finished with five solo tackles, two interceptions, matching his career-high for a game set in last season's Mayor's Cup game at King's, also adding a tackle-for-loss. Dane Tarantelli (Gordon, PA/North Schuylkill) and Derek Schneider (Spotswood, NJ/Spotswood) had the lone sacks for the Wilkes defense.

Kutteroff made his lone field goal and was perfect on PAT attempts while averaging 49.0 yards on his seven kickoffs.

The Colonels return to the gridiron next Saturday when they travel to Stevenson University for a 12:00 p.m. MAC game.