Wilkes Football Suffers First Defeat of Season
EDWARDSVILLE – The Wilkes University football team suffered its first defeat of the 2019 season, dropping a 42-0 decision to No. 16-ranked Delaware Valley University on Saturday afternoon at Schmidt Stadium in Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) action.
The Colonels are now 3-1 in conference and 5-1 overall.
Wilkes' defense started the game with a strong first showing, holding Delaware Valley to a three-and-out. After the Colonels went three-and-out on their first offensive possession, the Aggies started their next drive at their own 44 and drove 56 yards on five plays culminating in a 25 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Anthony Fontana to Dan Allen, with the extra-point bringing the score to 7-0 with 9:44 left in the first quarter.
Wilkes followed with a three-and-out on its next drive, and on the ensuing punt Delaware Valley's returner went 64 yards for the touchdown to make the score 14-0 after the PAT with 8:20 on the clock in the first.
After the Colonels offense stalled on the next drive, the Aggies drove 76 yards across six plays, but with a fourth-and-one from Wilkes' one-yard line, Fontana fumbled the snap, which was recovered by Gabe Allgyer (Paradise, PA/Pequea Valley) at the seven.
Both teams exchanged possessions over the next eight minutes before Delaware Valley started a drive at the Colonels 44 yard-line and went 44 yards over seven plays for a 19-yard touchdown pass with PAT kick making the score 21-0, which is where the score stayed heading into halftime.
Wilkes got the ball to start the second half, but on the second play quarterback Jose Tabora's (Egg Harbor Township, NJ/St. Augustine Prep.) pass attempt was intercepted as the receiver and defensive back met as the ball arrived, popping Tabora's throw into the arms of an Aggie player.
Delaware Valley got the ball down to the Colonels 16 yard-line, but missed a field goal attempt to give the Colonels the ball at their own 20.
The next three drives resulted in punts (two for Wilkes, on for the Aggies). On the Colonels second possession, the punt was blocked out-of-bounds at the one yard-line, which was followed by a quarterback rush for the touchdown and PAT making the score 28-0 with just over four minutes left in the third quarter.
After a Colonel punt put Delaware Valley at its own 36 yard-line, the Aggies capped a six-play, 64-yard drive with a 30-yard touchdown pass and PAT making the score 35-0 with 14:37 remaining in the game.
Delaware Valley finished the scoring with a 60-yard touchdown pass and PAT to reach the final.
Tabora finished the game 10-of-22 for 80 yards while Nate Whitaker (Upper Darby, PA/Haverford School) hauled in two receptions for 47 yards.
Pat Ricci (Gilbertsville, PA/Boyertown) led the defense with two sacks. Cole Jesmer (Dover, PA/Dover) and Dane Tarantelli (Gordon, PA/North Schuylkill) each added a sack of their own, respectively. Bud Moyer (Tamaqua, PA/Tamaqua) finished with 12 total tackles for Wilkes.
The Colonels return to action on Saturday when they travel to Misericordia University for a 1:00 MAC contest.
