Rushing Defense Stifles as Wilkes Football Downs Lebanon Valley 30-24
EDWARDSVILLE – On a cloudy Saturday afternoon, the Wilkes University football team's run support was the star of the show as the Colonels defeated Lebanon Valley College 30-24 at Schmidt Stadium in non-conference action. This is Wilkes' first 2-0 start since the 2009 season, when the Colonels opened with three consecutive victories.
The run defense held a Dutchmen ground game that averaged 5.3 yards-per-carry in week one to just 2.7 yards-per-attempt, with Wilkes' defense now holding opponents to 2.6 yards-per-carry through two games.
After LVC deferred on the coin toss, the Colonels took the ball from their own 19 yard line, and after a delay of game penalty, took the ball 81 yards highlighted by a 24-yard completion from quarterback Jose Tabora (Egg Harbor Township, NJ/St. Augustine Prep.) to wide receiver Richard Ermeus (Hillside, NJ/David Brearley), and a 39-yard touchdown to Derek Nelson (Pompton Plains, NJ/Pequannock) on a flea-flicker, but the Colonels were unable to convert the extra point as Wilkes led 6-0 after three-and-a-half minutes of play.
The Colonels defense held strong on LVC's first possession, allowing 53 yards on 12 plays culminating in a 26-yard field goal attempt that sailed wide right keeping the score at 6-0.
Wilkes' following possession resulted in a punt, giving the Dutchmen the ball as they went on an eight-play, 31-yard drive culminating in a successful 41-yard field goal attempt to cut Wilkes' lead to 6-3 with 13:21 remaining in the second quarter.
After a Colonel interception set up LVC at its own 42, Wilkes' defense forced a three-and-out resulting in a punt. With 11:29 left in the first half, the Colonels started at their own 27 and reeled off a 14-play, 73-yard drive. With a third-and-one from the Wilkes 38, Kamaal Reed (Egg Harbor City, NJ/Cedar Creek) took a hand-off from Tabora 29 yards to the Dutchmen 33 yard line. With the Colonels facing a third-and-eight from the LVC 20, Tabora found Nick Yanik (Edison, NJ/Edison Twp.) for a 17-yard gain to the Dutchmen three, followed by a fourth-and-goal completion from Tabora to Bryce Harrison (Hunlock Creek, PA/Northwest) for a two-yard touchdown catch. The extra-point by Alexander DeSpirito (Wilkes-Barre, PA/Crestwood) pushed Wilkes' lead to 13-3 with 3:31 showing in the first half.
The Colonels defense clamped down on LVC again on its next possession, allowing 18 yards on four plays and forcing another punt. Wilkes took the ball back at its own 49 after a 13-yard punt and marched 51 plays on just four plays as Tabora completed a 15-yard pass to Ermeus and a 13-yard pass to Nelson sandwiched between a defensive pass interference call against the Dutchmen, capped by a three-yard scoring run from Jeremiah Acker (Moscow, PA/North Pocono), combined with a DeSpirito kick to give Wilkes a 20-3 lead with 39 seconds on the clock.
LVC drove 75 yards in just four pays on its next possession with chunk yardage plays of 23, 20, and a 17-yard touchdown pass over only 34 seconds as the Colonels entered halftime leading 20-10.
On the kickoff to start the second half, the Dutchmen took the ball at their own eight-yard line and got to the 20 before Aidan Sinisgalli (Lake Hopatcong, NJ/Jefferson Twp.) recovered a fumble, setting Wilkes up with the ball at the Dutchmen's 24-yard line. The Colonels were unable to take advantage of the opportunity as a field goal opportunity went wide right.
Wilkes' defense held LVC to one yard on three plays to force another punt, but a false start penalty stifled the Colonels drive and forced a punt, followed by another punt from the Dutchmen after another three-play, one-yard drive.
Wilkes got the ball back on its own five after a 45-yard punt, and took the ball all the way down to the LVC three-yard line. The Colonels were unable to punch it in, instead taking a 20-yard field goal from DeSpirito to push the lead to 23-10 with 1:45 remaining in the third quarter.
The defense stepped up yet again on the next Dutchmen possession, stopping LVC on a third-and-two from its own 28 to force another three-and-out punt.
Wilkes took the ball back at its own 26 yard line and marched all the way down the field with a JaQuan Sheals (Dallas, TX/Cheshire Academy) five-yard touchdown run and DeSpirito extra point putting the Colonels in front 30-10 with 10:29 remaining in the game. The drive was highlighted by s 31-yard pass completion from Tabora to Ermeus on a second-and-eight from LVC's 46, pushing the ball up to the 15.
Once again, the defense forced a three-and-out allowing zero net yards. The Dutchmen punt travelled 60 yards before being downed at the Colonels five-yard line. Wilkes followed with a punt of its own, but after retaking the ball at the Colonels 43-yard line Lebanon Valley covered the 43 yards over six plays capped with a seven-yard touchdown catch and extra-point PAT to cut Wilkes' advantage to 30-17 with 6:20 left in the game.
After a Colonels punt, the Dutchmen went 74 yards on four plays highlighted by a 48-yard pass pickup culminating in a six-yard touchdown catch and PAT as Wilkes' advantage sat at 30-24 with 4:29 left.
Trying to run out the clock and facing a fourth-and-five, Tabora found Yanick across the middle for an 11-yard pickup, allowing the Colonels to enter victory formation for two kneel-downs to end the game.
Tabora finished 24-of-33 for 279 yards and two touchdowns with one interception for Wilkes while Kody Kegarise totaled 238 yards on 16-for-28 passing with three touchdowns. Reed finished with a game-high 62 yard on nine carries and Acker added 37 yards on 14 carries and one score. Nelson finished with a game-high 110 yards on seven receptions and one touchdown. Ermeus added 85 yard on five catches and Yanik contributed seven catches and 57 yards.
On the defensive side, Gabe Allgyer (Paradise, PA/Pequea Valley) and Cole Jesmer (Dover, PA/Dover) finished with seven tackles and Jason Hampton (Lakeland, FL/Lakeland) added two pass breakups.
Wilkes gained 22 total first downs while holding Lebanon Valley to 15, outgained the Dutchmen 129-61 on the ground, and finished with 408 yards of total offense while holding Lebanon Valley to 299 yards. The Colonels finished seven-for-15 on third down and two-for-two on fourth down, while possessing the ball for 38:17 compared to 21:36 for the Dutchmen.
Wilkes hits the road next week to open Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) play at Lycoming College with kickoff scheduled for 1:00 p.m. The Colonels earned a 14-7 victory last season against the Warriors at Schmidt Stadium in the team's most recent matchup.
