WILLIAMSPORT, PA –Trailing by 16 points with just over ten minutes left to play, the Wilkes University football team scored two unanswered touchdowns only to see its comeback fall short in a 30-27 Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) loss at Lycoming College Saturday afternoon at David Person Field.
 
Wilkes dropped to 6-2 overall and 5-2 in MAC play following the road defeat. Lycoming improved to 6-2 overall and 5-2 in league games and jumped ahead of the Colonels in the conference standings into second place. Wilkes remains in sole possession of third place entering the final two games of the regular season.
 
Lycoming pushed its advantage to the largest of the game up 30-14 when Ian Plankenhorn nailed a 20-yard field goal with 10:28 left in the fourth quarter.
 
From there Wilkes went to the air and sophomore receiver Nate Whitaker (Upper Darby, PA/Haverford School), who torched the Warriors secondary all afternoon on way to career-highs of 226 yards and three touchdowns. Xavier Powell (Poughkeepsie, NY/Arlington) found Whitaker streaking down the left side for an 85-yard touchdown with 6:16 left in the game to cut the Lycoming advantage to 30-20 following a failed two-point conversion.
 
After the Wilkes defense forced a turnover on downs on the Warriors next possession, it was Powell to Whitaker again for a 51-yard completion that moved the ball down to the Lycoming 21. Two plays later Powell found Whitaker for the four yard touchdown to move Wilkes to within three following a Justin Pollack (Sloatsburg, NY/Suffern) extra point.
 
With no timeouts remaining, Wilkes had one last attempt to secure the ball back for the comeback, but Pollack's on-side kick was recovered by Lycoming where the Warriors were able to take a knee and run out the remaining 1:37 of the contest.
 
Wilkes opened the game scoring first as Jose Tabora (Egg Harbor Township, NJ/St. Augustine Prep.) rushed in from 12 yards out to give the Colonels a 7-0 lead after one quarter. Lycoming answered back five seconds into the second frame as Elijah Shemory connected with Kevin Krawczyk for a 17-yard pitch-and-catch tying the game at 7.
 
Shemory then found Tyjah During for an 80-yard touchdown pass and added another Plankenhorn field goal (33 yards) right before the half ended to take a 17-7 lead to the break.
 
The Lycoming defense scored the game's next points as Andrew Jackson recovered a fumble and ran it back seven yards for the score pushing the Lycoming lead to 24-7 with 13:01 left in the third quarter.
 
Whitaker made good on his first touchdown of the game midway through the third quarter hauling in his second 50+ yard pass from Powell, a 53-yard score with 8:23 left in the third frame that brought Wilkes to within ten at 24-14 setting up the final quarter of scoring for both teams.
 
Whitaker was the story offensively for Wilkes hauling in seven catches for 226 yards and three touchdowns. Powell entered after halftime and finished 8-for-17 for 224 yards and a career-best three touchdowns, all to Whitaker. Tabora finished 10-for-14 for 83 yards while also rushing 10 times for a team-high 32 yards.
 
Dante Gazzola (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East) led the Wilkes defensive unit with a team-high eight tackles, while Angel Ramos (Breinigsville, PA/Parkland) finished with a career-best five stops including three for a loss.
 
Wilkes returns home next Saturday when the Colonels host #10 Delaware Valley (8-0, 6-0 MAC) on Senior Day at Schmidt Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m.