READING, PA – Trailing by 11 points with four minutes left in the game, visiting Wilkes University scored two touchdowns in its final two drives to complete a come-from-behind 31-28 Middle Atlantic Conference victory over host Albright College Saturday afternoon at Gene L. Shirk Stadium.
 
The win keeps the Colonels unbeaten at 5-0 overall and 4-0 in MAC games halfway through the season. Albright dropped to 2-4 overall and 1-3 in league contests.
 
Leading 21-10 to start the fourth quarter, Wilkes' Kamaal Reed (Egg Harbor City, NJ/Cedar Creek) found daylight on a 39-yard run cutting the Lions led to four following a Justin Pollack (Sloatsburg, NY/Suffern) extra point with 10:52 on the clock. Six minutes later Albright responded with what looked to be a game-sealing touchdown when Malik Bootman scored on a three yard run to push the advantage back to eleven at 28-17 with just 4:25 remaining.
 
From there it was the Wilkes offense that provided all the dramatics and big plays needed to start and finish the comeback. On the ensuing drive following the Albright touchdown, Jose Tabora (Egg Harbor Township, NJ/St. Augustine Prep.) found Nate Whitaker (Upper Darby, PA/Haverford School) for a first down pitch-and-catch moving the ball to the Wilkes 28. The next play the duo connected again, this time for a 40-yard completion that put the Colonels inside the Lions 25. After an incomplete pass, Tabora hit Whitaker down the left sideline and the sophomore did the rest scampering down the line for a 22-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 28-24 with 3:16 left in the game.
 
Albright then looked to seal the game on its next drive using two rushes to move the ball to midfield and forcing Wilkes to use its final two timeouts. Facing a third and one, Albright looked to have reach the first down on a quarterback sneak, but the Lions were flagged for an illegal shift forcing a replay of third down and six. Dante Gazzola (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East) then made the biggest play of the day for the Colonel defense sacking the Lions quarterback for a ten yard loss and forcing a punt with 1:38 remaining.
 
From there Wilkes began its game-winning drive as Tabora used his legs to escape a Lions rush and run for 13 yards to the Wilkes 41 gaining a first down on the play. After a six-yard completion to Jacob Katz (New City, NY/Clarkson North), Tabora rushed for seven more yards as Wilkes moved to the Albright 46. On the next play, Wilkes completed the comeback when Tabora connected with Devin Higgins (Pennington, NJ/Hopewell Valley) for a 46-yard touchdown to give the Colonels the 31-28 lead with :27 left.
 
Albright had one last chance on its final drive, but a hail mary attempt was knocked down and the Colonels escaped with the three-point road victory.
 
Reed was the story in the first half as the sophomore rushed for over 100 yards and one score in the second quarter that tied the game at 7-7. Albright hit on a big play right before the half to take the lead into the break when Todd Shelley found Carmine Azzari for a 71-yard touchdown pass.
 
Justin Pollack (Sloatsburg, NY/Suffern) added a field goal midway through the third quarter that cut the lead to 14-10 and setup the final sequence of scoring in the contest.

Tabora struggled to find a rhythm in the first half, but found his way in the final moments finishing 10-for-26 passing for 181 yards and two scores. He also ran five times for 16 yards.
 
Reed was efficient in his runs all game finishing with a career-best 175 yards on 22 carries and two touchdowns.
 
Whitaker enjoyed his best game of the season posting four catches for 92 yards and one score. Higgins notched the game-winning catch, the first of his collegiate career.
 
Oyame Adoga (Clementon, NJ/Highland Regional) and D. Gazzola led the Wilkes defensive unit with eight tackles each. Gaccola added one sack and an interception.
 
Wilkes continues its road stretch next Saturday with a MAC matchup at Widener University (5-1, 3-1 MAC) starting at 1:00 p.m.