EDWARDSVILLE – Elijah Jules (Red Bank, NJ/Red Bank Catholic) ran for 115 yards and two touchdowns and the Colonel defense held visiting Albright College to just 87 total yards of offense as the Wilkes University football team posted a 27-0 shutout over the Lions in Middle Atlantic Conference play on Homecoming at Schmidt Stadium Saturday afternoon.
 
Wilkes improved to 3-1 overall and 2-1 in MAC games while Albright remained winless standing 0-5 and 0-3 in conference contests.
 
After the Colonels defense forced the first of eight Albright punts to start the game, Wilkes began its first scoring drive in Albright territory at the 48. The Colonels went to Jules early and often on the ground as the junior tailback ran for gains of 23 yards, 10 yards and finally another 10 yard run into the end zone to give Wilkes a 7-0 lead with 8:51 left in the first quarter.
 
Early in the second quarter, quarterback Isaiah Rodriguez (Lebanon, PA/Lebanon) connected on a designed screen pass to Jules which went for 60 yards putting the Colonels inside the Lions ten yard line. From there Rodriguez called his own number as the signal-caller dashed in from eight yards out to extend the lead to 14-0 with 6:56 left in the half.
 
Wilkes kept its two touchdown lead until late in the third quarter as Jules ran free again on a promising drive with gains of 10, 18 and five to move the ball to the Albright 15. From there he went for five more and capped the drive with a scamper from ten yards away scoring his second touchdown of the day to push the advantage to 21-0.
 
Wilkes added two Nick Volpone (Delco, PA/Ridley) field goals in the final frame as the first year was good from 27 and 31 yards respectively.
 
Wilkes led in all statistical categories but especially controlled the line of scrimmage and the ground game as the Colonels finished with 395 yards of total offense with 232 coming by way of the run.
 
Jules finished with  15 carries for 115 and the two scores. Walter Lewis (Sicklerville, NJ/Timber Creek) followed with nine carries for 55 yards. Jules also led all the Wilkes receivers with two catches for 62 yards. Nate Whitaker (Upper Darby, PA/Haverford School) added four receptions for 49 yards.
 
Rodriguez was solid throughout passing the ball finishing 11-for-27 for 163 yards.
 
Defensively, everyone on the squad contributed in some fashion on way to the shutout. Brandon Holcomb (Boynton Beach, FL/Boca Raton) led the way with eight tackles while Steele Hess (Allentown, PA/Whitehall) followed with seven stops and a half sack. Angel Ramos (Allentown, PA/Parkland) contributed six tackles, 2.5 tackles-for-loss and 1.5 sacks.
 
Albright recorded just five first downs and was limited to 68 yards on the ground and 19 yards through the air.
 
Wilkes continues MAC play next Saturday traveling to Alvernia University for a 12:00 p.m. matchup.