ANNVILLE, PA – Host Lebanon Valley College took an early two touchdown lead then held on late despite a strong Wilkes University comeback attempt as the Dutchmen posted a 24-19 Middle Atlantic Conference victory Saturday afternoon at Arnold Field.
 
Wilkes suffered its first defeat of the 2022 season falling to 2-1 overall and 1-1 in MAC play. LVC improved to 2-2 overall and 2-0 in league games.
 
LVC wasted little time finding the end zone forcing a Wilkes punt and scoring on its opening drive of the first quarter. The Dutchmen went no huddle shotgun formation and move the ball down the field with both the rush and the pass finishing off the drive with a 38-yard touchdown pass from Braden Bohannon to Ian Murhon to take a 7-0 lead with 7:53 left in the opening quarter.
 
After another Colonel punt, LVC began a second promising drive only to see it stall at the Wilkes eight yard line where a Devin Crone 25-yard field goal was blocked by John Washington (Brooklyn, NY/Eagle Academy) keeping the Dutchmen ahead by seven.
 
Following another Wilkes punt on its third consecutive possession, LVC used a six-play, 46-yard drive capped by Bohannon's second touchdown pass of the day finding Jay Sisko seven yards out for the score pushing the lead to 14-0 with 7:48 left in the first half.
 
The Colonels finally got the offense going on its fourth drive of the game behind the arm of Isaiah Rodriguez (Lebanon, PA/Lebanon) as the sophomore signal-caller connected with Zane Grover (East Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg) for a 56-yard score down the left sideline. Wilkes attempted to go for two, but the play was stopped as the Colonels trailed 14-6 with 4:36 on the second quarter clock.
 
The Wilkes defense came up with a big play late in the first half as LVC drove down the field to setup a fourth and one from the Wilkes four yard line with under a minute remaining until the break. The defense stiffened and stopped a Bohannon sneak up the middle as the Dutchmen settled for an eight point lead at the half.
 
Wilkes continued its defensive momentum at the start of the third quarter forcing an LVC punt and setting up the Colonel offense at its own 45. Rushes from Rodriguez and Elijah Jules (Red Bank, NJ/Red Bank Catholic) moved the ball down to the LVC 12 before Elijah Jules (Red Bank, NJ/Red Bank Catholic) went in from four yards out to cut the deficit to 14-12. A two-point try was called back for holding and then a Nick Volpone (Delco, PA/Ridley) extra point failed as Wilkes continued to trail by two with 7:37 left in the third.
 
LVC went to the ground and short pass plays on its next drive with runs of six and 10 yards followed by two ten yard pass completions that moved the Dutchmen to the Wilkes one yard line. Bohannon snuck in and pushed the advantage to 21-12 following a successful point after.
 
LVC added a 27-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 24-12 with 7:40 remaining in the game.
 
On the ensuing Wilkes possession, Rodriguez went to Grover again this time for a 48-yard completion to move the Colonels inside the LVC 30. After a successful 4^th and 11 conversion, Rodriguez connected with Jimmy Johnson (Fallston, MD/Fallston) for a 17-yard pitch and catch as Wilkes trailed by just five following Volpone's extra point.
 
The Wilkes defense did its job one last time forcing an LVC punt giving the ball back to the offense with just over two minutes left to play and a chance to mount the winning drive. Four straight incomplete passes ended the hopes of a comeback as LVC ran out the rest of the clock to secure the home MAC victory.
 
Rodriguez finished 8-for-22 passing with 152 yards and two touchdowns. Jules was the top rusher for Wilkes finishing with 11 carries for 55 yards and one score. Grove enjoyed a career day on the outside hauling in three catches for 110 yards and one touchdown.
 
Bohannon was the difference for LVC accounting for all three scores throwing for 173 yards (17-for-26) while rushing for 99 yards (23 carries).
 
Brandon Holcomb (Boynton Beach, FL/Boca Raton) topped the Colonel defense with a career-high 15 tackles while Steele Hess (Allentown, PA/Whitehall) followed with 10 stops including 1.0 tackles-for-loss.
 
Wilkes returns home to Schmidt Stadium on Saturday hosting Albright College in a MAC matchup on Homecoming with kickoff scheduled for 12:00 p.m.