WILLIAMSPORT, PA – Leading by six with under four minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Wilkes University defense held strong forcing a turnover on downs as host Lycoming College was driving for the game-tying score as the Colonels held on for a 48-35 Landmark Conference victory Saturday afternoon at Frank Girardi Stadium.
 
Wilkes picked up its second straight win moving to 2-4 overall and 2-0 in Landmark play. Lycoming dropped to 0-5 overall and 0-1 in league games.
 
Following an Xavier Powell (Poughkeepsie, NY/Arlington) one yard rush for the Colonels fifth offensive touchdown of the afternoon that put Wilkes ahead 40-21, Lycoming answered with back-to-back scores to cut the lead to 41-35 with under seven minutes left in the game.
 
The teams traded turnovers as the Warriors fumbled on their next possession only to take the ball back on an interception with 3:28 on the fourth quarter clock setting up their final drive at their own 26 yard line. The Wilkes defense held true and forced a 4^th and 15 where a Lycoming pass sailed high and over the intended receiver to give the Colonels the ball back with a chance to seal the league win.
 
Powell went back to the ground using quarterback runs to move the ball down to the Lycoming 14 where the junior signal-caller would run in for the sixth and final offensive touchdown of the day for Wilkes sealing the Landmark win in the process as the Colonels led 48-35 following a Nick Volpone (Delco, PA/Ridley) extra point.
 
Lycoming opened the game scoring first as Will Fish found Brendan Clark for a six yard score through the air giving the Warriors a 7-0 lead with 8:19 on the first quarter clock.
 
Wilkes responded with its defense as Tallen Murray (Vineland, NJ/Saint Joseph Academy), the reigning Landmark Conference Defensive Athlete of the Week, intercepted a Fish pass and returned it 21 yards for the touchdown to cut the lead to 7-6.
 
Wilkes took its first lead of the contest one possession later as Isaiah Rodriguez (Lebanon, PA/Lebanon) scrambled and hit Ben Contella (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills) in the back of the end zone as the Colonels led 13-7 with :17 left in the first quarter.
 
JayJay Jordan (Reading, PA/Berks Catholic) continued where he left off against Juniata a week ago rushing 48 yards for a score to extended the Colonels lead to 20-7 early in the second quarter. After a Lycoming score cut into the lead, Rodriguez found Justin Moore (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern Regional) for a 25-yard touchdown to keep Wilkes ahead 27-14 with 7:07 left in the first half. Lycoming added a late score before Rodriguez continued to put pressure on the Warriors secondary just before the half ended as the sophomore connected with rookie Juju Fears (Easton, PA/Easton Area) for a 24-yard score as Wilkes took a  34-21 lead to the break.
 
From there it was Powell's first rushing score that put Wilkes up by 19 setting up the final scoring sequence over the third and fourth quarters.
 
Rodriguez finished 20-for-30 passing for 232 yards and three touchdowns. His top target was Jimmy Johnson (Fallston, MD/Fallston) who finished with five catches for 53 yards. Fears, Moore and Contella each caught a touchdown in the road win.
 
The Wilkes rushing game proved to be the difference on offense controlling the line of scrimmage throughout the game. Elijah Jules (Red Bank, NJ/Red Bank Catholic) finished with 17 carries for a season-high 125 yards. Jordan finished with 11 carries and 91 yards including one score while Powell added 46 yards on five rushes and two more scores.
 
Jesse Addesso (Staten Island, NY/St. Joseph's by the Sea) led the defense with seven total tackles while Murray provided the defensive touchdown returning the interception for the score.
 
Jordan also broke the single-season record for return yards in the win finishing with four returns for 87 yard bringing his season total to 545 yards breaking the previous mark held by Nate Whitaker (Upper Darby, PA/Haverford School) (513 yards) in 2019.
 
Wilkes returns home Saturday hosting Keystone College in another Landmark Conference matchup scheduled for 12:00 p.m. at Schmidt Stadium.