EDWARDSVILLE – In a thrilling season opener Saturday afternoon, Wilkes University football lost a close non-conference contest 27-23, conceding the Mayor's Cup to the rival King's College Monarchs at Schmidt Stadium.
 
The first quarter was a defensive duel, as both teams went scoreless in the first frame. The Colonels then opened the scoring in the second quarter, when Isaiah Rodriguez (Lebanon, PA/Lebanon) connected with Jimmy Johnson (Fallston, MD/Fallston) for an 80-yard touchdown. A few minutes later, Xavier Powell (Poughkeepsie, NY/Arlington) doubled the lead on a flea flicker thrown by Zane Grover (East Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg) to give the Colonels a 14-0 lead.
 
Towards the end of the first half, the Monarchs got on the board as Jayon Hailey scored on an 18 yard pass from Russell Minor-Shaw. On the ensuing extra point attempt, John Washington (Brooklyn, NY/Eagle Academy) blocked the kick after a bad snap. The ball bounced right into the hands of Jesse Addesso (Staten Island, NY/St. Joseph's by the Sea) who ran the kick to the house to score two points. The Colonels entered halftime with a 16-6 lead.
 
In the third quarter, momentum shifted into the hands of the Monarchs as they held the ball for over ten minutes across two drives, scoring touchdowns on both. First, Minor-Shaw sprinted through the defense 44 yards to score. The second was an eight yard pass from Minor-Shaw to Mike DiGregorio to give King's a 20-16 lead.
 
The Colonels opened the fourth quarter with a methodical drive of their own, led by Elijah Jules (Red Bank, NJ/Red Bank Catholic) on the ground and finished through the air with an 11 yard touchdown pass from Rodriguez to Devin Higgins (Pennington, NJ/Hopewell Valley). This gave the Colonels the lead back, 23-20.
 
On the following drive, Lance Priestas (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty) delivered the first sack of the game for Wilkes on the elusive Minor-Shaw to force the Monarchs to punt. A 26 yard Jules rush set the Colonels up with good field position, but they were unable to turn it into points as the King's defense stopped them on fourth and one at the Monarchs' 13 yard line.
 
King's had one last drive with 2:37 to go in the game. After converting on a fourth and four, Priestas pinned the Monarchs back with a ten yard sack on Minor-Shaw, but costly penalties on the Colonels kept the King's drive alive.
 
The Monarchs then continued to drive down the field and ultimately put the game away with a six yard touchdown pass to Ryan McCombs with 12 seconds left to put them up 27-23.
 
Johnson was named Wilkes' MVP after a four-reception, 113 yard outing with one touchdown to lead the Colonels through the air. Rodriguez went 17-26 with 223 yards and two touchdowns. On the ground, Jules picked up where he left off last season, recording 101 yards on 19 carries.
 
On defense, Addesso and Donell Mackey-Woodson (Hartford, CT/Southington) led the team with eight tackles each while Priestas led the team with two sacks for a combined loss of 17 yards.
 
Minor-Shaw was named the Monarchs' MVP, going 29-43 for 260 yards and three touchdowns. He also led the team in rushing, gaining 82 yards on 13 carries with one touchdown. EJ Schreiner led the King's receivers with seven receptions for 85 yards.
 
The Colonels hit the road next Saturday to take on Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Kickoff is set for 12:00 p.m.