Wilkes Football Picks Up Historic Homecoming Victory over Juniata 63-14

 
EDWARDSVILLE - The Wilkes University football team dominated in the first ever Landmark Conference football game, a 63-14 victory over Juniata College on homecoming at Schmidt Stadium on Saturday afternoon, breaking the single-game record for total offense in the process.

The Colonels picked up their first win of the year, moving them to 1-4 overall and 1-0 in conference play. The Eagles fell to 1-4 on the year and 0-1 in conference play.
 
Wilkes' offensive assault began on the first drive, as Devin Higgins (Pennington, NJ/Hopewell Valley) hauled in a 26 yard catch and Elijah Jules (Red Bank, NJ/Red Bank Catholic) broke off a 27 yard rush on consecutive plays to put the Colonels in the red zone. A few plays later, first year running back JayJay Jordan (Reading, PA/Berks Catholic) hit paydirt from two yards out to take a 7-0 lead with 12:07 left in the quarter.
 
Following a Juniata punt, quarterback Isaiah Rodriguez (Lebanon, PA/Lebanon) connected with first year receiver Juju Fears (Easton, PA/Easton Area) on a 75 yard touchdown pass to extend the lead to 14-0 with 9:08 left in the quarter. This was Fears' first collegiate touchdown reception.
 
Both teams punted on their next drives, and the Eagles managed to drive the ball to the Wilkes 30, but were held to nothing and punted for a touchback. After a penalty set the Colonel offense back, Higgins came up with a clutch 27 yard catch on third down and long to keep the drive alive. Like before, Higgins' chunk play was followed by another gash by Jules, this time for 30 yards to the Juniata five yard line. Another costly penalty set the Colonels back to the Eagles 18, but Higgins delivered again this time for a touchdown with 12:08 in the second quarter to put the Colonels up 21-0.
 
Angel Ramos (Allentown, PA/Parkland) found the backfield on Juniata's following possession, setting the Eagle offense back 19 yards and forcing a punt a few plays later. A trio of holding penalties on their next drive not only forced Wilkes to punt, but took another Jordan touchdown off the board.
 
The Colonels defense continued the shutout, forcing yet another punt from the Eagles. This drive, Jordan would not be denied as he turned on the jets for a 44 yard touchdown run with 3:19 on the clock to make the score 28-0. The entire Colonel possession only lasted 58 seconds.
 
Another Juniata punt gave Wilkes the ball with 1:48 left in the half, and the Colonels still found a way to hit the endzone, as Rodriguez connected with Justin Moore (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern Regional) for a 70 yard touchdown bomb to make it 35-0 with less than a minute left in the half. Ramos punctuated the end of the half with his second sack of the day, and the Colonels went into the halftime break with a 35-0 lead.
 
Juniata came out of the half with life, capitalizing a long drive with their first points of the game as Hunter Wolfley scored on a three yard run to make it a 35-7 contest with 10:50 on the clock in the third quarter.
 
Jules started the next Wilkes possession with a bang, ripping off a 22 yard run. He had a 22 yard reception taken off the board with an ineligible player downfield penalty that would have put the Colonels in the red zone, but Higgins responded on the next play with a 26 yard grab to set the Colonels up on the Eagle 18 yard line. Jordan then finished his hat-trick with an 18 yard touchdown run to put Wilkes up 42-7.
 
The Eagles punted on their next drive and the Colonels looked primed to make them pay again, but the Juniata defense held strong on fourth down at their own six yard line and forced a turnover on downs.
 
Backed up against their own end zone, the Eagles punted once again and the Colonels took possession to start the fourth quarter.
 
Junior Xavier Powell (Poughkeepsie, NY/Arlington) started the fourth quarter under center for the Colonels, making an instant impact with a 33 yard touchdown run on his third play on the field to give the Colonels a 49-7 lead with 13:24 left to play.
 
Juniata responded quickly on their next possession, as quarterback Noah Wright snuck the ball past tight coverage into the hands of Sean Hakanson for a 70 yard touchdown on their first play from scrimmage.
 
While he flashed his ground game the previous drive, Powell showed his passing prowess with a 55 yard pass to J'Vier Johnson (Easton, PA/Easton Area) for a 55 yard gain. Ben Contella (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills) finished the drive off with an 11 yard touchdown run to make it a 56-14 game with 12 minutes left in the fourth.
 
Another Juniata punt put the ball back into the hands of Powell, who connected with Trevor Fisch (Ringoes, NJ/Hunterdon Central Regional) on a 32 yard pass for his first collegiate touchdown to extend the Colonel lead to 63-14, and the Colonels would hold that score for the rest of the day en route to their first win of the season.
 
The Colonels ended the day with 725 yards of total offense, shattering the previous program record of 667 yards.
 
Rodriguez led the Colonels with 308 yards on 13 completions for three touchdowns. Jules led the potent rushing attack with 105 yards on 10 carries. Jordan's electric performance finished with 77 yards on eight carries with three touchdowns. Higgins led the receiving corps with six catches for 119 yards and a touchdown. Defensively, Tallen Murray (Vineland, NJ/Saint Joseph Academy) led the team with 14 total tackles, making him the new Landmark Conference leader in tackles with 51 through five games. Murray also led the team in tackles for loss with three. Ramos led the Colonel defense with two sacks for a loss of 31 yards.
 
Wright led Juniata in passing with 226 yards on 16 completions and one touchdown. Wolfey led in rushing with 32 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. Hakanson led the Eagles in receiving with two catches for 76 yards and a touchdown. Three players tied for the lead in total tackles; Walker Bredickas, Aaron Rothermel and Michael Grapin all registered seven tackles.
 
Next week the Colonels travel to Williamsport, Pa. to take on Lycoming College in another Landmark Conference clash on October 7 with kickoff scheduled for 12:00 p.m.