EDWARDSVILLE – The Wilkes football team suffered their first Landmark Conference loss of the season at the hands of No. 7 Susquehanna University 48-21 at Schmidt Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

With the loss, Wilkes falls to 5-3 on the year with a 3-1 record in conference play, while Susquehanna improves to 7-1 overall and remains perfect in Landmark play at 4-0.

The River Hawks opened the scoring on their opening drive, a nearly seven-minute drive that put seven points on the board after a tricky play from running back Rahshan La Mons who threw a touchdown pass to a wide-open Josh Erlich to make it a 7-0 game. The Wilkes defense kept the pressure on and kept the River Hawks offense scoreless for the rest of the first quarter while the offense struggled to find their footing.

La Mons matched his passing touchdown with a rushing touchdown early in the second quarter to double the Susquehanna lead to 14-0. The River Hawk defense then capitalized on a Xavier Powell (Poughkeepsie, NY/Arlington) interception with a one-play deep ball to Kyle Howes for the 72-yard touchdown, followed by a La Mons punt return touchdown on the ensuing Colonel possession that quickly ballooned their lead to 28-0.

The Colonels finally hit paydirt late in the second quarter, as Justin Moore (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern Regional) caught a short Powell pass and used his speed to race to the River Hawk 14-yard line. A few plays later, Powell hit Janas Simms (York, PA/William Penn) in the back of the endzone for the touchdown with 1:10 left to play in the half to get the Colonels on the board 28-7.

The blue and gold defense came out strong in the second half, forcing a turnover on downs after the offense was forced to punt. The Susquehanna defense matched Wilkes' as it kept the Colonels off the scoreboard once again while putting up two more touchdowns and take a 41-7 lead into the final frame.

On their first drive of the fourth quarter, Wilkes found the endzone on an Elijah Jules (Red Bank, NJ/Red Bank Catholic) two-yard run to make it a 41-14 game. While the River Hawks put in their backups, Wilkes continued to fight as Rob Barbieri (Avoca, PA/Pittston Area) intercepted Tommy Wright on the next Susquehanna possession, leading to a Juju Fears (Easton, PA/Easton Area) touchdown to make it 41-21. After forcing a punt, the Colonels then turned the ball over on downs, leading to a 36-yard Susquehanna touchdown to make it a 48-21 game. Wilkes got the ball again after a Susquehanna fumble, but another Powell interception and a turnover on downs sealed the game for the visitors.

Powell went 15/43 with 248 passing yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. Moore was his top target, hauling in four catches for 94 yards. Jules continued his hot streak with 124 rushing yards, his fifth game over 100 yards rushing. Defensively, Barbieri led the team with nine tackles and one interception, while Angel Ramos (Allentown, PA/Parkland) had 1.5 sacks.

For Susquehanna, Erlich went 16/23 for 322 yards and three touchdowns. La Mons rushed for 98 yards and one touchdown, while Howes led the receiving corps with 5 catches for 122 yards and two touchdowns. Drew Robinson led the defense with five total tackles and one interception.

The Colonels now get a bye week before traveling to the Nation's Capital on Saturday, November 9 for a 1:00 p.m. meeting with Catholic University.