BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Wilkes University football team picked up its third consecutive win on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Moravian University Greyhounds 25-7 at Rocco Calvo Field.
Wilkes improves to 4-2 overall and 2-0 in Landmark play, while Moravian falls to 0-6 on the year and 0-2 in conference.
The Colonels opened the scoring with 6:59 to play in the first, as
Nick Volpone (Delco, PA/Ridley) hit his eighth field goal of the year to capitalize on a fumble recovered by
Michael Golay (Scranton, PA/Scranton Prep) a few plays prior. Quarterback
Cooper King (Northampton, PA/Northampton) got it done through the air and on the ground on the team's next offensive drive, hitting
Justin Moore (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern Regional) for a 41-yard completion to set up his own six-yard rushing touchdown to give the visitors the 10-0 lead going into the second quarter.
Both defenses shined in the second, as no points were scored by either team. King had an opportunity to score his second rushing touchdown of the half with a 32-yard dash, but an endzone fumble gave the ball back to the Greyhounds.
The Colonel defense and special teams started the second half in fine fashion, as
Peter Zarafonitis (Staten Island, NY/New Dorp) pinned Moravian on the five-yard line before
Tallen Murray (Vineland, NJ/Saint Joseph Academy) and Golay dropped running back Dorian Thomas in the endzone for a safety to put Wilkes up 12-0.
A methodical 14-play drive with 12 rush attempts followed for the blue and gold, with
Chibugo Chigozie-Nwosu (Hillside, NJ/Hillside) punctuating the drive with his first career rushing touchdown to extend the lead to 19-0.
Moravian scored their first points of the game with 49 seconds left in the third, as Christopher Brown hauled in a 31-yard touchdown pass from Tommy Gontz to cut the deficit to 19-7.
Wilkes slammed the door on Moravian with just over two minutes left to play in the fourth quarter as
Brayden Shaffer (Coatesville, PA/Coatesville) took a King screen pass 41 yards to paydirt to make it a 26-7 game, set up by
J'Vier Johnson's (Easton, PA/Easton Area) second interception in as many games.
King led the Colonel offense with 11 completions for 126 yards and a touchdown, adding another on the ground with a career-high 109 rushing yards.
Ben Contella (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills) also registered a career-high rushing total with 96 yards on 22 carries. Moore led all Colonel receivers with 46 yards on two catches, with
Juju Fears (Easton, PA/Easton Area) hauling in the most catches with four.
The Colonel defense looked dominant once again, holding the Greyhounds to 177 yards of total offense with five sacks and one interception.
Tyler Wetzel (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge) led the Colonel defense with eight total tackles, two for loss, and one sack.
Cohen Creswell (Winchester, VA/Millbrook) shined once more, leading the team with 1.5 sacks and two pass breakups.
Rajan Stevens (Allentown, PA/Central Catholic) matched Creswell with 1.5 sacks of his own.
Gontz led the Greyhounds with 98 passing yards and one touchdown, with Brown his top receiver at 49 yards and the lone touchdown reception. Thomas led the Greyhound ground game with 30 rushing yards. On defense, Aidan Lane and Nathan Carr led the team with nine tackles each.
The Colonels now get a week of rest with their bye before hitting the road again to face Lycoming College on Saturday, October 25
th at 1:00 p.m.
