Wilkes Football Week Eight Preview vs. Lycoming

Saturday, October 25

1:00 p.m.

Williamsport, PA

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WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - The Wilkes University football team returns from the bye week for another Landmark Conference matchup on the road. This time against the Lycoming College Warriors with the Colonels in search of their fourth win in a row.

The Colonels enter the game with a record of 4-2 and 2-0 in Landmark play, and two weeks ago played their most complete game of the season in a 26-7 win over Moravian.

Wilkes jumped out to a 10-0 lead after the first quarter and never looked back. The offense put up 16 points in the second half, while the defense surrendered just seven points on 11 Greyhound possessions all game and forced two turnovers.

In the passing game, quarterback Cooper King (Northampton, PA/Northampton) went 11-21 for 126 passing yards, one touchdown pass and an interception, but he ran the ball 12 times for 109 yards and one rushing touchdown in the win. That performance brings his totals for the season to 902 passing yards, five touchdown passes, and five interceptions along with 182 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns.

The ground game as a whole has massively improved from the beginning of the season. Senior Ben Contella (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills) had 22 carries for 98 yards two weeks ago, and Chibugo Chigozie-Nwosu (Hillside, NJ/Hillside) had eight carries for 31 yards and a touchdown himself. The team as a whole ran for 241 yards against the Greyhounds, beating their previous best output by 117 yards. Contella now leads the team in rushing yards for the year with 218 yards and two rushing touchdowns, but now King ranks second and Chigozie-Nwosu is third with 156 yards and one touchdown.

It was a quiet day for all the Colonel wide receivers against Moravian, but Justin Moore (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern Regional) remains the top pass-catcher with 14 receptions for 251 yards on the season. Second is Juju Fears (Easton, PA/Easton Area) with 17 catches, 200 receiving yards and two touchdowns, and rounding out the big three is Janas Simms (York, PA/William Penn) with 13 catches, 147 receiving yards, and one touchdown.

The Wilkes defense remains elite coming into this week's matchup, having held the Greyhounds to 177 total yards of offense, 3-13 on third down, and just 21:23 time of possession two weeks ago. They're now the top-ranked scoring defense in the Landmark with 16.7 points per game allowed, and with some extra rest look to shut down the Landmark's third-best scoring offense in Lycoming.

Individually, Tyler Wetzel (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge), Tallen Murray (Vineland, NJ/Saint Joseph Academy) and Cohen Creswell (Winchester, VA/Millbrook) remain top-five tacklers in the Landmark and anchor Wilkes' front-seven. Wetzel fell to second in tackles in the conference due to the bye week with 56 tackles, along with 6.5 tackles for loss, three sacks and two quarterback hurries. Murray is fourth in the conference with 50 tackles, four tackles for loss and two pass breakups. Creswell is the brick wall on the defensive line with 49 tackles, good enough for fifth in the conference, while leading the Landmark in tackles for loss (13.5). He also leads the team in sacks (5.5) and quarterback hurries (3). Alongside him in the trenches in sophomore Rajan Stevens (Allentown, PA/Central Catholic) with 21 tackles on the season, 1.5 tackles for loss and one sack.

The secondary continues to get stellar production from Ryan Opperman (Lewisburg, PA/Lewisburg), Rob Barbieri (Avoca, PA/Pittston Area) and J'Vier Johnson (Easton, PA/Easton Area). Opperman comes into this week with 18 tackles, an interception and a team-leading five pass breakups, which ties him for second in the Landmark in that category. Barbieri remains a tackling machine with 40 total this season and an interception, while Johnson is now in sole possession of the conference lead in interceptions with three after snagging one last week.

Nick Volpone (Delco, PA/Ridley) is the star of the show on special teams for the Colonels with his perfect season on field goals (8/8) and extra points (9/9), being named Landmark Conference Special Teams Player of the Week twice. Punter Peter Zarafonitis (Staten Island, NY/New Dorp) does his part in giving the defense good field position with his 41.21 average yards per punt ranking second in the Landmark, and return specialist Daniel Pigga (Dunmore, PA/Dunmore) adds big-play ability with an average of 25.29 yards per return this season.

Lycoming enters this game with an overall record of 2-5 but are 2-1 in Landmark play after their blowout win over Western Connecticut State 42-24 last week.

Sophomore quarterback Joe Lyons III is the field general of this team with 1,043 passing yards, six touchdown passes and six interceptions this season, but their most dangerous weapon is running back Terrence Oliver.

The junior is the Landmark's leading rusher with 155 carries, 1016 rushing yards and nine touchdowns. His 145.1 rushing yards per game leads all other running backs by country mile, and will be the Colonels number one priority on defense this Saturday.

In the passing game, the Warriors have five players with 100+ receiving yards on the season. Wide receiver Karson Kline is their number one target with 261 receiving yards and one touchdown on 19 catches, and right alongside him is Dawson Debebe with 14 receptions for 242 yards and two touchdowns. Other reliable options include tight end Brendan Clark, wide receiver Ross Eyer and even Oliver out of the backfield, another element that will present a challenge for the Colonels.

On defense, the linebacker duo of Daniel Atsou and Matt Trolinger lead the charge for Lycoming. Atsou is third in the Landmark in tackles with 61, but he also has 12.5 tackles for loss, one sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Trolinger has 44 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, an interception and three pass breakups. 

Their secondary features another dynamic duo in Ryan Pentz and Louie Shank. Pentz is third on the team in tackles with 44, three tackles for loss and an interception, while Shank is right behind him with 38 tackles and an interception.

On special teams, their main kicker is first-year Vasco Granitto. He's 4-6 on field goals this season with a long of 40 yards against TCNJ, and perfect on extra points (6/6). Their primary return men are junior Jared Zimmerman who averages 24.71 yards per return, and Brady Jordan who averages 19.36 yards per return.

After this game, the Colonels return to Schmidt Stadium for their Senior Day game against the Juniata College Eagles the following Saturday on Nov. 1.