EDWARDSVILLE, Pa. – The Wilkes University football team added to the Homecoming festivities with an electric 15-13 win over Catholic University at Schmidt Stadium Saturday afternoon, kicking off Landmark Conference play in the win column.

Wilkes improves to 3-2 on the year while Catholic falls to 1-4 overall.

The Colonels opened the scoring late in the first after stopping Catholic on fourth down deep in Wilkes territory. Daniel Pigga (Dunmore, PA/Dunmore) helped Wilkes convert a fourth down of their own to push to the Catholic 25-yard line after a Cardinal personal foul, before Nick Volpone (Delco, PA/Ridley) put Wilkes on the board with a 34-yard field goal.

After forcing a Cardinal three and out, Wilkes added to the lead in the second quarter. A 49-yard connection from Cooper King (Northampton, PA/Northampton) to Juju Fears (Easton, PA/Easton Area) on the first play of the frame put Wilkes in striking range, and Ben Contella (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills) followed it up the very next play with a 14-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 9-0 after a failed two-point conversion.

Each team then exchanged punts before another 34-yard Volpone kick put the Colonels up 12-0 with 37 seconds left in the half. Janas Simms (York, PA/William Penn), like Fears earlier in the quarter, made a fantastic catch to put Wilkes into the redzone on the drive. With minimal time on the clock, Cardinals quarterback Charles Gulbin completed five straight passes to score the visitors' first points of the game on a 21-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Tabor. After a failed two-point conversion of their own, the game went into halftime with the score 12-6.

No points were scored in the third as both teams exchanged multiple punts. Wilkes' final drive of the third carried into the final quarter, ending with a third Volpone field goal, this time from 27 yards, to put Wilkes up 15-6. The Cardinals drove deep into the Colonel redzone on the subsequent drive looking to score, but J'Vier Johnson (Easton, PA/Easton Area) had other plans as he intercepted Gulbin to keep the Cardinals off the board.

Wilkes was forced to punt after the Johnson interception, and with 1:30 left to play the Cardinals drove down the field once more and scored on a 19-yard pass from Gulbin to John Maynes. With the extra point, Catholic closed the score down to 15-13.

The visitors then looked to re-gain possession with an onside kick, but with a botched attempt and an offside call, the Colonels took one kneel down and sealed the victory.

King put up his best passing percentage of the year in the win, going 18/25 (72%) for 211 yards. Seven Colonels caught passes on the day but Fears was his top target, hauling in six receptions for 76 yards followed by Simms with 59 yards. Contella led the ground game with 83 yards and a touchdown, a career-high for the senior. Defensively, Tyler Wetzel (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge) led the way with eight total tackles and 2.5 for loss. Rajan Stevens (Allentown, PA/Central Catholic) led the way in sacks with 1.5. Volpone ended the day three-for-three on field goals.

Gulbin led Catholic with 19 completions for 229 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. Cade Chrebet led all Cardinal receivers with six catches for 72 yards. The Cardinal rushing attack was held to 17 total yards on the day. Evan Chromy and William Cavallaro led the defense with eight tackles each.

The Colonels now hit the road for their next two games, starting at Moravian University on Saturday, October 11. Kickoff against the Greyhounds is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.