Saturday, September 27
5:00 p.m.
Sprague Field – Montclair, NJ
 
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WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University football team makes their second trip to the Garden State this season as they close out non-conference play with a matchup at Montclair State University against the Red Hawks.

Wilkes enters this contest at 1-2 overall after falling to Muhlenberg College 26-18 last Saturday.

Cooper King (Northampton, PA/Northampton) had his best game under center against the Mules, throwing for 192 yards and two touchdowns to bring his season total to 416 yards and three touchdowns. King also continues to lead the Colonels with 59 rushing yards and a touchdown, putting him fourth in the Landmark Conference with 475 yards of total offense.

Justin Moore (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern Regional) continues to lead the Colonel receiving corps with 127 receiving yards, a top ten mark in the conference, hauling in a season-high 54 against the Mules. Juju Fears (Easton, PA/Easton Area) has been the top-scoring receiver with two touchdown catches, totaling 71 yards on the year including a 38-yard grab on Saturday.

Behind King in the ground game is sophomore Chibugo Chigozie-Nwosu (Hillside, NJ/Hillside), who has 54 rushing yards through the first three games of the season. Senior Ben Contella (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills) completes the trio with 33 yards on the year.

The Colonel defense enters week four as the best scoring defense in the Landmark allowing just 19.7 points per game and boasts the top three tacklers in the Landmark Conference in Tyler Wetzel (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge) (31), Tallen Murray (Vineland, NJ/Saint Joseph Academy) (30), and Cohen Creswell (Winchester, VA/Millbrook) (29). Creswell sits tied atop the conference in tackles for loss with six, while Wetzel is tied atop the Landmark in sacks with two. Junior Rob Barbieri (Avoca, PA/Pittston Area) leads the secondary with 21 tackles and an interception. J'Vier Johnson (Easton, PA/Easton Area) and Ryan Opperman (Lewisburg, PA/Lewisburg) lead the team with three pass breakups each.

On special teams, Peter Zarafonitis (Staten Island, NY/New Dorp) continued his hot start to the season, leading the Landmark with a punting average of 42.3 yards. Eight of his punts have landed inside the 20-yard line and five have traveled over 50 yards. Nick Volpone (Delco, PA/Ridley) continues to be as reliable as ever when kicking, going 3-for-3 on extra points with three field goals as well. Daniel Pigga (Dunmore, PA/Dunmore) leads all kickoff returners with 105 yards on three attempts averaging 35 yards per return, a mark that puts him at the top of the conference. Rahmel Terry (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic) has been the deep man for the Colonels on punts, totaling 52 yards on nine attempts.

Montclair State enters this contest at 1-1 overall after their bye week. In their previous contest, the Red Hawks defeated Lycoming College 27-24 on September 13th at home.

Sophomore quarterback Luke Henrich leads the team under center with 179 passing yards and two touchdowns. His top targets through the air have been senior duo Jalen Carter and Anthony Roige who lead the team with 49 and 31 yards respectively. The Red Hawk offense thrives on its ground game, with three rushers over 100 yards on the season. Junior back Diante Wilson leads the trio with 143 yards and two touchdowns, followed by Henrich with 140 and Christopher Arnold with 101.

The Montclair defense is led by fifth year linebacker Alex Buchwald, who holds the team-highs in tackles (23), tackles for loss (7), and forced fumbles (1). JaQuil Boyd sits second on the team with 18 tackles, while senior Ryan Visalli leads the secondary with 13 tackles and one pass breakup.

Roger Rubinetti handles all kicking and punting duties for the Red Hawks, averaging 42.2 yards per punt and going 2-3 on field goals and 2-4 on extra point kicks. Samaad Hicks leads the way on kickoff returns with 63 yards, while TJ Kachala leads all punt returners with 18 yards.

After this game, the Colonels open Landmark Conference play against Catholic University on Saturday, October 4^th at Schmidt Stadium for Homecoming. Kickoff against the Cardinals is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.