MONTCLAIR, N.J. – Senior kicker Nick Volpone (Delco, PA/Ridley) hit a game-winning field goal with 41 seconds remaining to help the Wilkes University football team stave off a late comeback attempt and defeat Montclair State University Red Hawks 24-21 at Sprague Field Saturday night.

The Colonels close non-conference play at 2-2 overall, while the Red Hawks fall to 1-2 on the year.

Wilkes started the game white hot as Daniel Pigga (Dunmore, PA/Dunmore) returned the opening kickoff 44 yards into Montclair territory. The very next play, Cooper King (Northampton, PA/Northampton) hit Janas Simms (York, PA/William Penn) for a 38-yard touchdown pass to give Wilkes the early 7-0 lead.

On the ensuing Montclair State possession, the Red Hawks drove deep into Colonel territory but had no points to show for it, as Rob Barbieri (Avoca, PA/Pittston Area) stopped Alex Rodriguez on the one-yard line on fourth and goal.

 Late in the first, the hosts had a touchdown negated due to a holding penalty, which turned into a Colonel fumble recovery forced by Rodrigue Damus (Greenvale, NY/) at the Red Hawk 18-yard line. A 17-yard rush by Chibugo Chigozie-Nwosu (Hillside, NJ/Hillside) ended the first quarter and set Wilkes up on the one-yard line. Ben Contella (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills) opened the second quarter punching in the touchdown to give Wilkes a 14-0 lead.

With just under 10 minutes left, the Colonels forced another Montclair State fumble recovered by Rob Barbieri (Avoca, PA/Pittston Area). The Wilkes offense was unable to capitalize and the teams traded punts into halftime with the score 14-0 in favor of the blue and gold.

The hosts opened the second half with new life as Christopher Arnold broke off a 70-yard touchdown run on the second play of the drive to make it a 14-7 game. The Red Hawks then began a nine-minute drive that put them on the doorstep once again of scoring, but this time a dropped pass on fourth and goal gave the ball back to the Wilkes offense.

After another Colonel punt, Montclair opened the fourth quarter with a 75-yard pass down the sideline to TJ Kachala that tied the game at 14. The Colonels responded with a touchdown of their own, helped on by a crucial third down catch by Simms that helped set up King with a rushing score a few plays later to give the lead back to Wilkes 21-14.

The Red Hawks had another answer as Diante Wilson capped off a five-play drive with another rushing touchdown to tie the game again, this time at 21. After punts by both teams, Wilkes got the ball back with four minutes to play. A deep completion of 37 yards to Justin Moore (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern Regional) kept the drive alive on third down and put the Colonels into the redzone. On another third down later in the drive, a roughing the passer penalty on the Red Hawks gave the Colonels a fresh set of downs inside the 15-yard line with less than two minutes to play.

Wilkes bled the clock down to 41 seconds before trotting out Volpone for a 26-yard field goal attempt. With the game on the line, the senior's kick was good to give the Colonels a 24-21 lead.

Montclair State had one last chance to drive down the field and made it into Colonel territory. On the final play of the game, Cohen Creswell (Winchester, VA/Millbrook) and the Colonel defense reached quarterback Luke Henrich for a game-sealing strip sack to end the game.

King finished the day with 149 passing yards on 13 completions with one touchdown pass and one on the ground. Simms led all receivers with 72 yards and a touchdown, followed by Moore with 43. On the ground, Chigozie-Nwosu led the team with 54 yards. On defense, the trio of Tallen Murray (Vineland, NJ/Saint Joseph Academy), Tyler Wetzel (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge), and Creswell all finished with 10 tackles each, followed by Barbieri with nine. Creswell's two tackles for loss led the team while also generating a forced fumble.

Henrich led the Red Hawks going 14/26 with 212 passing yards and a touchdown. Kachala was his top target with two receptions for 126 yards and a touchdown. On the ground, Arnold and Wilson combined for 132 and 101 yards respectively with a touchdown each. Defensively, Alex Buchwald led the team with 12 total tackles and three for loss.

The Colonels return to Schmidt Stadium for their next game as they open Landmark Conference play against Catholic University on Homecoming. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.