EDWARDSVILLE, Pa. – The Wilkes University football team opened its season with a win in the 29^th annual Mayor's Cup game against cross-town rivals King's College, defeating the Monarchs 19-16 at Schmidt Stadium Saturday afternoon.

This marks the second consecutive year the Colonels have beaten the Monarchs.

One quarter was played on Thursday night before lightning halted play until Saturday, with a Monarch field goal the lone scoring play of the night with 3:30 left in the quarter.

Both defenses continued to dominate the game as play resumed Saturday, with Wilkes quarterback Cooper King (Northampton, PA/Northampton) losing a sack fumble on the opening drive. Three plays later, J'Vier Johnson (Easton, PA/Easton Area) gave the Colonels the ball back with an interception in the endzone to keep the Monarchs off the board.

Wilkes' first points of the game came on a safety, as the Monarch snap went over punter Gavin Wolfe's head and out of the endzone to make it a 3-2 game.

The Colonel defense snagged another interception on the next King's drive, as Ryan Opperman (Lewisburg, PA/Lewisburg) kept both feet in bounds to force the second Wilkes turnover of the quarter. This time, King and the offense converted the opportunity into points as the senior quarterback found Juju Fears (Easton, PA/Easton Area) for the 16-yard touchdown pass, putting the Colonels on top 9-7.

The visitors struck in the final two minutes of the half as they turned a King interception into a 15-yard touchdown pass from Jaelin Mims to Jayon Hailey with 17 seconds remaining, tying the game at nine at the half.

Wilkes took the lead back halfway through the third, as King scampered into the endzone on a 19-yard run, set up by a Tyler Wetzel (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge) sack on fourth down, that gave the Colonels a 16-9 advantage going into the final quarter.

The Monarchs once again equalized as Devin Duana hit paydirt on a 67-yard catch-and-run from Mims with 5:17 left to play, tying the game at 16. Wilkes immediately responded with a 50-yard kickoff return by sophomore Daniel Pigga (Dunmore, PA/Dunmore), setting the team up at the King's 40-yard line. The Monarch defense held strong to force a fourth down, forcing the Colonels to attempt a field goal. Senior kicker Nick Volpone (Delco, PA/Ridley) wasn't shaken by the pressure, drilling the 38-yard kick through the uprights, a new career-long, to give Wilkes the 19-16 lead.

On the ensuing King's drive, an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty put the Monarchs behind the sticks, with Wilkes' defense coming up big on third and fourth down to break up deep passes and force another turnover on downs. Wilkes then drained the clock but turned the ball over on downs themselves with 37 seconds remaining.

Yet again, the Colonel defense had other plans as Rob Barbieri (Avoca, PA/Pittston Area) sealed the victory with the group's third interception of the game, with the final score 19-16.

Wetzel was named Wilkes' MVP of the game, leading the team with 11 total tackles, two sacks, and a quarterback hurry. Defensive lineman Cohen Creswell (Winchester, VA/Millbrook) followed with 8 total tackles, 1.5 for loss, two pass breakups, and a hurry.

King led the offense with 8 completions for 109 yards and a touchdown through the air, picking up a team-high 62 yards on the ground with a rushing touchdown. His top target was Justin Moore (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern Regional), who led the team with 35 rushing yards.

Mims led the Monarch offense going 15/29 with 241 passing yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. Hailey led the team in receiving with 95 yards and a touchdown on five catches, while Brennan Robinson led the ground game with 28 yards. The Monarch rush offense was held to only 30 yards on the day.

Michael Richino was named King's MVP of the game with a team-high 10 tackles, two for loss, two sacks and a forced fumble.

Wilkes takes the field again next Saturday, September 13^th at The College of New Jersey at 12:00 p.m.