Wilkes Football Bests Juniata College 21-2 in Landmark Opener
HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The Wilkes University football team got back to winning ways at Knox Stadium Saturday afternoon, defeating Juniata College 21-2 in the first Landmark Conference contest of the season.
The Colonels improve to 2-2 overall and 1-0 to start Landmark play, while the Eagles fall to 1-4 and 0-1 in conference.
After the teams traded punts to start the game, Wilkes struck first on an eight-yard run by
Nigel Linton (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) after marching down the field from their own nine to take a 7-0 lead. After a fourth-down stop by
Michael Golay (Scranton, PA/Scranton Prep) on the ensuing Juniata possession, it took just one play for the Colonels to find the endzone again as
Trey Dogmanits (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) hit
Daniel Pigga (Dunmore, PA/Dunmore) for a 34-yard touchdown pass. Juniata were able to block the point after, making it 13-0 Wilkes late in the first quarter.
The Colonel defense forced yet another turnover on the next possession, as
Ryan Opperman (Lewisburg, PA/Lewisburg) grabbed his second interception of the season and set the offense up for a 48-yard strike to
Juju Fears (Easton, PA/Easton Area) to start the second quarter hot. The ensuing PAT was blocked again by the Eagle defense, however, and ran back for a defensive PAT to put the hosts on the board down 19-2.
Wilkes threatened to score again just before halftime, but the Juniata defense held firm, picking off Dogmanits in the endzone to keep the Colonels from scoring again going into the break.
The defensive duel continued into the second half, as the hosts forced a turnover to keep Wilkes off the board in the third, forcing a fumble out of
Brady Mizenko (Hazleton Twp., PA/Hazleton Area) in Juniata territory. The Colonel defense got the ball right back after a big stop on fourth and one, and after two fourth-down conversions on that drive, they were stopped on the third at the Juniata nine-yard line.
Early in the fourth, the Colonel defense put the lone points of the second half on the board.
Sidney Catlett III (Washington, DC/Friendship Collegiate Academy) pinned the Eagles on their own one-yard line with his first career sack, before a team-forced safety to extend the lead to 21-2. Those points proved to be the all that was needed, as the Colonels took the defensive battle to move to 4-0 all time against the Eagles.
Dogmanits led the offense with a new career-best 258 yards on 20-29 passing, throwing two touchdowns and two interceptions. His top target was Fears, who had his third-straight 100+ yard game with 101 yards and a touchdown. On the ground, Linton led the way with 51 yards and a touchdown, followed by Dogmanits with 46.
Defensively,
Tyler Wetzel (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge) and Jones led the line with 10 tackles each, while
Cohen Creswell (Winchester, VA/Millbrook) made an impact with three sacks for a total of 16 yards. Opperman had a hand in each of the team's two turnovers with an interception and a fumble recovery. As a unit, the Colonel defense sacked Juniata quarterback Zachary Grande five times, holding the Eagle offense to just seven percent on third down efficiency (1 for 14) and 29% on fourth down (2 for 7).
Grande went 19-35 on the day for the Eagles with 120 passing yards, with Makih Hunt his top target grabbing seven catches for just 33 yards. Daiquan Buck led the team on the ground with only 11 yards. On defense, Mikey Chisolm led all players with 15 tackles.
Wilkes returns home next week, as they welcome Lycoming College to Schmidt Stadium on Homecoming weekend for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff.
