NOVEMBER 5, 2016
KING'S FOOTBALL UNABLE TO CONVERT OPPORTUNITIES IN 30-17 LOSS TO WIDENER
WILKES-BARRE — The King's College football team amassed 422 yards of total offense but the Monarchs were unable to take advantage of numerous opportunities presented to them as visiting Widener University stood firm when it needed to and posted a 30-17 victory on King's Senior Day at McCarthy Stadium.
With the win, Widener improved to 6-3 overall and 6-2 in the MAC while King's fell to 4-5 and 4-4.
Widener took a 7-0 lead on the first possession of the game. On its first play from scrimmage Pride quarterback Sean McGaughey found Blaine Price with a 72-yard pass to the King's one. On the next play Chris Randle scored on the ground as Widener took a 1-0 lead just 0:32 into the game.
The Monarchs looked to counter and drove to the Pride 34. Facing a fourth-and-one, King's was flagged for an illegal shift penalty and, on a subsequent fourth-and-six play, Zach Whitehead's pass to Corey Flynn fell incomplete as the Widener defense held firm to take over on downs.
The Pride then marched down field, reaching the King's 20. The drive stalled and Michael Raczak kicked a 37-yard field goal to push the score to 10-0 with 8:37 left in the first quarter.
King's answered with a seven-play, 72-yard drive, capped by a 12-yard touchdown pass from Whitehead to Flynn to cut the lead to 10-7.
But Widener countered with a nine-play, 85-yard drive of its own to reach the end zone on a nine-yard run by Collin Wilson, pushing the Widener lead to 17-7.
King's had another opportunity to put points on the board when the Monarchs took the ensuing kickoff and drove to the Widener 25. But Whitehead was sacked on back-to-back plays and ,on a fourth-and-21 from the Pride 36, the Monarchs elected to punt, thus ending another scoring chance.
Two possessions later King's moved to the Widener 24 where the Monarchs were penalized for holding. On first-and-20 from the Pride 34, Whitehead was then sacked and fumbled and the Pride recovered to end a third scoring chance by the Monarchs.
Later in the third quarter, King's was driving and had the ball at the Widener 41. But after a sack moved the ball back to the Pride 48, Whitehead was intercepted at the Widener 28 as the Monarchs trailed 17-7 at the break.
In the third quarter King's took the opening kickoff and marched to the Widener seven-yard line. But a second-down run resulted in a six-yard loss, and on third-down Whitehead was sacked for a 17-yard loss back to the Pride 30. Mikhail Kniaziewicz would attempt a career-long 47-yard goal but the kick hit the left upright as the Pride defense was able to thwart a fourth scoring chance by King's.
Widener responded with a five-play, 70-yard drive, capped by a 29-yard scoring strike from McGaughey to Price to stretch the lead to 23-7 with 9:40 to go in the third quarter.
King's answered with a 63-yard kickoff return by Devon Weidman to the Pride 23. The Monarchs reached the Widener 11 before setting for a 28-yard field goal by Kniaziewicz to cut the lead to 23-10 with 8:02 left in the third period.
Early in the fourth quarter King's drove 61 yards on seven plays and reached the end zone on a seven-yard run by Funk to trim the Pride lead to 23-17 with 12:55 remaining in the game.
After the Monarchs forced a Widener punt, King's drove to the Pride 20-yard line. Needing one yard on third and fourth downs, the Widener defense stuffed King's for no gain on both plays as Widener shut down a fifth King's scoring chance with 6:36 to play.
King's had one more chance when the Monarchs took over following a punt at their own 15 with 3:11 remaining. After an incomplete pass, Pride defensive end Byron Copper registered back-to-back sacks, the second forcing a Whitehead fumble that Widener teammate Tyrone Bundy recovered at the King's five. Two plays later Randle scored on a three-yard run to give Widener a 30-17 lead with 1:31 on the clock.
Widener out gained King's 352-339 in total yards while the Monarchs owned a 30-19 advantage in first downs. In all, King's failed to score on five occasions when inside the Widener 40.
McGaughey completed 20-of-32 passes for 339 yards and one touchdown while Randle rushed for 104 yards on 19 carries. Price had five catches for 151 yards while Montrell Hicks-Taylor tallied 101 yards on five receptions.
For King's, Whitehead was 30-of-53 for 352 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions, but was sacked a season-high nine times. In defeat, Whitehead set another school record with 2,522 passing yards, surpassing the previous record of 2,295 yards set by Chris Barnic in 2005. He also surpassed Corey Lavins's single-season mark of 370 pass attempts with his 372nd pass of the year.
Tyler Marroni led King's with 10 receptions for 112 yards while Marquis Miller added seven catches for 52 yards. Flynn caught five passes for 59 yards while Palmer hauled in three passes for 82 yards and one score. King's rushing game was held to 70 net yards on 37 carries but lost 75 rushing yards on sacks. Whitehead led the team with 30 net yards on 22 attempts.
Chris DeGaetano led King's with 10 tackles while Hassan Maxwell added eight. Bruce Damon posted seven tackles, including three tackles for losses and two sacks.
The Widener defense was paced by Cooper with 12 tackles, 4.0 sacks, and 5.0 tackles for loss. In all, Widener had 12 tackles for 75 yards in losses, including 9.0 sacks for 67 lost yards.
The game also marked the final home contest for King's seniors Andres Armstrong, Jake Dever, Zack Funk, Brandon Gonzalez, Eric Haenggi, Bryan Hicks, David Hicks, Mikhail Kniaziewicz, Tyler Mejasic, Marquis Miller, Mike Palmer, Bobby Russell, and Andrew Zub.
King's will close out its season Saturday at 12:00 noon at cross-town rival Wilkes University in the annual Mayor's Cup Game.
King's Football Unable to Capitalize on Opportunities in 30-17 Loss to Widener
/seasons/2016/boxscores/20161105_oxtm.xml
2016
Widener
30
King's
17
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Widener (6-3) | 17 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 30 |
| King's (4-5) | 7 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 17 |
Nov 05, 2016