OCTOBER 5, 2002
BOB ZIADIE
BOX SCORE
KING
’S
FOOTBALL DEFEATS JUNIATA, 26-20
HUNTINGDON -- Richard Jackson rushed for 186 yards on 35 carries,
including 144 yards in the second half to lead
the King’s College football team to
26-20 comeback victory over previously unbeaten Juniata College Saturday
at Knox Stadium in Huntingdon.
With the win, King’s improved to 3-2 overall and 3-1 in the Middle
Atlantic
Conference. Juniata slipped to
4-1 and 3-1.
After a near disastrous first half, King’s trailed 20-6 at the break
thanks in
part to four turnovers in the
opening 30 minutes. But rather than wilt, Monarchs,
began one of its most impressive comebacks ever.
After receiving the second half kickoff, the Monarchs went on a
eight-play,
75-yard scoring drive.
Jackson carried for 10 yards, then added a 16-yard pickup
to the Eagle 49. Jackson then carried for six and five yards to pick
up a first down at the Eagle 38. Mike Novia
rushed for nine yards before Jackson picked
up a first down with a two-yard run to the Eagle 27. After a three-yard
run by Jackson, David Hessler found Harry Dickey in the end zone for
a 24-yard scoring strike. But Bobby Nawrocki’s kick sailed wide left as
King’s trailed 20-13 with 11:35 left in the
third quarter.
The teams traded possession and the Monarchs would mount another drive
from
its own 33. Jackson picked four
and eight yards on successive runs, before Novia
added eight yards to the Eagle 47-yard line. Jackson then broke free
for a 13-yard run to the Eagle 34 before
Hessler scampered for a 16-yard pickup
on a bootleg to the Juniata 18. Jackson then gave King’s a first-and-goal
at the four-yard line with a 14-yard carry. Jackson then carried
to the one-yard line before Moore burst into the end zone for the Monarch
score. The eight-play, 67-yard drive was capped by Nawrocki’s conversion
as the Monarchs would knot the score at 20-20 with 2:47 remaining in
the third quarter.
King’s would again hold Juniata and forced another Eagle punt. Sean
Frasier
delivered a big 26-yard return
to provide the Monarchs excellent field position at the Eagle 28.
Jackson rushed for eight yards
but was stopped for no gain on the next play. On third-and-two, Jackson
exploded up the middle for a 16-yard gain at
the Eagle four-yard line. The
Monarch tailback picked up two yards before being stopped for a one-yard
gain. On third-and-goal from the Eagle
one, Jackson was stuffed for no gain to set a key
fourth-and-goal. From there, Jackson leaped into the end zone off right
tackle to give King’s its first lead of the
game. Nawrocki’s conversion, however,
sailed wide left and the Monarchs led 26-20 with 5:53 remaining.
On its next possession the Eagles would attempt to answer as King’s
was flagged for pass interference,
giving Juniata a first down at its own 47-yard line. After an incomplete
pass, Steven Wilson and Chris Keene sacked Greg Troutman for a two-yard
loss. Another incomplete set up a fourth-and-12 play where Troutman’s
pass was knocked down by Olayinka Fageyinbo,
giving King’s possession at the Juniata
48.
King’s was forced to punt and Juniata return specialist Paul Evans
delivered a big 60-yard punt return to
give the Eagles possession at the Monarch 35 with 3:15 remaining.
King’s defense, however, would rise to the occasion with the game on the
line. On first down, Craig Moshier was
stopped for a on- yard gain before an incomplete pass set up
a third-and-eight. From there, Wilson sacked Troutman for a one-yard loss.
On fourth down and the Eagles desperately in need of a first down,
Troutman’s pass fell incomplete as the Monarchs took over at its
own 28 with 2:02 remaining.
Needing a first down to run out the clock and Juniata out of time outs,
Jackson picked up a crucial first down with a nine-yard run on
third-and-two to preserve the Monarch victory.
“Today we become a football team at half-time,” King’s
coach Rich Mannello stated. “We had a rough first half but we overcame a
lot of adversity and showed so much
character. We did not panic at all and the players
took the initiative and stepped it up. At half-time our offensive line
looked me in the eye and said ‘we want to run the ball’, so we kept
working and got it done. Out backs were
tremendous and ran the way I-formation
backs should. We had to weather the storm of the first half and were
able to do it. I can’t say enough about the heart and composure we
showed today against an outstanding football
team.”
The game was hardly all hearts and flowers for the Monarchs. In
the first period, Juniata struck quickly on the first possession of the
game. On first down, Troutman scrambled for a
22-yard gain to the King’s 40. Troutman
then hit Moshier for a 22-yard pickup to the Monarch 18, then added
a nine-yard completion to Moshier at the nine.
The Juniata tailback would pick up a first down
with a four-yard run to the King’s five, and would burst through the
middle for an Eagle score two plays later.
Dusty Lehr’s conversion gave Juniata
a 7-0 lead with 12:57 left in the first quarter.
King’s would immediately counter when Hessler hit Chris Rispoli for a
21-yard gain to the Eagle 42. After a
eight-yard pass to Rispoli, King’s faced a fourth-and-one
play from the Eagle 33. From there, Jackson picked up 10
yards for a first down at the Eagle 23. An incomplete pass and consecutive
runs of six and three yards by Jackson set up a fourth-and-one play.
The Monarch sophomore kept the drive alive when he gained six yards to
give King’s a first-and-goal at the Eagle
eight. Silas Moore then picked up three
yards to the five, then added four more yards at the Eagle one-yard
line. On third-and-goal, Moore followed the
lead block of fullback Novia for a
Monarch touchdown. Nawrocki’s kick knotted the score at 7-7 with 7:53
left in the first quarter.
Juniata would answer on its next possession with a 78-yard drive when
Troutman hit Andrew Raup with an
18-yard hookup to put the Eagles back on top. Lehr’s conversion pushed
the score to 14-7 with 5:57 remaining in the opening period.
Following a King's fumble, Juniata drove to the King's 13-yard line before
the drive stalled. From there, Lehr’s 30-yard field goal was blocked by
Rubin Doster. But King’s Venson
Taylor picked up the loose ball at the one-yard line and fumbled
into the end zone where Juniata’s Jason Stouffer recovered for a Eagle
score with 1:10 left in the first half. Doster then blocked the extra-point
kick as Juniata led 20-7 at the break.
In all, the Monarchs turned the ball over four times in the first half.
Troutman completed 9-of-19 passes while
rushing for 55 yards to pace the Juniata
offense. Jackson rushed for 42 yards as King’s managed 159 yards of
offense in the opening half.
In the second half, King's would control the clock with is running game as
the Monarchs amassed 248 yards of offense in the second half, including
224 on the ground. King's also held an important 19:06-to-10:54 time of
possession advantage.
“Our defense as outstanding in the second half and made key stop
after key stop,” Mannello noted. “That
was a great offensive team we played and once we
got up to game speed we did a great job. You can’t simulate Juniata’s
offense in practice so it took us a period of
time to adjust and we did an outstanding
job once we caught up to the speed of the game.”
King’s gained 407 yards of offense, including 323 on the ground.
Moore helped the Monarch cause with 68
yards and two scores while Novia rushed for a career-high
46 yards.
Wilson led the Monarch defense with nine tackles, including two sacks.
Chris Keene added seven tackles with
2.5 sacks. Rubin Doster also chipped in with nine
tackles. Venson Taylor contributed eight tackles for King's.
The Monarchs will enjoy an off week before hosting two-time defending MAC
champion Widener October 19 on Homecoming Weekend at King's.