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OCTOBER 19, 2002
BOB ZIADIE
KING'S FOOTBALL STUNS WIDENER BEHIND DOMINATING DEFENSIVE EFFORT
WILKES-BARRE The King's College defense turned in a dominating
performance in registering nine quarterback sacks and five pass
interceptions as the Monarchs stunned fifth-ranked, defending two-time
Middle Atlantic Conference champion Widener University 24-6 in
Wilkes-Barre.
With the win King's improved to 4-2 overall and 4-1 in the MAC. The
Monarchs moved into a half-game of Widener who fell to 5-1 overall and in
conference play. The head-to-head victory also provides King's with
a first-place tiebreaker should the squads conclude the year with just one
MAC loss apiece.
Widener struck when it recovered a Monarch fumble at the King's 28-yard
line. The Pioneers moved the ball to the seven before the drive stalled
and Widener lined up for an apparent field goal. But holder Mike
deMarteleire would roll out to his right where he found Bo Fisher in the
end zone on a successful fake field goal. Paul Ragan's conversion
kick was wide as the Pioneers held a 6-0 lead with 4:16 remaining in the
first quarter.
Kingšs would counter on the next possession when quarterback David
Hessler ignited a six-play 65-yard drive. The Monarch junior signal caller
scrambled for 13 yards before completing a 20 yard pass to Chris Rispoli
to move the ball to the Widener 32. Two plays later, Hessler found Harry
Dickey with a 29-yard pickup to the Pioneer one. On the next play, Hessler
would find the end zone on a quarterback sneak. Bobby Nawrocki's
conversion gave King's a 7-6 advantage with 2:22 remaining in the opening
period.
The King's special teams came up wit the biggest play of the game when
the Pioneers were forced to punt from their own 47 yard-line. Dante
DeSantis blocked Christian Kearn's attempt and Casey Meehan scooped up
the ball at the Widener 30 and raced untouched into the end zone with 0:31
remaining in the half. Nawrockišs conversion was wide, but Kingšs
took a 13-6 lead into the half-time break.
The Monarch special teams again came up big when Venson Taylor returned
the second half kickoff 66 yards to set up a 24-yard field goal by
Nawrocki which pushed the Monarch advantage to 16-6 with 11:49 remaining
in the third quarter.
On the ensuing possession, King's cornerback picked off
Widener quarterback Mike Warker at the Pioneer 35 and returned the ball 14
yards to give the Monarchs possession at the 21-yard line. Tailback
Richard Jackson had consecutive carries of four and 10 yards to give
King's
a first down at the Pioneer seven-yard line. After three plays the
Monarchs faced a crucial fourth-and-goal play for the Widener three-yard
line where Jackson found the end zone off right tackle. Hessler then found
Ryan Gennaro the end zone for the two-point to conversion give King's a
24-6 advantage with 8:28 remaining in the third quarter, a lead the
Monarchs would not relinquish.
With Widener entering the game averaging 402.0 total yards per-game,
King's
defensive front dominated the contest in holding the Pioneers to minus-56
yards rushing and 234 yards of total offense. Senior
all-American defensive end Steven Wilson posted a team-high eight tackles
with 5.5 tackles for 45 yards in losses and 2.5 sacks for 31 lost yards.
Fellow senior defensive end Chris Keen had 3.5 sacks for 32 yards in
losses while senior defensive tackle Rubin Doster added seven tackles and
2.0 sacks on the day. Zambino added two interceptions to aid
the Monarch secondary.
Warker was harassed all day by the Monarch defensive front and completed
just 16-of-42 passes for 283 yards while tossing a career-high five
interceptions, including two one in the end zone and another at the
Monarch two-yard line. Warker, who was hit constantly by the King's
defense, was credited with 14 carries for minus 63 yards rushing including
nine sacks.
While its offense struggled, the Widener defense was solid in allowing
King's 206 yards of total offense and held Jackson, the MAC rushing
leader at 130 yards per-game, to just 53 yards on 18 carries.
The Monarchs, who returned to varsity football in 1993 after a 30-year
absence of the sport, would claim its first MAC title should it win their remaining four contests.
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