SEPTEMBER 16, 2006
KING’S FOOTBALL OUT SLUGS MORAVIAN, 28-23
BETHLEHEM – Jeff Field rushed for 96 yards and two
touchdowns and the King's College defense limited host Moravian College
to 32 rushing yards as the Monarchs posted a 28-23 Middle Atlantic
Conference road win Saturday in Bethlehem.
With the win, King's improved to 2-1 overall, but more importantly, are
now 2-0 in the MAC after snapping a two-game losing streak at the hands
of the Greyhounds. Moravian, meanwhile, slipped to 1-1.
King's started sluggishly in the first quarter, but would eventually
settle down. Moravian would push across the game’s first points on the
opening possession of the contest when the Greyhounds used a 23-yard
pass from Brad Swartz to Shawn Martell and a defensive holding penalty
on King’s to move the ball to the Monarch 29. King's defense would
stiffen and the drive would stall at the Monarch 25, but Brian
Reckenbeil drilled a 42-yard field goal to put the Greyhounds ahead 3-0
with 11:12 remaining in the first quarter.
The Greyhounds would add to their lead when Monarch quarterback Jeff
Searfass, who was making his first start in his hometown of Bethlehem,
was intercepted by Kevin McGorry at the Monarch 39. After a six-yard
pass from Swartz to Kris Bisci gave Moravian a first-and-goal at the
five-yard line, the Monarch defense would again rise to the task. Three
straight running plays would advance the ball to the Monarch one-yard
line, forcing the Greyhounds to settled for a 19-yard field goal by
Reckenbeil as Moravian would take a 6-0 lead with 5:04 left in the
opening quarter.
King’s would counter in the second quarter when Searfass hit Chris
Maloney for 19 yards to spark a 19-play, 73-yard drive. The Monarchs
would eventually move the ball to the Greyhound 10 where Searfass found
Mike Verbitski in the back of the end zone to get the Monarchs on the
board. Tim Lust’s conversion gave King’s a 7-6 lead with 9:05 left in
the half.
The lead was short-lived however as the Greyhounds came up big on their
next possession. Facing a third-and-16 from its own 20, Swartz found
Tyler Hersch for a 45-yard completion to the Monarch 35. Two players
later Swartz hooked up with Tyler McCambridge for a 33-yard score.
Reckenbeil's kick gave the Greyhounds a 13-7 lead with 6:53 remaining in
the half.
The Monarchs would respond with a 12-play, 88-yard
drive keyed by a 16-yard pass from Searfass to John Ortiz, and
completions of 14 and 17 yards to Joe Winning. Ortiz would later score
on a 17-yard run with 0:20 left in the half and Lust added the point
after to give the Monarchs a 14-13 lead at the break.
King’s would ride the momentum into the opening
possession of the third quarter when the Monarchs used a big offensive
play of their own. On a second-and-eight play from midfield, tailback
Jeff Field would race through a huge hole off right tackle and ran
untouched down the sideline until breaking a tackle at the Moravian
one-yard line and finding pay dirt. Lust would add the conversion as the
Monarch lead grew to 21-13 with 9:12 remaining in the third.
The Greyhounds would counter when the drove to the King’s eight, but
again settled for a field goal, this time a 25-yarder from Reckenbeil
with 3:20 left in the third.
Two possessions later, King’s special teams came
through by forcing a Greyhound fumble on a punt play and Denis Dahms
would recover at the Moravian 47. Joe Tassoni would rush for 17 and a
Searfass 14-yard pass to Joe Winning moved the ball to the Greyhound 16.
Searfass would then find Tassoni out of the backfield for an 11-yard
gain to give the Monarchs a first-down at the three. On third-and-goal
from the one, Field would find the end zone to extend the King’s led.
Lust’s point-after would give King’s a 28-16 lead with 13:51 remaining
in the contest.
On the ensuing kickoff, however, Moravian would get right back into the
game when Tyler Hersch came through with a 92-yard touchdown return.
Reckenbeil’s kick brought the Greyhounds to within 28-23 with 13:35
remaining in the game.
The teams would trade possessions until the Monarchs looked to put the
game away when King's assumed possession at its own 39-yard line
following a punt with 8:16 remaining. With the ball on the King's 49,
Searfass lofted a pass down the right sideline to Chris Maloney who made
a leaping catch at the Greyhound 12. Maloney, however, was flagged for
offensive interference, negating the play. After Searfass was sacked on
back-to-back plays, the Monarchs would give up the ball when Searfass'
completion to Bernie Mullen on a fourth-and-20 play came a yard short of
a first down, giving the Greyhounds possession at their own 14 with 3:29
left.
Completions of 12 and 3 yards, combined with a pass interference penalty
on the Monarchs would give Moravian a first-down at the King's 45. But
four straight incomplete passes, the final with 0:20 left, would enable
the Monarchs to hold on to the victory.
King's controlled the game statistically, out gaining Moravian
361-to-246 in total offense. The Monarchs ran 74 total plays compared to
just 49 for Moravian. King's rushed for 177 yards while limiting the
Greyhounds to 32 yards on the ground. The Monarchs, however, continued
to hurt themselves with penalties as King's was flagged 11 times for 98
yards on the day.
Searfass completed 16-of-30 passes for 184 yards and one score while
Ortiz added 65 rushing yards on 15 attempts and made four receptions for
26 yards to aid the cause. Verbitski made four catches for 41 yards
while Joe Winning posted three receptions for 45 yards.
Tyler deRouen, who rushed for 123 yards for Moravian a week ago against
Susquehanna, was held to 26 yards on 10 carries Swartz was 5-for-11 fro
120 yards with one touchdown and one interception while Marc Braxmeirer
went 6-of-13 for 94 yards. Hersch made three catches for 74 yards while
Martell had three receptions for 65 yards.
Matt Little and Craig Haywood topped the King's defense with seven
tackles each while Mike Lovett made six tackles with 1.5 sacks and
George Montras added five tackles and 2.5 sacks.
