SEPTEMBER 6,
2008KING’S
FOOTBALL OPENS WITH BIG 34-13 WIN OVER RANDOLPH-MACON COLLEGE
WILKES-BARRE --
Senior tailback Jeramia Jones rushed for a career-high 192 yards and
scored four touchdowns as the King’s College football team defeated
Randolph-Macon College 34-13 in a non-conference opening day game played
in a steady rain on the new synthetic turf field at the Betzler Athletic
Complex.
King’s, which comes
off a 1-9 2007 campaign, entered the game as underdogs against a
Randolph-Macon squad that was 8-2 last year and returned 14 starters,
seven on offense and seven on defense.
The Yellow Jackets
took a 6-0 lead when Federico Jellinek returned a short King’s punt 32
yards to the Monarch seven. Four plays later Brandon Braner hit Jeff May
with a 12-yard touchdown pass at 8:08 of the first quarter. King’s Mike
Lovett, however, would block the extra point kick.
King’s would answer
three possessions later when Olayinka Soda launched a 54-yard scoring
strike to Mike Verbitski. Andrew DeRito added the conversion kick as
King’s took a 7-6 lead with 1:26 remaining in the first quarter.
Later in the second
quarter, King’s would begin to march from its own 16-yard line and used
a 27-yard run by Jones to move the ball to the Monarch 43. King’s would
use a nine-yard catch by Justin Dalton, a nine-yard run by Jones and a
13-yard pass to Verbitski to move to the Yellow Jacket 20. Facing a
third-and-nine play, Soda would scramble for 12 more yards to the
seven-yard lone. Two plays later Jones scored on a seven yard-run and
DeRito’s conversion pushed the King’s advantage to 14-6 with 3:23 on the
clock, a lead the Monarchs would take into the half-time break.
In the third quarter
of the game the Monarchs took advantage of a Yellow Jacket mistake when
punter Ben Keyser was unable to handle the snap from center and was
fumbled when hit by Denzell Smith, who would recover at the
Randolph-Macon three-yard line. On the first play, Jones would scamper
into the end zone for his second score of the day. DeRito again added
the point after as King’s lead grew to 21-6.
The Monarchs would
immediately force a Yellow Jacket punt from deep in its own territory
and took over at the Randolph-Macon 45. On first down, Jones sliced off
left tackle and broke a tackle before racing down the sideline and into
the end zone for a 45-yard touchdown with 4:49 left in the third
quarter. DeRito added the extra-point and the Monarchs took a 27-6 lead
into the final quarter of play.
Randolph-Macon
would come with a big defensive play when Jesse Jones sacked Soda,
forcing the ball loose and Scott Ahonen recovered for the Yellow Jackets
at the King’s 41. After driving to the King’s five, a holding penalty
and three straight incomplete passes forced the Yellow Jackets into a
fourth-and-goal from the King’s 16. From there, Braner would lineup as a
wide receiver and raced to the goal line as backup quarterback Austin
Faulkner lofted a pass to his 6-4 teammate. Braner would out-leap the
King’s secondary to haul in the pass just inside the goal line for a
touchdown. Scott Shope added the point-after as Randolph-Macon closed to
within 27-13 with 8:35 remaining.
King’s, however,
would put the game away when Jones broke free for a 39-yard touchdown,
his career-best fourth of the game, with 4:55 on the clock.
Jones, who also
posted another career-high with 34 carries, rushed for 134 yards and
three touchdowns in the second half. Soda, meanwhile, was efficient
behind center, completing 8-of-15 passes for 111 yards with one
touchdowns, but picked up four critical first downs on runs. Verbitski
added three catches for 66 yards while Rick Ritter caught two passes fro
19 yards.
For Randolph-Macon,
Zack Thornton, the fifth leading rusher in Division III last season,
rushed for 121 yards on 30 carries but managed just 40 yards on 12
carries in the second half. Braner completed just 50of-23 passes for 48
yards with one touchdown and one interception, but was victimized by
several dropped balls by Yellow Jacket receivers.
King’s outgained
Randolph-Macon 323-to-169 in total offense. The Yellow Jackets would
also hurt themselves by losing four-of-seven fumbles on the day and had
five total turnovers, compared to just one turnover for King’s.
Mike Lovett led King's defense with seven tackles and 1.5 sacks while
Matt Rhodes added six tackles, three tackles for nine yards in losses,
and an interception. Ryan Nelson had five stops with 1.5 sacks while
Craig Geibert netted five tackles.
King's will next host tradtional Division III power Ithaca College
Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at Betzler Fields.
