KING’S FOOTBALL
DROPS MAC OPENER AT DVC, 27-0
DOYLESTOWN – Jake
Sheffield accounted for 155 yards of all-purpose yardage and Mike
Isgro completed 12-of-16 passes doe 181 yards and three touchdowns
as host Delaware Valley College posted a 27-0 victory over King’s
College in the Middle Atlantic Conference opener for both teams
Saturday at James Work Memorial Field in Doylestown.
With the win, Delaware Valley improved to 1-3 overall and, more
important, 1-0 in the MAC. King’s meanwhile, fell to 0-4 overall and
0-1 in conference play.
The game played out similar to the Monarchs three previous losses as
King’s failed to convert on a number of scoring chances that would
ultimately prove costly.
King’s would miss out on a golden opportunity on the first
possession of the game when the Monarchs drove to the Delaware
Valley 11-yard line. The dive would stall, however, and Tim Lust’s
22-yard field goal attempt sailed wide to keep the Monarchs off the
scoreboard.
On the Aggies ensuing possession, Delaware Valley took advantage of
a second-down pass interference penalty for a first down at its own
35. On second-down, quarterback Mike Isgro would avoid a sack and
hit Joel Foreman for an 18-yard gain to the King’s 42. On
third-and-nine Isgro found Jake Sheffield for 10 more yards and a
first down at the Monarch 31. Two plays later Isgro hooked up with
Mike Barainyak for a 25-yard touchdown for the first score of the
day. Steve Giovacchini added the point after to give Delaware Valley
a 7-0 lead with 4:37 remaining in the first quarter.
Delaware Valley
would hold and took over at the King’s 38 following a short Monarch
punt. On a
fourth-and-seven play from the Monarch 35, Tom Tulaney would come
with his sixth sack of the year to end the scoring threat.
King’s, however,
would give the ball right back when Searfass fumbled after being
sacked as the Aggies Sean Raftery recovered at the Monarch 46. Runs
of eight and nine yards by Jake Sheffield moved the ball to the
King’s 29. On third-and-seven from the 20, Isgro found a wide-open
Sheffield at the two-yard line for an Aggie score. Giovacchini made
good on the extra-point kick as Delaware Valley took a 14-0 lead
with 11:33 remaining in the half.
The Monarchs would attempt to answer when Searfass avoided a
third-down sack and scrambled for 13 yards to the Monarch 49. On
third-down, Searfass was flushed from the pocket and was intercepted
by Aggie linebacker Kyle Reuter at the Delaware Valley 38.
The Aggies would
promptly march downfield where it reached the Monarch 23. But the
drive would stall and a 39-yard field goal attempt by Giovacchini
was short, giving King’s possession at its own 20.
On second down, Searfass would find Rick Ritter for 17 yards to the
Monarch 37. A six-yard pass to Bob Lane was followed by an 11-yard
completion to Brandon Murray to the Aggie 46. On a third-and-one
from the 37, Jones was stopped at the line of scrimmage for no gain.
On fourth down, Jeff Field would pick up six yards and a first down
to the 31. Facing a fourth-and-13 from the Aggie 34, Searfass would
connect with Ritter, but the Monarch freshman was tackles five yards
tackled shy of the first down at the 29 as Delaware Valley took over
on downs. The Aggies would run out the final 0:25 of the half to
take a 14-0 lead at the break.
In the second
half, King’s would take over at its own 14-yard line after forcing
an Aggie punt on the opening possession of the second half. Searfass
would connect with Ritter for 19 yards to the Monarch 28. Jeff Field
would add carries of seven and six yards for a first down at the
King’s 41. The Monarchs would eventually move to the Delaware
Valley 40, but Searfass’ pass to Ritter on third down was batted
down by an Aggie defender to force a Monarch punt.
King’s defense
would hold and forced an Aggie punt, giving the Monarchs excellent
field position at its own 47. Jones would carry for six yards before
Searfass connected with Murray for 14 yards to the Aggie 33. Ritter
would then break free for a 15-yard catch to the Delaware Valley 18.
After Jones rushed for five yards, Searfass found Mucha for three
yards on a screen pass to set up a third-and-two at the 10. Field
appeared to pick up the first down but the spot was a yard short as
King’s faced a fourth-and-one play from the nine. From there, Field
was stuffed at the line for a one-yard loss as the Aggies kept the
Monarchs off the scoreboard.
The Aggies would take advantage on the ensuing possession when it
droved 49 yards to the King’s 41. On the next play Cook would break
free and raced down the left sideline into the end zone to extend
the lead. Giovacchini would kick the extra-point to up the
Delaware Valley led to 21-0 with 13:13 left in the contest.
King’s would again
move the ball downfield as an 11-yard pass to Murray, a pass
interference penalty and a 15-yard pass to Lane moved the ball to
the Aggie 37. But again the Aggie defense would hold firm and forced
a fourth-and-five from the 35. From there, Searfass found Maloney
but the Monarch tight end was stopped a yard short of the first down
as Delaware Valley once again take over on downs.
The Aggies would
put the game away on the ensuing possession with a 10-play, 71-yard
scoring drive, keyed by a 44-yard pass from Isgro to Sheffield and
capped by a two-yard scoring toss to tight end Brad Emmons. The
conversion was blocked as the Aggies would up the score to 27-0 with
4:13 remaining.
Delaware Valley would out gain King’s 356-to-310 in total yards
while the Monarchs posted 21 first downs to 18 for the Aggies.
King’s, however, was limited to 80-yards on the ground and was just
7-of-18 in third-down conversions.
Searfass equaled his own school-record for single-game completions,
converting 26-of-39 passes for 230 yards with an interception and
was sacked six times while being harassed much of the game. Ritter posted a career-high nine catches for
117 yards while Maloney and Murray chipped in with five and four
catches respectively. Jones led King’s runners with 48 yards on 18
carries, while Field added 37 yards on 10 carries in his first
action since an injury in the Monarchs’ season-opening loss to St.
John Fisher.
Cook also enjoyed a strong game for Delaware Valley, rushing for 100
yards on 13 carries.
Senior linebacker Tore Alaimo led
the King’s defense with 21 tackles, tying the mark set by Chad
Ormond versus Albright in 1996. With Delaware Valley running 55
offensive plays, the Monarch standout was involved in an astounding
38.2 percent of the King's defensive plays
King’s returns to
action next week with another MAC game against Widener University at
1:00 p.m. in Chester.
