EDWARDSVILLE, PA (September 2, 2023) -- The Mayor's Cup will return to the campus of King's College as the Monarch football team surged for a 21-7 advantage in the second half, securing the Mayor's Cup victory 27-23 over the host Wilkes University in the 27th annual affair. The Monarchs begin the 2023 season 1-0 as they hand Head Coach Skyler Fultz his first career victory, while the Colonels fall to 0-1.
Both teams traded three-and-outs to start out the game before the Colonels put together a lengthy 17-play drive over 9:29 of action. The King's (1-0) defense held the Colonels on a goal-line stand before a Wilkes (0-1) false start pushed the Colonels back and forced a field goal attempt that hit the right upright and kept the game scoreless with 1:41 remaining in the first.
Wilkes would score on back-to-back possessions, getting first score on the board as Isaiah Rodriguez recorded an 80-yard completion before Zane Grover threw a 31-yard pass to Xavier Powell, to give the Colonels a 14-0 edge with 7:52 left in the half.
King's responded on their next drive, stringing together 11 plays for 69 yards over the next 4:18 of play as Russell Minor-Shaw found Jayon Hailey from 18 yards out to see King's trail, 14-6. A miscue on the extra-point attempt would give Wilkes the chance to tack on two more points, but neither team found a rhythm down the stretch as the rivalry game went into the halftime break with the hosts ahead, 16-6.
The Monarchs came out of the break ready to stage a comeback, connecting for 77 yards over eight plays as Minor-Shaw would break through the line of scrimmage and take off for a 44-yard touchdown run to bring the Monarchs within 16-13. The King's defense brought out the same intensity as the offense, limiting the Colonels to just 18 yards on their next possession to hand the Monarchs back the ball with 6:32 to go in the third.
After marching 87 yards down the field across 6:27 of play, Minor-Shaw would deliver for King's again, this time completing a pass to Mike DiGregorio in the middle of the end zone for an eight-yard touchdown reception and put the Monarchs ahead for the first time in the contest, 20-16.
Wilkes would finally respond after giving up 14 third-quarter points, finding the end zone on their drive to begin the final quarter of play, regaining the 23-20 lead over the Monarchs. Both defenses held steady as each team came up empty on their next drive before King's put together their game-winning drive.
With 2:37 to go in the season opener, the Monarch offense delivered a game-winning drive to remember. King's methodically moved down the field to put together a 14-play, 87-yard drive highlighted by 48 yards on three catches from EJ Schreiner, including a 25-yard catch on 4th-and-10 from the King's 37 to keep the drive alive. Another 15-yard reception from Schreiner would put King's at 1st-and-goal, and after a quick Monarch timeout Minor-Shaw would find Ryan McCombs from six yards out for the game-winning catch. Theo Mazias came on to connect for his third extra-point of the game to give King's the 27-23 advantage with two seconds remaining.
The Colonels final efforts came up short as a deep pass by Isaiah Rodriguez was broken up by Teone Sherrod and the Monarch secondary, securing the win in the 27th annual Mayor's Cup rivalry game and returning the Mayor's Cup back to King's.
Minor-Shaw was named the King's MVP in the game, completing 29 passes on 43 attempts for 260 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions, while also rushing for 82 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. Jayon Hailey and Brennan Robinson also combined for 47 rushing yards on their 15 carries to help lead the run game for King's. Schreiner led the Monarch receivers with 85 yards on seven catches, while DiGregorio added four receptions for 53 yards and touchdown. Four other receivers totaled four or more catches to combine for 119 yards in the pass game.
King's defense was balanced in the win, as Colin Hazelton led the way with eight total tackles, including six solos, with 2.0 tackles for a loss of 13 yards. Jamil Thomas matched the eight-tackle effort, while Joe Carchio posted six tackles and 0.5 tackles for a loss of a yard. Additionally, both Sherrod and Ruppert made five tackles with Ruppert adding 1.0 tackles for two-yards lost.
On special teams, Anthony Prato recorded 186 yards on five punts with a long of 44 yards, while Tyler Carey and Hailey combined for 49 kickoff returns yards on four attempts. Dylan Manna was strong in the kickoff game in his first collegiate appearance, totaling 270 yards on five kickoffs.
The Colonels were led by quarterback Isaiah Rodriguez who threw for 17 completions on 26 attempts with 223 yards and two touchdowns, while Elijah Jules rushed for 101 yards on 19 carries. The Wilkes MVP was awarded to Jimmy Johnson as he totaled 113 yards on four catches with a touchdown. Defensively, both Jesse Addesso and Donnell Mackey-Woodson led Wilkes with eight tackles a piece.
As a team, the Monarchs controlled the game, out-gaining the Colonels 391-358, including the edge in rushing yards (131-104) and passing yards (260-254). Both teams were solid in the turnover margin, maintaining the even ratio. It was King's fourth-down conversions and red-zone efficiency that helped secure the win, as the Monarchs were a perfect 4-for-4 on fourth down and 3-for-3 in the red zone in their first win under Fultz.
The Monarchs will be back in action next weekend as they look to improve to 2-0 and start their Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) schedule with a win. King's makes the short trip up the mountain to take on Misericordia University at 12:00 p.m. at Mangelsdorf Field.
--MONARCHS--