As a player at Delaware Valley, Mike Cebrosky and the rest of his offensive line made an appearance on the D3football.com Team of the Week. Now he's coaching his team against them in his first season as head coach. King's athletics photo

By Joe Sager
D3sports.com

With 31 seniors on the roster, King’s knows the time is now.

So far, the Monarchs understand the urgency.

After a 43-28 setback to crosstown rival Wilkes to open the season, King’s has found its groove with six straight wins to ascend to the top of the Middle Atlantic Conference standings.

“Resiliency and character are the top things,” King’s coach Mike Cebrosky said. “It’s been about how resilient our kids are. They have such high character. They find ways to get it done.”

The squad rebounded from its loss to defeat MAC foes Misericordia, Alvernia, Widener, Eastern, Lebanon Valley and FDU-Florham.

Cebrosky had no doubt his team would rally together.

“Everybody uses the cliché of being a family. Family is not even the word I’d use with us,” he said. “When you watch these guys interact — not just on the field, but off the field, too — the love or care they have for each other is off the charts. They have fun; they are serious when they need to be serious. The trust, care and love are just huge.”

It’s something that’s been building within the Monarchs over the years.

“This group — these kids went through COVID. Some of the fifth-year guys had it happen their first year of college. They didn’t play a game. When they got here, there were some challenging times. They’ve weathered the storm,” Cebrosky said. “They’ve been so tight knit. They’ve grown together; that’s the biggest thing. When I call one of them, I find like 10 of them.”

King’s has been able to win games in different ways. For instance, running back Brennan Robinson leads the MAC in rushing (106.1 yards per game), but was limited to 12 yards in last week’s victory. Instead, quarterback Russell Minor-Shaw stung the Devils through the air for 288 yards and five touchdowns to five different players. He ran for 48 yards and a score as well.

“It is nice that we were able to make some plays when we wanted to. It wasn’t a clean game for us, though. We could have definitely done a couple more things,” Cebrosky said. “We’re working on improving on our mistakes of last week You have to find ways to win. That goes back to our experience and resilience. Just because you find yourself in a different situation doesn’t mean you can’t do your job.”

Jayon Hailey (426 yards, 5 touchdowns) has played a big part in the running game, too. Mike DeGregorio (27 catches, 366 yards, 5 TDs), E.J. Schreiner (20-249-5), Ryan McCombs (14-139-5) and Hailey (16-154-2), among others, have been key targets in the passing game for Minor-Shaw, who has thrown for 1,253 yards and 19 TDs.

“I think we have some special kids,” Cebrosky said. “When you have a quarterback like ours and some running backs you can hand the ball off to in multiple ways is really good. We have receivers that work really hard. We put them in spots to succeed. They come to work every day and work on the little things. When you work on the little things, that takes care of other things. When you have running backs and wide receivers who work hard every day, it makes your life as a coach much easier.”

The Monarchs (6-1 overall, 6-0 conference) will need all their firepower this week as they play host to Delaware Valley (6-1, 5-1). The Aggies have had the upper hand in recent years with wins in the previous nine meetings. The last King’s victory came in 2013.  

“It’s just business as usual for us. If it’s Tuesday, you do what you normally do on Tuesday. The focus is where it’s been all year,” said Cebrosky, who did not make players available to be interviewed for this story. “We don’t look ahead and we’re looking just at today. That’s where it’s at. What we care about is us and how we can be better. That’s how we do it here.”

This weekend is the start of a crucial three-game stretch for the Monarchs. They visit Albright next weekend and then welcome Stevenson to close out the regular season. The Mustangs (4-3, 4-2) are third in the MAC standings, but they beat Delaware Valley, 21-20, earlier this fall.

“We don’t look ahead at all. The focus literally goes by days; we talk about being 1-0 each day and don’t worry about tomorrow,” Cebrosky said. “If you have a meeting today, be 1-0 in that meeting. Tomorrow, same thing. You can be 1-0 by waking up on time and you can be 1-0 by making your bed. All we talk about is today and how do we get better today? Everybody can improve in something. That’s been our rallying cry all year.”

King’s looks to keep winning in order to delay the inevitable goodbye for its seniors.

“The best time of my day is walking on the field at 6:15 every morning because I get to see the guys,” Cebrosky said. “Is it always perfect? No. But, they want to do everything they can to make it right. It’s just a blast. It’s a good group of kids. They will be great leaders in the future wherever they go.”