Oct 24, 2015
OCTOBER 24, 2015
KING'S FOOTBALL POSTS 28-14 WIN OVER MISERICIRDIA
DALLAS -- The King's College football team broke open a 7-7 game at the half with 21 unanswered second half points and the Monarchs defense shut down the Misericordia offense as King's posted a 28-14 victory Saturday at Mangelesdorf Field.
With the win King's improved to 3-4 overall and 3-3 in the MAC while registering its second straight win. Misericordia, meanwhile, slipped to 0-7 and 0-6. The win also enabled King's to improve to 4-0 in its all-time series with the Cougars.
Misericordia took advantage of a King's fumble to push across the first score of the game. The Cougars drove 55 yards on nine plays to find the end zone when Jeff Puckett fund Tyler Rowe with a 20-yard scoring strike.
King's answered on its next possession when a 43-yard kickoff return by Justin Burke gave the Monarchs possession at the Cougar 42. A 16-yard pass from Tom Hehre to Matt Demarco and two short pass completions to Mike Palmer and Demarco moved the ball to the Misericordia five. Two plays later Hehre found Marquis Miller on a four-yard touchdown pass to even the score at 7-7 with 14:54 remaining in he half.
Neither team would score the rest of the way in the opening half.
Matt Demarco gave King's excellent field position in the second half with a 47-yard kickoff return, giving the Monarchs possession at the Cougar 40. The Monarchs mustered only three yards on three plays but King's picked up a key first-down when Hehre hit Palmer with a 12-yard pass on fourth-and-five play to pick up a critical first down at the Cougar 22.
On the next play Jordan Downes burst up the middle for a 23-yard touchdown, his first collegiate score. Mikail Kniasiewicz added the point-after as King's took a 14-7 lead with 11:59 left in the third quarter.
On the next play Jordan Downes burst up the middle for a 23-yard touchdown, his first collegiate score. Mikail Kniasiewicz added the point-after as King's took a 14-7 lead with 11:59 left in the third quarter.
On King's next possession the Monarchs were unable to move the ball and Misericordia blocked King's punt, taking over at Monarch 28. But the King's defense came up big when Tyler Mejasic picked off Puckett in the end zone to halt the Cougar scoring threat.
King's used an 18-yard pass to Palmer and an 11-yard hookup with Marroni to advance to the Cougar 48. On the next play Hehre went downfield and found Demarco in stride for a touchdown, the first of he sophomore receiver's career. Kniaziewicz converted the extra-point kick as King's built a 21-7 lead with 4:25 left in the third quarter.
Midway through he fourth quarter King's took over at its own 17 following a Cougar punt.
After moving to their own 36, Monarch tailback Zack Funk moved the quarterback position in a Wildcat formation and ran for 62 yards to the Cougar four. On the next play Funk burst into the end zone to extend the King's lead. Kniakiewicz added the extra-point as the Monarch lead grew to 28-7 with 6:55 left in the game
Misericordia added the final score of he game when Puckett scored on a one-yard run to set the final score.
King's outgained Misericordia 347-to-200 in total yards. The Monarchs rushed for 179 yards in the game while holding the Cougars, who entered the game averaging 156.0 yards on the ground, to just 97 yards.
Hehre completed 16-of-25 passes for 168 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions while adding 27 rushing yards. Funk posted a career-high 108 yards on 14 carries and became the first Monarch runner to crack the 100-yards mark this season. Demarco posted a team-high six catches for 91 yards while Palmer added five for 47 yards.
Puckett led Misericordia with 84 rushing yards on 14 carries but had 35 on one attempt. The Cougar signal-caller completed 11-of-25 passes for 103 yards with one touchdown and an interceptions. Row led Misericordia with five receptions for 65 yards and one score.
Defensively for King's, Bobby Russell posted a team-high nine tackles while Bruce Damon added five stops. Monroe Sherman and Jake Manetti posted four tackles apiece.
The Monarchs return home Saturday with a 1:00 p.m. matchup against MAC co-leader Albright, which dropped its first game of the season Saturday in a 28-23 loss to Delaware Valley.