Albright 38, King's 14
READING, Pa. – As head coach John Marzka would say "Every Saturday we look to be 1-0." Looking to put last Saturday's debacle against Lycoming in the past, the Lions returned to Shirk Stadium to host King's College. Led by sophomore fullback Ty Hughes the red and white showed that their 2010 season was far from over as they roared to a 38-14 Middle Atlantic Conference win.
Hughes, who entered Saturday's match-up with just 61 yards to his name, ran for a career and game-high 153 yards and three touchdowns. On 22 carries, the Point Pleasant, N.J. native averaged 5.7 yards per carry, with his longest run marked at 29 yards. Not to be outdone, the Lions defense, which has been questionable this season, returned to its dominant form Saturday afternoon.
Combined the defensive unit tallied 78 stops, with junior Keith Bruno leading his "dog soldiers" with eight. More importantly, the red and white totaled three interceptions and broke-up seven pass attempts, to neutralize the Monarchs passing game. Joe Arneth had the biggest INT of the contest as he pulled down what could have been a Monarchs touchdown late in the second quarter. Also picking off a Monarch pass attempt was Mark Bergery and Michael Rice.
Under center, sophomore quarterback Adam Galczynski showed true command of his offense as he threw for 224 yards on 11-of-21 passing. He connected with Scott Pillar and Sean Caldwell Jr. for two touchdown receptions, and had a career long throw of 51 yards to Pillar in the second quarter for a score.
As a team the red and white totaled 477 yards of offense, while the defense held King's to 320 yards. In the air Albright totaled 251 yards with freshman quarterback Ben Schaffle also stepping in on Saturday. King's was held to just 152 yards passing, and on the ground they managed just 168 yards. Albright's run game totaled 226 yards on 37 carries, and averaged just over six yards every time they touched the ball.
The Lions wasted little time getting on the scoreboard, as they handed the ball to Hughes for a 1 yard touchdown run on their opening drive. King's would then answer back on a Corey Lavin 10 yard touchdown pass to Eric Ofcharsky.
Tied at 7-7 through the first 15 minutes, Albright's offense came alive in the second quarter scoring three times to make it 28-7. Hughes rushed for back-to-back TD's, while Galczynski connected with Pillar on his 51 yard TD reception.
After the break, the Lions extended their lead to 38-7 with a Caldwell five yard touchdown reception, and a John Whelan 40 yard field goal. Whelan was 1-for-2 on field goal attempts, with his first missing wide left from 46 yards out.
In the fourth the Lions offense was held scoreless by King's defense, which had been beaten down throughout the afternoon. With only seconds remaining, the Lions decided they were going to run the ball one last time. So coach Marzka gave senior fullback Tyrell Drumgo the ball. On his lone carry of the afternoon, Drumgo steam rolled the Monarchs defense to pick-up 10 yards, to seal the Lion's victory.
Football will travel to Widener University next Saturday for a 1 p.m. Middle Atlantic Conference game.
