NOVEMBER 7, 2015
KING'S FOOTBALL EDGED AT LEBANON VALLEY 10-6 IN DEFENSIVE STRUGGLE
ANNVILLE — The King's College football team mustered little offense in its game at Lebanon Valley College, but the Monarchs were unable to turn its three red-zone chances into touchdowns, instead settling for a pair of field goals as the Monarchs dropped a 10-7 decision in their final road game Saturday in Annville.
With the loss, King's slipped to 3-6 overall and 3-5 in the MAC while Lebanon Valley improved to 5-4 and 5-3 in league play.
Lebanon Valley scored first on the third possession of the game when the Dutchmen drove to the Monarchs 33-yard line. On the next play the Dutchmen ran a flea-flicker and fooled the Monarchs' defense as quarterback Tim Pirrone found Gary Wise open for a Dutchmen score. Marcus Brown added the point-after to give Lebanon Valley a 7-0 lead with 11:27 left in the first quarter.
Two possessions later King's defense came up with a turnover when Tyler Mejasic picked off Pirrone at the Monach 47. King's used a 19-yard pass from Tom Hehre to Mike Palmer to reach the Dutchmen 21, then Hehre hooked up with Matt Demarco for 11 yards to the 10. But the drive would stall and the Monarchs settled for a 27-yard field goal by Mikhail Kniaziewicz to cut the lead to 7-3 with 4:43 remaining gin the quarter.
In the second half the Monarchs took the kickoff and march downfield. An 11-yard run by Zack Funk and a 13-yard pass to Demarco moved the ball to the Lebanon Valley 44. A 20-yard pass from Hehre to Marquis Miller gave King's a first down at the Dutchmen 18. But the drive would again stall and Kniaziewicz made good on a 38-yard field goal to trim the lead to 7-6 with 8:47 to of in the third quarter.
The Dutchmen attempted to counter on its next possession with a drive to the King's 28. But the Monarchs defense held firm and a 39-yard field gal by Marcus Brown was blocked by King's safety Anthony Martuccio.
But the Monarchs gave the ball right back when King's offense was unable to advance. Attempting to punt the ball away, King's Eric Haenggi was forced to run to evade a heavy Dutchmen rush and was tackled at the King's 20, giving Lebanon Valley possession.
King's defense again held true and forced a field goal, but this time Brown was good from 32 yards to give the Dutchmen a 10-6 advantage with 0:34 remaining in the third quarter.
The Monarchs looked to counter when JustinBurke returned the ensuing kickoff 76 yards to the Dutchmen nine. But a run for no gain and an incomplete pass were followed by a nine-yard sack of Hehre to force the Monarchs into a fourth-and-goal from the Lebanon Valley 18. From there, a 35-yard field goal by Kniaziewicz was blocked as the Monarchs were unable to take advantage of a critical scoring chance, keeping Lebanon Valley ahead 10-6 with 14:06 remaining.
The Monarchs final two drives of the game came in deep in King's territory, at the 17 and six yards lines respectively. King's would advance no further than their own 31 on either drive. On their last possession, King's faced s fourth-and-25 play after a sack of Hehre but an 180yard completion to Demarco turned the ball over on downs with 2:02 to play. From there the Dutchmen were able to run out the clock and hod on to the victory.
Lebanon Valley out gained KIng's 283-187 in total yards. The Dutchmen amassed 160 rushing yards whil holding King's to a season-low 24 yards on the ground. The Monarchs enjoyed a 163-123 advantage through the air. Lebanon Valley also had a 16-14 edge in first downs and averaged 4.88 yards per-play compared to just 2.92 for King's.
In all, King's offense advanced three times inside the Lebanon Valley 18 yards line but only came away with six points.
Hehre completed 13-of-28 passes for 163 yards but was sacked six tmes in the game. Demarco paced the Monarchs with seven receptions for 84 yards while Palmer added there catches for 45 yards. Zack Funk led King's runners with 37 yards on seven carries.
For the Dutchmen, Pirrone completed 9-of-16 asses for 1123 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Jon Jones led the Lebanon Valley rushing attack with 88 yards on 18 carries. Four different Dutchmen receivers caught four passes each.
Defensively for King's, Bobby Russell had a season-high 15 tackles while Chri Degaetano followed with eight stops. Michael Martina posted five tackles while Monroe Sherman, Martuccio, and Tyler Cruz aded four each.
King's will close out the season next Saturday when the Monarchs host cross-ton rival Wilkes University in the 20th annual Mayor's Cup Game at 12:00 noon at McCarthy Stadium.
Missed Opportunities Costly as King's Football Edged by Lebanon Valley 10-6
/seasons/2015/boxscores/20151107_j9wg.xml
2015
King's
6
Lebanon Valley
10
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| King's (3-6) | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| Lebanon Valley (5-4) | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
Nov 07, 2015