Monarchs heading to NCAA playoffs
Click here to subscribe today or Login.
WILKES-BARRE TWP. — King’s College’s task was to prevent any distractions impeding the goal at hand on Saturday afternoon.
Not the emotion of senior day. Not the opportunity to finish unbeaten in the MAC for the first time in the program’s history. Not a Stevenson team which was making things somewhat difficult in the first half.
The Monarchs checked off all the boxes eventually, scoring three touchdowns after halftime on the way to a 33-21 victory.
King’s (9-0 MAC, 9-1 overall) secured a Division III playoff berth prior to the game by winning the MAC title. The Monarchs will find out their opponent during the Division III Selection Show at 5 p.m. Sunday on ncaa.com. They will be making their first NCAA playoff appearance since 2002.
“Same thing as always. These guys are so resilient,” King’s first-year coach Mike Cebrosky said. “This leadership, this special group, they don’t blink. That’s the beauty of being their coach. It’s very special group and I’m so proud of them.
“We’re never out of it. When it’s zero, zero, zero (on the clock) that’s when we’ll see where we’re at.”
When there were three zeroes on the clock at the end of the first half, King’s trailed 14-13.
Stevenson (5-4, 5-5) drove 87 yards on 17 plays on its first possession, with 275-pound quarterback Nyaire Wilson connecting on a 10-yard TD pass to Deion Richardson.
King’s tied the score 7-7 at 9:47 of the second quarter on an amazing catch by wideout Tony Brinson for a 33-yard touchdown. Quarterback Russell Minor-Shaw escaped the pocket and rifled a pass and Brinson made a full-speed diving catch in the middle of the end zone.
The Mustangs answered back with the running of Kirk Reed, who had 88 of his 171 rushing yards in the first half. Reed scored on a 15-yard run for a 14-7 lead with 4:09 left until halftime. Minor-Shaw’s 18-yard scramble for a touchdown moved King’s within 14-13 at 2:28, but the extra point was blocked.
Minor-Shaw was sacked four times in the first half, but better protection allowed him to throw touchdown passes of 59 and 40 yards to wide receiver Kival Clarke after intermission.
Both TD throws were catch-and-runs. On the first, Clarke outran two Mustangs who were within arm’s length. Clarke slipped a tackle attempt at the Stevenson 28-yard line for the final touchdown of the game with 4:32 remaining.
King’s had regained a 26-21 lead four minutes earlier on a 2-yard run by Minor-Shaw.
“In the first half, everything we were running was fine,” Minor-Shaw said. “It wasn’t like the defense was stopping us. We just had to clean up our mistakes and that’s what we did in the second half.”
A 9-yard sack by King’s defensive end Osman Kamara disrupted Stevenson’s final possession. An interception by cornerback Ahmed Griffin ended it.
“We bent a couple times,” Cebrosky said. “The first (Stevenson) drive was a little sloppy for us. We had to get back to doing basic stuff.”
King’s 33, Stevenson 21
Stevenson`7`7`0`7 — 21
King’s`0`13`7`13 — 33
First Quarter
STE — Deion Richardson 10 pass from Nyaire Wilson (Donnie Waitt kick), 3:32
Second quarter
KIN — Tony Brinson 33 pass from Russell Minor-Shaw (Delaney Hilferty kick), 9:47
STE — Kirk Reed 15 run (Waitt kick), 4:09
KIN — Minor-Shaw 18 run (kick blocked), 2:28
Third quarter
KIN — Kival Clarke 59 pass from Minor-Shaw (Hilferty kick), 9:47
Fourth quarter
STE — Kareem Robinson 8 pass from Jordan Adams (Waitt kick), 13:41
KIN — Minor-Shaw 2 run (pass failed), 8:42
KIN — Clarke 40 pass from Minor-Shaw (Hilferty kick), 4:32
Team statistics`STEV`KING’S
First downs`17`17
Rushes-yards`40-199`36-128
Passing yards`111`233
Total yards`310`361
Passing`10-24-1`14-21-0
Sacked-yards lost`3-9`5-31
Punts-avg.`4-38`5-31
Fumbles-lost`0-0`0-0
Penalties-yards`5-30`4-65
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Stevenson, Reed 26-171, Nyaire Wilson 5-17, Edward Emmens 4-12, Dillion Johnson 1-6, Jordan Adams 2-(minus-9), team 1-(minus-1). King’s, Jayon Hailey 20-94, Minor-Shaw 12-19, Mike DiGregorio 1-13, Shemar Ellis 1-(minus-1), team 1-(minus-1).
PASSING — Stevenson, Wilson 9-21-0-102, Adams 1-3-0-9. King’s, Minor-Shaw 14-21-0-233.
RECEIVING — Stevenson, Richardson 3-57, Johnson 4-28, Makhi Walker 1-9, Ryan McLain 1-9, Kyle Guerreiro 1-8. King’s, Kival Clarke 3-110, Tony Brinson 3-59, DiGregorio 4-42, Ryan McCombs 1-8.
INTERCEPTIONS — Ahmad Griffin 1-0.
MISSED FGs — none