A strip-sack in the game’s final minute helped King’s stave off a big comeback and pick up their first win of the season, defeating FDU-Florham 27-21 on Saturday at McCarthy Stadium.
Michael Richino was in on the sack for King’s and Jayson Howarth fell on the loose ball to put a stop to an FDU-Florham drive that brought the Devils into the King’s red zone looking to win the game.
Leaning on the run game for most of the day, the Monarchs led by 20 points early in the fourth quarter. A 17-yard touchdown run from Jayon Hailey, his third total score on the day, made it a 27-7 lead for King’s.
But FDU-Florham would rally to make it a one-score game and led a potential go-ahead drive down to the King’s 22-yard line before Richino’s sack and Howarth’s recovery quelled the FDU-Florham comeback and secured the win for King’s.
Brennan Robinson ran for 183 yards and a touchdown, the leader of a powerful King’s ground game that racked up 248 yards total. Hailey had two touchdown runs on two carries, and caught a 54-yard touchdown pass from Jaelin Mims.
The victory moves King’s to 1-2 overall on the year and 1-1 in the MAC. The Monarchs will celebrate Homecoming next weekend, welcoming Eastern to town for a 1 p.m. kick on Saturday.
Misericordia 21, Widener 7
Angelo Fluri ran for two touchdowns, and the Misericordia defense kept Widener off the scoreboard until the fourth quarter to pick up the win.
The Cougars’ defense was the star of the show on Saturday, holding Widener to just 163 yards of total offense. R.J. Tocco had an interception to lead the Misericordia defense.
Fluri got things started for Misericordia early in the second quarter after a scoreless first period, running for an 8-yard touchdown. He would finish with a team-high 75 yards rushing and two touchdowns, adding the second score in the third quarter.
Jacob Hunter added 46 yards and a touchdown on the ground in addition to 183 yards passing for the Cougars. Davon Reams ran for 68 yards to round out a strong day for the Misericordia backfield.
Kareem McCoy broke the shutout for Widener with a one-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
Misericordia improved to 2-1 with the win and are now 2-0 in the MAC, putting themselves in a four-way tie for a share of first place early in the season.
The Cougars will be back at home next Saturday for a noon kickoff against Alvernia.
Muhlenberg 26, Wilkes 18
The Colonels fell behind by 17 points at halftime and couldn’t quite make up the deficit in a loss to Muhlenberg, the second loss in a row for Wilkes.
After being held out of the end zone entirely in last week’s loss to The College of New Jersey, Wilkes’s offense again had trouble moving the football in the first half, falling behind 20-3 heading into the break.
The Colonels had three first-half drives end in punts and a fourth end in a turnover on downs, with a Nick Volpone field goal scoring the only points of the first half for Wilkes.
Wilkes came out looking stronger in the second half, scoring on their first drive out of the locker room as quarterback Cooper King connected with Juju Fears for a three-yard touchdown pass.
King would add a second touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to Rahmel Terry to make it a one-possession game, but Muhlenberg was able to move the sticks enough times on their ensuing possession to run the clock out on the Colonels.
The Wilkes run game was bottled up for the second week in a row, rushing for just 50 net yards on 21 carries against the Muhlenberg defense.
The Colonels (1-2) will travel to Montclair State next Saturday at 5 p.m. for their final non-conference game of the season.
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