OCTOBER 22, 2016
KING'S FOOTBALL RUNS OVER FDU, 52-13
MADISON, NJ — Entering its Middle Atlantic Conference game at FDU-Florham in Madison, NJ, the King's College football team ranked first in the MAC in passing with 288 yards per-game but were ninth in rushing with 92.0 yards per-game. But on Saturday, King's put together one of most impressive rushing displays in program history as 397 of King's 562 total yards came on the ground as the Monarchs walked away with a dominant 52-13 victory.
With the win, King's improved to 4-3 overall and 4-2 in the Middle Atlantic Conference. FDU, meanwhile, slipped to 2-5 and 2-4.
Freshman tailback Alvonte Thompson and junior quarterback Zach Whitehead combined to rush for 320 yards as King's put forth its highest single-game rushing total since gaining 341 yards against Misericordia in 2012. The total also stands as the highest single-game mark since the Monarchs ran for 427 yards against Moravian in 1997.
King's reached the scoreboard first when Whitehead found Marquis Miller for a 30-yard scoring strike to cap a six-play, 57-yard drive with 9:09 left in the first quarter. Mikhail Kniaziewicz added the point after as King's took a 7-0 lead. The Monarchs would get the ball right back when Mike Dohn recovered a Devil fumble at the King's 20. The Monarchs took advantage four plays later when Whitehead scored on a five-yard run. Kniaziewicz made good on the extra point as KIng's built a 14-0 lead with 7:41 to play in the opening period.
King's built on the lead after taking over at its 20-yard line and marching 80 yards to pay dirt. The drive ended with a three-yard run by Whitehead and a Kniaziewicz extra-point kick to push the score to 21-0 with 12:36 left in the half.
Later in the quarter, King's safety Jake Manetti picked off FDU quarterback Joey McCain at the Monarch 16 and posted a 24-yard return to the King's 40. After a 20-yard run by Thompson moved the ball to the Devil 30, the Monarchs settled for a 27-yard field goal to forge ahead 24-0 with 5:29 left in the half.
FDU would then drive to the King's 17 where the Devils would face a fourth-and-eight play. But the Monarch defense held firm when a heavy rush by Bruce Damon forced an incomplete pass as King's held on downs.
With 3:38 remaining in the half, the Monarchs immediately went to work. A nine-yard run by Whitehead was followed by Thompson runs of 11 and 26 yards. After Whitehead hit Tyler Maroni for 13 yards. Thompson broke off a 20-yard touchdown run with 1:34 on the clock as the Monarchs took a 3-10 lead into the halftime break.
King's amassed 390 total yards in the first half with 267 coming on the ground as the Monarchs averaged 6.8 yards per-carry over the game's opening 30 minutes.
After FDU scored on the first possession on a 51-yard pass from MccCain to John Pellegrini, King's answered right back. The Monarchs moved 60 yards on eight plays reaching pay dirt on a six-yard pass from Whitehead to Mike Palmer as the lead grew to 38-6 with 9:55 to play in the third quarter.
After the Monarch defense forced another FDU punt, King's used a 10-play, 45-yard drive to score on a one-yard run by Whitehead to up the lead to 45-6 with 4:50 to play in the third quarter.
The Devils would drive to the King's 38 where the Monarch defense stuffed a fourth-and-two run to turn the ball over on downs. King's responded with back-up quarterback Brady Davison engineering a 15-play, 62-yard drive that culminated with a one-yard touchdown run by Avery Simmons to extend the score to 52-6 with 6:04.
The Devils added a late touchdown to set the final score.
The Monarchs finished the game with 562 yards of total offense while limiting the Devils to 294 yards. King's out gained the Devils 397-118. The Devils entered the game third in the MAC in passing with 257.5 yards per-game but were held to 176 but the Monarch defense. King's register 34 first downs in the game compared to 14 for FDU. The Monarchs also held a huge advantage in possession time, holding onto the ball for 40:47 of the 60 minutes of play.
Whitehead finished the game completing 13-of-27 passes for 156 yards with two touchdowns and one interception but was highly affective on the ground. Whitehead rushed for a career-high 134 yards on 19 carries with three touchdowns and averaged 7.1 yards per-carry. Thompson, meanwhile, enjoyed his finest collegiate game in rushing for a career-high 186 yards on 30 attempts with one touchdowns and averaged 6.2 yards each carry.Palmer led King's receivers with four catches for 31 yards.
Bruce Damon led the King's defense with 13 tackles and leads the MAC with 96 stops this season. Joe Davis and Trevor Hill added seven and six stops respectively.
The only negative for King's in the game were 14 penalties called on the Monarchs for 160 yards. King's had 17 penalties for 216 yards in its previous game against Misericordia.
For FDU, McCain completed 12-of-30 passes for 126 yards and two touchdowns. McCain also led the Devils on the ground with 61 yards on six carries. Esaun Mobley had five catches for 41 yards while John Pellegrini had four receptions for 57 yards and one touchdown. The Monarchs held FDU's leading receiver Mike Panzarino to three catches on the day. Panzarino entered the game with 44 catches on the year.
King's will return to the field Saturday with its toughest matchup of the season as the Monarchs host MAC leader Stevenson University at 1:00 p.m. at McCarthy Stadium. Stevenson (7-0) entered the weekend ranked 14th in the American Football Coaches Association national poll. The Mustangs come off an impressive 19-0 victory over traditional MAC power Delaware Valley University in a game many believed would decide the 2016 MAC championship.
King's Football Overpowers FDU-Florham 52-13 as Thompson, Whitehead Shine
/seasons/2016/boxscores/20161022_1ms8.xml
2016
King's
52
FDU-Florham
13
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| King's (4-3) | 14 | 17 | 14 | 7 | 52 |
| FDU-Florham (2-5) | 0 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 13 |
Oct 22, 2016