Jury acquits former Wilkes student of campus sex assault allegations

web1_army-players.jpg

Nittany Lions keeping cautious against Army’s triple option

Misericordia&#8217;s football team is drastically improving every game.All you have to do is look at the Cougars&#8217; performance on a weekly basis. Two weeks ago, the team nearly pulled off a massive upset against Delaware Valley despite giving up 449 rushing yards and coming up empty on three redzone opportunities.Last week, the Cougars gave unbeaten Stevenson a contest on the road allowing more than 300 fewer yards on the ground.Now, they take on unbeaten Albright, which has been capitalizing on team&#8217;s mistakes en route to a 3-0 record to start the season.&#8220;You have to beat Albright, because Albright is not going to beat themselves. Everybody is enamored by numbers nowadays. We forget that the most important number is under the W column,&#8221; Cougars coach Mark Ross said. &#8220;It doesn&#8217;t matter how you get it done, just find a way.&#8220;We are a good example. Yes, Delaware Valley ran for a lot of yards when we played them. However, that didn&#8217;t stop us from being in a 14-0 game with 8 minutes left, and had three great scoring opportunities the first three times we had the ball. Had we taken advantage of those opportunities, and had a lead or was tied, I wonder how many people would be concerned with those rushing numbers.&#8221;The numbers the Lions have put up on both sides of the ball are not alarming by any means. They have been outrushed, allowed more passing yards than they&#8217;ve gained and committed more penalties than opponents, but yet they&#8217;re outscoring others by 13 points a game and are second in the MAC averaging 27.7 points per game.Albright, which enters ranked No. 25 in the Division III AFCA Poll marking their first appearance in the rankings since 2009, has been very good capitalizing on opponents&#8217; mistakes this season scoring 35 of its 83 points off turnovers thanks to a plus-4 turnover margin.Competing with numbers like that, the Cougars won&#8217;t be able to leave points on the board or make mistakes. Then again, numbers might not be that important anyway.&#8220;If we play turnover free, limit penalties and limit big plays in the special teams game, then we should be in a situation to win in the fourth quarter,&#8221; Ross said. &#8220;That is what we are trying to accomplish. Consistently be in a position to win at the end of a game. We are starting to reach that point, and look forward to facing another top level MAC team on Saturday to see the progress we have made.&#8221;A high-scoring affair?Since pregame numbers for the Albright at Misericordia might not show much significance, should those for the Widener at Wilkes contest be ignored as well?It&#8217;s probably a good idea to stick with that trend.The Pride and Colonels are both putting up astronomical offensive numbers so far this season, but have little to show for it. Widener enters with a 2-2 overall mark, 2-1 in the MAC, while Wilkes&#8217; lone win in four games is against MAC rival Delaware Valley.Looking at the stats, both squads could easily have more wins. Widener is averaging more than 400 yards, while Wilkes is just under that mark. The Pride are running nearly 90 plays a game, and the Colonels are at 85. They are also first and second in the conference in passing yards, yet Widener is fifth in the MAC in scoring offense and Wilkes is ninth in the 10-team league.Monarchs&#8217; dominanceSomething has to give when King&#8217;s visits Stevenson on Saturday afternoon at 1 as numbers will prove to be false once again.In the four years of Stevenson&#8217;s existence, King&#8217;s has owned the four games the teams have played outscoring the Mustangs 115-78 in the series and winning three of the four games. The only time Stevenson came out victorious was last season with a 7-0 win at McCarthy Stadium. The Monarchs will be looking to stay unbeaten at Stevenson&#8217;s home.But again, those numbers could be deceiving.The Mustangs are mentioned in the D3football.com Top 25, for allowing just 12.5 points per game, while leading the country with 19 sacks. They are third in the nation with 10 interceptions.Homecoming weekendThe local home games on Saturday are both homecoming affairs. Wilkes hosts Widener at 1 p.m. at Schmidt Stadium, while the contest at Misericordia&#8217;s Mangelsdorf Field begins at 1 p.m. when the football team hosts Albright.Wilkes&#8217; homecoming festivities start at 9 a.m. with a women&#8217;s volleyball match. The athletic schedule at Misericordia begins with an 11 a.m. field hockey match.No. 25 Albright (2-0 MAC, 3-0 overall) at Misericordia (0-3 MAC, 0-4 overall) When: 1 p.m. Saturday at Mangelsdorf Field, DallasCougars team leaders: QB Jeff Puckett 531 yards, 3TD, 3 INTs, 55.4 completion percentage, 400 rushing yards, 4TD; RB Ryan Kurtz 176 yards, 11 rec, 97 yards, 1TD; WR Mark McMaster 19 rec, 202 yards, 1TD; Hunter Pates 29 tackles; Kevin Bagasevich 17 tackles, 1INT; Tyler Collins 19 tackles, 1 sackLions team leaders: QB Mike Knight 546 yards, 4 TD, 4int, 62.0 completion percentage, 105 rush yards; RB Brian Wickkiser 140 rush yards, 4TD; WR Malik Jackson 20 rec, 138 yards, 1TD; WR Vinny Williams 15 rec, 157 yards, 2TD; Donte Thomas, Kali Boyce, Steve Barroso 1 int each; Jamal Hayden 23 tackles, 2.5 sacks; Rich Kuhn 12 tackles, 2.5 sacksPregame Stat: The game features two teams that are at the bottom of the MAC in total offense. The Lions are averaging 285.7 yards per game, while the Cougars are averaging 269.3.***King&#8217;s (1-2 MAC, 1-3 overall) at Stevenson (3-0, 4-0)When: 1 p.m. Saturday at Mustang Stadium, Owings Mills, Md.Monarchs team leaders: QB Tom Hehre 594 yards, 1TD, 6INTs, 55.0 completion percentage, 91 rush yards, 4TD; RB Gabe Brown 262 yards, 2TD; WR Mike Palmer 22 rec, 240 yards, 2TD; Jake Manetti, Bobby Russell, Anthony Martuccio 1 INT each; Michael Martina 28 tackles, 6 sacksMustangs team leaders: QB Jeff Farrah 804 yards, 10 TD, 3INT, 54.1 completion percentage; RB Kiandre Burrell 259 yards, 1 TD; WR Seth Jordan 10 rec, 233 yards, 3TD; WR Devin Salisbury 12 rec., 143 yards, 2TD; WR Neil Harps 11 rec, 180 yards, 3TD; LB Brady Kempa 37 tackles, 2INT, 2 fumble recoveries, 1.5 sacks; Cory Pietrzyk 37 tackles, 6 sacks; Antonio Johnson 4 INTsPregame Stat: The Monarchs&#8217; Michael Martina and Stevenson&#8217;s Cory Pietrzyk are both tied for the MAC lead with six sacks.***Widener (2-1 MAC, 2-2 overall) at Wilkes (1-2, 1-3)When: 1 p.m. Saturday at Schmidt Stadium, EdwardsvilleColonels team leaders: QB Ryan Dailey 1,110 yards, 7 TD, 6 INTs, 62.5 completion percentage; RB PJ Incremona 259 yards, 1TD; WR Storm Deemer 28 rec, 295 yards; WR Aaron Coyne 21 rec, 248 yards, 4TDPride team leaders: QB Seth Klein 1,210 yards, 5 TD, 3 INT, 57.3 completion percentage, 80 rush yards; RB Robert Getz 151 yards, 4TD; WR Philip Ragona 32 rec, 326 yards; WR Max Kutler 24 rec, 242 yards, 3TD; Jamal Goodman, Christian Maiden, Sean Titus, Travon Barnes 1 int each; Steve Gozur 30 tackles, 1 sack; Stacey Sunnerville 3.5 sacksPregame stat: The game features the top two quarterbacks in the MAC in Widener&#8217;s Seth Klein and Wilkes&#8217; Ryan Dailey. Both offenses tower over other conference teams in number of plays run this season. Wilkes is averaging 85 plays per game, while the Pride are running an average of 89 plays a game.<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Dave Rosengrantdrosengrant@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Dave Rosengrant at 570-991-6398 or on Twitter @tldrosengrant</shirttailMeta></div>

When it comes to Misericordia, Kings, Wilkes football, numbers don’t always tell the story