web1_PA-Tunkhannock-ftbl-TL-2.jpg

Mike Mikitish’s field goal gives Pittston Area first win since October of 2014

web1_TTL090316LehmanNorthwest4.jpg

WVC football: Late surge rallies Northwest past Lake-Lehman

EDWARDSVILLE &#8212; Everyone at Schmidt Stadium could pinpoint the exact moment the Colonels lost control of the game.A fumble deep in the red zone turned the tables on the Wilkes football team. A would-be go-ahead drive turned into two Muhlenberg touchdowns.Ultimately, it doomed the Colonels. A late Wilkes comeback fell short in a 29-22 season-opening loss Friday to Muhlenberg. The Colonels rattled 12 consecutive points in the fourth quarter.&#8220;I told the guys at halftime,&#8221; Wilkes coach Trey Brown said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know how this game is going to work out. But I do know you&#8217;re competing your tails off. If you keep competing, good things will happen.&#8221;A mistake-free game unfolded to spoil Wilkes&#8217; fortunes in the red zone. Muhlenberg&#8217;s Luke Wiley sent the Colonels into the red zone with a targeting penalty that merited an ejection. On the next play, Wilkes&#8217; Jacob Brook coughed up the ball, popped out by Mickey Kober, on the 5-yard line.Muhlenberg went down the field to take a 14-3 lead with 6:42 remaining. Following the fumble recovery, Nick Lamb made up for his earlier mistake by catching a 50-yard reception to bring it to the Wilkes 3. Nick Savant punched in the touchdown.The Mules extended their run of 22 unanswered points. Nick Palladino stamped Wilkes&#8217; despair with a head&#8217;s up play deep in the south end zone. The snap flew over his head. Palladino picked up the ball 15 yards deep, planted his foot and fired a high pass to Delay for a 5-yard score.&#8220;Even though they were taking off offensively especially in the first half, I kind of felt the belief thing was great and we were converting plays,&#8221; Brown said. &#8220;When you fumble the ball in the red zone and have a turnover, it can really zap you &#8211; especially against a defense.&#8221;Against a playoff defense that averaged just 13 points allowed last year, Wilkes quarterback Ryan Dailey scorched the Mules defense with a 27 for 42 effort. He threw for two touchdowns and 306 yards.Trailing 29-10, Wilkes began its assault on the Mules late in the third quarter. A 15-play drive culminated in a Jacob Brook rushing touchdown with 32 seconds left.The Colonels&#8217; Marcellus Hayes intercepted a fourth down pass in the fourth quarter to give the Colonels a chance at a comeback. A clutch 30-yard catch from William Deemer and a 16-yard Paul Martin run put the Wilkes into a red zone.Starting at the 18, the Muhlenberg defense made three straight negative yardage plays &#8211; tackle for a loss and a pair of sacks. On a fourth and 21, Aaron Coyne made a diving 34-yard touchdown at the goal line put the Colonels within one possession at a 29-22 deficit with eight minutes left.&#8220;There were a lot of difficult catches happening, a lot of difficult throws,&#8221; Brown said. &#8220;Guys just started making plays. And the game is wild when you start making plays.&#8221;Muhlenberg started the game with two drives that put them deep in Colonels&#8217; territory. Jordan Stiles ended the first with a suffocating third-down sack. Wilkes caught a pair of breaks on the second drive. Muhlenberg wideout Nick Lamb dropped a wide-open pass in the end zone. On the succeeding play, the Mules&#8217; kicker Todd Spirt missed a 32 yard field goal.Dailey completed nine passes to lead the Colonels down the field. Mike Hauck connected on a 27-yard field goal to give the team an early 3-0 lead in the first quarter.Wilkes came out of the second half by controlling the pace. The Colonels went nearly six minutes and cut the deficit to 22-10 when Deemer pulled a rocketed pass well over his head for an 8 yard score. Deemer finished with seven catches for 66 yards.The Colonels&#8217; Isaiah Robinson had a game-high 12 tackles and a breakup.Muhlenberg 29, Wilkes 22Muhlenberg`0`22`7`0`&#8212;`29Wilkes`3`0`13`6`&#8212;`22First quarterW &#8212; Mike Hauck 28 field goal, 1:23Second quarterM &#8212; Ryan Delaney 5 pass from Nick Palladino (pass failed), 13:03M &#8212; Nick Savant 3 run (John Feaster pass from Palladino), 6:42M &#8212; Delaney 5 pass from Palladino (Savant pass from Palladino), 2:23Third quarterW &#8212; William Deemer 8 pass from Ryan Dailey (Hauck kick), 8:56M &#8212; Matt Stickney 5 pass from Palladino (Todd Spirt kick), 2:53W &#8212; Jacob Brook 1 run (pass failed), :32Fourth quarterW &#8212; Aaron Coyne 34 pass from Dailey (kick blocked), 7:50Team statistics`M`WFirst downs`21`23Rushes-yards`29-132`28-94Passing yards`284`306Total yards`416`400Passing`26-36-1`27-42-1Sacked-yards lost`1-3`3-13Punts-avg.`3-39`3-33Fumbles-lost`0-0`1-1Penalties-yards`8-49`7-65INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRUSHING &#8212; MUH, Savant 14-73, Palladino 9-52, Nick Lamb 1-6, Stickney 2-4, TEAM 3-(minus-3); WIL, Devon Fink 6-31, Brook 9-30, Paul Martin 3-22, Dailey 10-11.PASSING &#8212; MUH, Palladino 26-36-1-284; WIL, Dailey 27-42-1-306RECEIVING &#8212; MUH, Delaney 11-89, Lamb 7-125, Stickney 7-62, Josiah Wright 1-8; WIL, Deemer 7-66, Coyne 4-65, Ryan Richards 4-32, Zach Bogoly 3-58, Devon Fink 3-30, Kyle Gattuso 2-39, Brook 2-5, Martin 1-7, Garrett Armstrong 1-4INTERCEPTIONS &#8212; MUH, Feaster 1-0; WIL, Marcellus Hayes 1-0MISSED FGs &#8212; MUH, Spirt 1-32.<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Jay MonahanFor Times Leader</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @tlsports.</shirttailMeta></div>

Wilkes’ comeback comes up short in 29-22 loss to Muhlenberg