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‘Passport to Science’ event at Wilkes University provides fun, learning

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Letter to the Editor: Can’t get excited about a presidential candidate? Look closer at Libertarian Party’s ticket

<p>WILKES-BARRE TWP. &#8211; Widener&#8217;s Byron Cooper is one of the best defensive ends in the MAC, if not the top one.</p><p>A former recruit of Division I University of Massachusetts, the senior is among leaders in sacks, tackles for a loss and fumbles forced.</p><p>On Saturday at McCarthy Stadium, the 6-foot-1, 230-pounder gave King&#8217;s College fits all afternoon, racking up four sacks, five tackles for a loss and a forced fumble to lead the Pride to a 30-17 win over the Monarchs on a day when 13 King&#8217;s College seniors celebrated Senior Day.</p><p>While Cooper was the most disruptive player for the Monarchs&#8217; offense, it was a whole defensive effort as Widener totaled nine sacks, 12 tackles for a loss and three forced fumbles.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s a (Division) 1-A kid and we were looking for different ways to come up with protections and chip to help our quarterback,&#8221; King&#8217;s coach Jeff Knarr said about Cooper. &#8220;They bring everybody. They blitz a lot. They&#8217;re stout against the run and then we had to throw and we knew we&#8217;d give up some sacks probably. And we had to keep making plays, but then we get a penalty on the sack and those are the things that hurt you.&#8221;</p><p>The nuisances by Widener (6-3 overall, 6-2 MAC) to the King&#8217;s (4-5, 4-4) offense began late in the first quarter with the Pride holding a 17-7 lead. The Monarchs drove into Widener territory to the 25 before Cooper and Steve Gozur combined for consecutive sacks on quarterback Zack Whitehead, pushing the Monarchs out of field goal range and forcing a punt.</p><p>That was the start of eight missed scoring chances by King&#8217;s on the afternoon when the team would get into Widener territory and come away without any points. The second quarter proved to be the most troubling for the Monarchs in that aspect. Three times they came up empty when on Widener&#8217;s side of the field with two being via turnovers. In all, King&#8217;s turned the ball over three times in the second quarter.</p><p>&#8220;You gotta take advantage of these opportunities when you&#8217;re playing this team,&#8221; Knarr said. &#8220;They&#8217;re better on paper than things show so we have to be able to withstand some of those things. We have to be perfect or almost perfect and have to cash in on them.&#8221;</p><p>The King&#8217;s defense also played strong in the second quarter, forcing two Widener turnovers and three punts keeping the team off the board. But much of the same doomed King&#8217;s in the second half. On their first drive of the second half, the Monarchs missed a field goal. In the fourth quarter, they turned the ball over on downs on Widener&#8217;s 20 and ended the game with the ball on the Pride 10.</p><p>&#8220;We just made mistakes that you can&#8217;t do,&#8221; Knarr added. &#8220;When you&#8217;re down there, you gotta punch through because then it puts the pressure on them. They were always able to withstand that and didn&#8217;t necessarily feel that pressure. Then we got a chance when we were within six and couldn&#8217;t get a drive going. Our kids certainly played hard, that&#8217;s for sure.&#8221;</p><p>Starting tailback Zack Funk, a transfer from Widener, scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter to pull King&#8217;s within 23-17. The Monarchs got a stop on Widener&#8217;s next possession to get the ball back with 3:11 to go, but then turned the ball over on a fumble on their next drive to set up Widener&#8217;s final score.</p><p>Whitehead had another big game for King&#8217;s, throwing for 352 yards to break the school&#8217;s single-season yards record. The junior now has 2,533 yards with one game remaining. Earlier this season, Whitehead set single-game records in completions, attempts and passing yards, while tying the record for most TD passes in one game.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re throwing it around (more), but when you&#8217;re doing it you gotta be successful at it,&#8221; Knarr said. &#8220;He&#8217;s done a great job of distributing the ball. &#8230; He&#8217;s had a really solid junior season. And we don&#8217;t lose a whole lot (next season) so the future looks good.&#8221;</p><p>King&#8217;s wraps up its season next week when they travel to play city rival Wilkes in the annual Mayor&#8217;s Cup.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Widener 30, King&#8217;s 17</strong></p><p><strong>Widener`17&#8217;0`6`7`&#8212;`30</strong></p><p><strong>King&#8217;s`7`0`3`7`&#8212;`17</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>First quarter</strong></p><p>WID &#8211; Randle 1 run (Raczak kick) 14:28</p><p>WID &#8211; Raczak 37 field goal 8:37</p><p>KING&#8217;S &#8211; Flynn 12 pass from Whitehead (Kniaziewicz kick) 6:46</p><p>WID &#8211; Randle 4 run (Raczak kick) 3:37</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Third quarter</strong></p><p>WID &#8211; Price 29 pass from McGaughey (kick failed) 9:40</p><p>KING&#8217;S &#8211; Kniaziewicz 28 field goal 8:02</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Fourth quarter</strong></p><p>KING&#8217;S &#8211; Funk 7 run (Kniaziewicz kick) 12:55</p><p>WID &#8211; Randle 3 run (Raczak kick) 1:36</p><p><strong>Team statistics`WID`KING&#8217;S</strong></p><p>First downs`19`30</p><p>Rushes-yards`37-136`37-70</p><p>Passing yards`339`352</p><p>Total yards`475`422</p><p>Passing`20-32-1`30-53-2</p><p>Sacks by-yards lost`9-67`4-16</p><p>Punts-avg.`6-46.2`3-40.7</p><p>Fumbles-lost`2-1`5-2</p><p>Penalties-yards`14-155`8-55</p><p><strong>INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS</strong></p><p><strong>RUSHING&#8212;</strong> WID, Randle 19-104, Warren 6-32, Sapp 3-10, Wilson 1-9, Hicks-Taylor 2-6, Abdur-Razzag 1-1, Price 1-(minus-10), McGaughey 4-(minus-16). KING&#8217;S, Whitehead 22-30, Funk 9-28, Thompson 5-18, Miller 1-(minus-6).</p><p><strong>PASSING&#8212;</strong> WID, McGaughey 20-32-1-339. KING&#8217;S, Whitehead 30-53-2-352</p><p>RECEIVING&#8212; WID, Price 5-151, Hicks-Taylor 5-101, Sapp 5-27, Randle 3-38, Warren 1-13, Schlegel 1-9. KING&#8217;S, Marroni 10-112, Miller 7-52, Flynn 5-59, Palmer 3-82, Funk 3-30, Thompson 1-10, White 1-7.</p><p>INTERCEPTIONS&#8212; WID, Raifsnyder 1-0, Lowery 1-0. KING&#8217;S, Maxwell 1-0.</p><p>MISSED FGS&#8212;KING&#8217;S, Kniaziewicz (47, WL)</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Zack Funk of King's runs into the Widener defense in Saturday's college football game in Wilkes-Barre Township. (Pete G. Wilcox|Times Leader)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_kingswidener01.jpg</photo0><caption0>Zack Funk of King's runs into the Widener defense in Saturday's college football game in Wilkes-Barre Township. (Pete G. Wilcox|Times Leader)</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_kingswidener02.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Eli Vascos of King's, left, breaks up a pass to Widener's Montrell Hicks-Taylor in the end zone in Saturday's college football game in Wilkes-Barre Township. (Pete G. Wilcox|Times Leader)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_kingswidener02.jpg</photo1><caption1>Eli Vascos of King's, left, breaks up a pass to Widener's Montrell Hicks-Taylor in the end zone in Saturday's college football game in Wilkes-Barre Township. (Pete G. Wilcox|Times Leader)</caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_kingswidener03.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Mike  Palmer of King's misses a catch and Widener's John Ralfsnider (25) is there to intercept the ball in Saturday's college football game in Wilkes-Barre Township. (Pete G. Wilcox|Times Leader)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_kingswidener03.jpg</photo2><caption2>Mike  Palmer of King's misses a catch and Widener's John Ralfsnider (25) is there to intercept the ball in Saturday's college football game in Wilkes-Barre Township. (Pete G. Wilcox|Times Leader)</caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Dave Rosengrant</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @TLSports</p></shirttailMeta></div>

King’s gets sacked by Widener