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Confident Nittany Lions ready for road test at Indiana

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FNCB Bank supports WNEP’s Ryan’s Run 7

<p>The coveted Mayor&#8217;s Cup currently resides with Wilkes University where it&#8217;s been for the last 364 days.</p><p>On Saturday, the rivalry trophy which King&#8217;s College and Wilkes play for every year will stay at Wilkes for at least a few hours when the teams meet at Wilkes&#8217; Schmidt Stadium at noon in the 21st annual Mayor&#8217;s Cup game.</p><p>Colonels&#8217; coach Trey Brown and King&#8217;s coach Jeff Knarr would like nothing more than to take the trophy back to their respective offices. And both teams are going in opposite directions from where they were just one month ago, but that goes out the window in a rivalry game.</p><p>For Wilkes, the team has made a complete turnaround in its last two games with consecutive victories, including last week over previously unbeaten and nationally-ranked Stevenson. With those wins, the Colonels pushed their season record to 3-6 overall and 3-5 in the MAC. A win on Saturday would be a great way to head into the offseason riding a three-game winning streak and holding onto the Cup for another year.</p><p>&#8220;They have a pretty high level of confidence,&#8221; Brown said. &#8220;For the first time in a while you really feel like if you prepare properly and go out and execute you have a chance to win the ball game because the proof&#8217;s been in the pudding the last two weeks.&#8221;</p><p>King&#8217;s meanwhile, had been one of the top teams in the MAC entering Oct. 29 with four wins in six MAC games. But the Monarchs lost their last two at home falling to Stevenson and Widener to drop out of postseason contention as they currently sit with a 4-5 overall mark and 4-4 in the conference.</p><p>Still, winning the final game of the season would mean grabbing the Mayor&#8217;s Cup for the third time in four years, and would send the team into the offseason on a positive note.</p><p>&#8220;It would be really special for our seniors,&#8221; Knarr said. &#8220;We&#8217;ve been relevant in most every game and it&#8217;s largely due to those guys. They&#8217;ve been nice wins, historic wins. And to be able to beat your rival three times is something special. It would be a nice way to cap off a nice four years and their legacy of really helping us bring the program back.&#8221;</p><p>Both squads enter the contest riding hot quarterbacks. The Monarchs&#8217; junior QB Zach Whitehead has been one of the best quarterbacks in the MAC all season and he currently leads the league in several passing categories including yards with 2,533 which is already a school record for most in a season. He&#8217;s set multiple other team records this season leading the Monarchs to the No. 1 pass offense in the MAC.</p><p>&#8220;You gotta make him uncomfortable. Whitehead&#8217;s a great player,&#8221; Brown said. &#8220;He&#8217;s a very accomplished thrower. He&#8217;s athletic. He&#8217;s got athletic receivers. You gotta make him force a few throws, make a few mistakes.&#8221;</p><p>The week before Wilkes beat Lycoming, it lost to Albright. In that game, Brown put Jose Tabora in at QB for an injured Ryan Dailey. The move couldn&#8217;t have been more effective. The freshman has drawn rave reviews from his coaching staff and been explosive for the team&#8217;s offense.</p><p>In two games as starter, Tabora has produced eight touchdowns (5 pass, 3 rush) while passing for 573 yards and rushing for another 117. Last week against Stevenson, he tossed a school-record 453 yards and five total TDs as he earned MAC Offensive Player of the Week honors.</p><p>&#8220;He can make a big play out of nothing. And he&#8217;s willing to run, but not just run because he throws on the run,&#8221; Knarr said. &#8220;They&#8217;ve made plays the last two weeks where it look they got him and then Wilkes made a huge play or a touchdown. And in our mind, he&#8217;s been the catalyst of Wilkes making plays.&#8221;</p><p>Each team&#8217;s signal-callers will definitely be the focus of the game, but what the outcome might come down to is penalties. Both teams have hurt themselves this season when it comes to miscues making them in the most inopportune times.</p><p>King&#8217;s has amassed the second-most penalty yards in the MAC, while the Colonels&#8217; 61 penalties this season are just 12 less than the Monarchs. So the key is to stay calm and let cooler heads prevail.</p><p>&#8220;They gotta play with composure and emotion throughout the game,&#8221; said Knarr, whose team committed nine penalties for 121 yards in last year&#8217;s loss to Wilkes. &#8220;But they can&#8217;t play emotionally where something doesn&#8217;t go their way, they blow a gasket and lose their mind. Or lose focus because that&#8217;s when bad things happen.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wilkes freshman quarterback Jose Tabora threw for a school record 453 yards and five touchdowns when Colonels upset nationally ranked Stevenson on Nov. 5. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_wil_ly1_faa.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wilkes freshman quarterback Jose Tabora threw for a school record 453 yards and five touchdowns when Colonels upset nationally ranked Stevenson on Nov. 5. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams file photo | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Dave Rosengrant</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>Up Next</strong></p><p><strong>What:</strong> 21st Mayor&#8217;s Cup</p><p><strong>When:</strong> Saturday, noon at Wilkes&#8217; Schmidt Stadium, Edwardsville</p><p><strong>About the series:</strong> Wilkes holds an advantage of 14-6 in Mayor&#8217;s Cup games, but the Monarchs have won two of the last three.</p><p><strong>TV:</strong> The game can be seen live on FOX 56</p></factboxMeta></div>

Kings, Wilkes gear up for the Mayor’s Cup