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New $4 million media center a ‘jewel’ at Wilkes University

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<p>When a starting quarterback gets injured, coaches always hope for the best from their backup.</p><p>When Wilkes starting quarterback Ryan Dailey went down late last season, coach Trey Brown got a glimpse of what could be a very bright future for his program.</p><p>Jose Tabora played the final three games of the 2016 campaign for the Colonels and lit up the opposition for 80 points en route to two victories after the team started with just one win in its first seven tries.</p><p>&#8220;The real credit to the (backup quarterback), in my opinion, is when the one goes down what does the two do? Well the two came in and shredded Lycoming and shredded Stevenson,&#8221; Brown said. &#8220;To me, that&#8217;s just a lot of credit to him being prepared when his time comes.&#8221;</p><p>Though his senior campaign ended abruptly, Dailey finished with one of the best careers for a quarterback in school history, piling up records in completions and pass attempts, among others. Luckily for the Colonels, Tabora, now a sophomore, continued to energize the offense.</p><p>With an electricity around him even at practice, Brown is seeing a hard-to-find trait in a player who occupies the premier position on the Division III field.</p><p>&#8220;I have 51 guys down in the end zone (at practice) celebrating after a touchdown,&#8221; Brown said. &#8220;He brings the juice, belief or swag that exudes confidence. It&#8217;s not fabricated. It&#8217;s real. And I think that leaks over to the other offensive guys.&#8221;</p><p>One of the targets that Tabora will have the luxury of throwing to this season is senior tight end Garrett Armstrong, who is a preseason D3football.com second team All-American. Armstrong was second on the team last year with 36 receptions for 390 yards and five touchdowns.</p><p>Standing at 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, the tight end is someone Brown knows he has to target in any way possible.</p><p>&#8220;I think Garrett is primed to have a great year and I think we&#8217;re gonna do as many things as possible to put him in a situation where he could have success,&#8221; Brown said. &#8220;We&#8217;re gonna move him all over the place and try to get him his touches. He&#8217;s a matchup nightmare for outside linebackers and safeties in this league.&#8221;</p><p>At running back, Brown is glad to have sophomore Shane Deemer and junior Jake Kadis in the mix from last season. Both saw limited carries last season only combining for five touches. But they have skills to be exceptional backs the coach said.</p><p><strong>ON DEFENSE</strong></p><p>With the emergence of Deemer and Kadis in the offensive backfield, the top two running backs in rushing yards last season for the Colonels were able to move to defense.</p><p>Jacob Brook (469 rushing yards, 241 receiving yards, 3 TDs) and Devin Fink (161, 218, 2 TDs) are now using their athleticism in the secondary, which was last in the MAC in 2016 in pass defense, allowing 253 yards per game and a league-high 26 scores through the air.</p><p>&#8220;We had to become more athletic defensively. Jake is one of those trustworthy guys on the team that&#8217;s a captain and can work his way into a strong safety type player,&#8221; Brown said. &#8220;And Dev Fink is a really athletic player and can back pedal a little better and tackle.&#8221;</p><p>The duo will help the loss of linebacker Tanner Stengel, who graduated but is now a part-time coach in defense. Stengel amassed 346 career tackles, 35 for a loss and 11 sacks solidifying himself as one of the top linebackers in school history.</p><p>&#8220;To replace Tanner is really challenging. The linebacker group is our strength defensively probably because of being around Tanner,&#8221; Brown said.</p><p><strong>A STRONG FINISH</strong></p><p>Year four of the Trey Brown era begins with higher expectations, and for good reason.</p><p>Last year, the Colonels finished with a 3-7 overall record but lost three games by a touchdown or less before winning two of their last three.</p><p>&#8220;Obviously I want to win as many as I can, but there were so many little victories within there that I thought were great,&#8221; said Brown, who has compiled a 7-23 record in his first three seasons. &#8220;To finish that way was cool. It give you some juice. We just gotta keep trying to put ourselves in situations in the fourth quarter. Then I&#8217;m hoping &#8230; that confidence and execution and belief puts on the right side (of the close scores).&#8221;</p><p>In addition to those losses, they dealt MAC champion Stevenson its only conference loss of the season in Week 9. This season&#8217;s slate includes Muhlenberg as the only non-conference foe once again.</p><p>After that road slate, Wilkes doesn&#8217;t leave Luzerne County until Sept. 30. The team hosts Lebanon Valley and Delaware Valley in consecutive weeks before traveling to Misericordia in Week 4.</p><p>The Colonels close out the season once again with Stevenson and Mayor&#8217;s Cup rival King&#8217;s in consecutive weeks.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a challenging league, a challenging schedule, but I kinda like the direction of things right now,&#8221; Brown said.</p><p>Wilkes will play just four home games this season with six being played on the road.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">An injury forced Jose Tabora into action at quarterback last fall, and he helped lead Wilkes to two wins in their final three games. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_wil_ly1_faaCMYK.jpg</photo0><caption0>An injury forced Jose Tabora into action at quarterback last fall, and he helped lead Wilkes to two wins in their final three games. </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"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @TLsports</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Wilkes football eyes improvement after strong finish to 2016