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DALLAS TWP. &#8212; During the preseason, Misericordia coach Mark Ross made a tough decision to go with incumbent starting quarterback Brandon Leap once again.An injury to Leap gave the six-year coach a chance to get a look at Leap&#8217;s preseason competition, Brady Williams, as the starter.The transition couldn&#8217;t have gone much better for the Cougars as Williams has led the Cougars to 64 points in his two starts.That includes four total touchdowns, 218 rushing yards and 174 passing yards on Saturday at Mangelsdorf Field as Misericordia defeated rival Wilkes for the second time in three years, 43-14.The 29-point margin of victory is the second-highest in school history only being bested by a 35-0 win over FDU-Florham in 2014.&#8220;They&#8217;re a really good defense,&#8221; Williams said. &#8220;I think the one thing going into the week was just worry about ourselves and things will start happening.&#8221;It certainly wasn&#8217;t easy for Williams, who led the Cougars (1-3 overall, 1-2 MAC) to the come-from-behind win by scoring 37 unanswered points after trailing 14-6 midway through the second quarter.Wilkes started the game&#8217;s scoring on their first possession. The offense drove 70 yards on 10 plays capped by a 4-yard TD strike from Wade Rippeon to Garrett Armstrong taking just a little more than 2 minutes off the clock.Williams was then picked off on two of the team&#8217;s next three drives &#8211; both by Wilkes&#8217; Isaiah Robinson &#8211; with the Colonels scoring their second touchdown of the game off the latter on a 40-yard pick-six.Sandwiched in between the turnovers was a 9-yard touchdown pass to Mark Rainey that cut the lead to 7-6, but the Colonels (0-4, 0-3) took an 8-point lead and the Cougars looked flat.Then something clicked.&#8220;I was concerned. I didn&#8217;t think we were as intense as we needed to be to start the game. They came out and punched us right in the face to start the game,&#8221; Ross said. &#8220;I wasn&#8217;t sure we were going to get the intensity. Then all of a sudden out of nowhere, the guys just flipped a switch and we played with more intensity than we have in a long time.&#8221;What followed was a re-energized bunch. The defense allowed less than 200 total yards the rest of the way, while the offense doubled that amount in the final three quarters en route to rolling up 561 total yards.Williams&#8217; first scoring run was a 2-yard keeper, cutting the deficit to 14-12. With 47 seconds remaining before halftime, the Cougars took the lead when Williams hit Isaiah Williams for a 20-yard scoring strike for a 19-14 advantage going into the break.&#8220;Everyone was making sure my head was up, but my teammates really helped pick me up,&#8221; Brady Williams said. &#8220;We just had good play calls after (the interceptions) where we were getting good plays, good momentum. And then everything started clicking.&#8221;Brady Williams, Mark Rainey and Clayton Vleck all punched in rushing scores in the second half.Meanwhile, the defense was doing its job with four interceptions in the final 30 minutes, one of which came when the clock expired at the end of the second quarter.The Misericordia defense swarmed the fast-paced Colonels offense, chasing Rippeon out of the pocket on several occasions and holding the unit to just one drive of more than three minutes the whole game. And that possession ended in an interception on the Misericordia 4.&#8220;I&#8217;ve been challenging them. Everybody is excited about what we&#8217;ve been doing offensively, but we&#8217;re not gonna beat people if we don&#8217;t play better defense,&#8221; Ross said. &#8220;(Wilkes offense) is going fast. They can make it hard and limit what you wanna do. But I thought our kids adapted pretty quick and we kinda got into a groove. And kept saying, just keep up what you&#8217;re doing.&#8221;Despite the turnovers, Rippeon &#8211; who made just his second career start because starter Jose Tabora is out with an injury &#8211; still had a solid performance, completing 32 of his 51 passes and throwing for 269 yards.Colonels coach Trey Brown said that his signal-caller ran into some bad luck at times.&#8220;Wade&#8217;s playing the toughest position in all of sports,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t care what your level, playing quarterback is hard. And you try to do things. He&#8217;s gonna be a good quarterback. &#8230;He had a couple plays today that he wishes he had back. The picks, had been completed multiple times in practice. Things get tight out here in a game.&#8221;Misericordia 43, Wilkes 14 Wilkes `7`7`0`0`&#8212;`14 Misericordia`6`13`10`14`&#8212;`43 First Quarter WU &#8211; Armstrong 4 pass from Rippeon (Hauck kick) 12:03MU &#8211; Rainey 9 pass from B. Williams (kick failed) 2:08Second Quarter WU &#8211; Robinson 40 interception return (Hauck kick) 13:33MU &#8211; B. Williams 3 run (pass failed) 9:42MU &#8211; I. Williams 20 pass from B. Williams (Davis kick) :47Third Quarter MU &#8211; Davis 26 field goal 12:03MU &#8211; B. Williams 28 run (Davis kick) 2:55Fourth Quarter MU &#8211; Rainey 1 run (Davis kick) 7:03MU &#8211; Vleck 38 run (Davis kick) 2:48Team statistics`WU`MU First downs`17`25Rushes-yards`21-75`52-387Passing yards`269`174Total yards`344`561Passing`32-51-4`16-25-2Sacks by-yards lost`0-0`1-9Punts-avg.`6-45.5`3-33.3Fumbles-lost`0-0`0-0Penalties-yards`6-45`7-111INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS PASSING &#8211; WU, Wade Rippeon 32-51-4-269. MU, Brady Williams 16-25-2-174.RUSHING&#8212; WU, Shane Deemer 11-48, Sincere Williams 5-21, Jeff Steeber 2-11, Rippeon 3-(minus-5). MU, B. Williams 24-218, Clayton Vleck 13-91, Mark Rainey 12-82, Aaron Barry 1-0, TEAM 2-(minus-4).RECEIVING&#8212; WU, Aaron Coyne 10-76, Garrett Armstrong 8-58, Zach Bogoly 7-53, Steeber 4-65, Noah Reich 1-9, Austin Krauss 1-6, Williams 1-2. MU, Isaiah Williams 6-71, Klayton Kelly 4-58, James Jackson 4-31, Mark Rainey 1-9, Michael Niggli 1-5.INTERCEPTIONS &#8211; WU, Isaiah Robinson 2, MU, Vince Moldonado, Tyler Collins, Matthew Martin, Fredo SantorelliMISSED FGs &#8211; none<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Misericordia wide receiver Isaiah Williams dives in for a touchdown with 47 seconds left in the first half to give the Cougars the lead. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_mu-wilkes2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Misericordia wide receiver Isaiah Williams dives in for a touchdown with 47 seconds left in the first half to give the Cougars the lead. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_mu-wilkes3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wilkes linebacker Isaiah Robinson intercepts a Misericordia pass before returning it for a touchdown in the second quarter of Saturday&#8217;s game. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_mu-wilkes3.jpg</photo1><caption1>Wilkes linebacker Isaiah Robinson intercepts a Misericordia pass before returning it for a touchdown in the second quarter of Saturday&#8217;s game. </caption1><photoCredit1>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_mu-wilkes1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Misericordia&#8217;s Nick Yeager returns a Wilkes kickoff in the second quarter to near midfield during the Cougars&#8217; win over the Colonels on Saturday in Dallas Township. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_mu-wilkes1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Misericordia&#8217;s Nick Yeager returns a Wilkes kickoff in the second quarter to near midfield during the Cougars&#8217; win over the Colonels on Saturday in Dallas Township. </caption2><photoCredit2>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Dave RosengrantFor Times Leader</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-879-7143 or on Twitter @TLsports</shirttailMeta></div>

QB Brady Williams fuels Misericordia to victory over Wilkes