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Out like a Lion: PSU defense, Narduzzi’s decision close the door on the rivalry

Holy Redeemer running toward the top of the mountain again

EDWARDSVILLE &#8211; Over the last 10 seasons, the Wilkes University football team has had more ups than downs. There have been positives in that span, including a pair of postseason appearances.If early indications for the 2019 campaign mean anything, the Colonels could be in good shape to contend again this season.That&#8217;s because the Colonels defeated Lebanon Valley 30-24 at Schmidt Stadium on Saturday to move to 2-0 for the first time since 2009. That was the year Wilkes started a two-year span of reaching the postseason.&#8220;Our philosophy hasn&#8217;t changed. They know that wasn&#8217;t a perfect game today,&#8221; Wilkes coach Jonathan Drach said. &#8220;They know that we need to improve. We should have put that team away a little bit sooner than we did.&#8221;The Colonels got off to a good start on Saturday, opening up a 20-point lead late, but then had to hold off a late charge from the Flying Dutchmen.Holding a 30-10 advantage after a 5-yard TD run from JaQuan Sheals in the fourth quarter and not allowing a first down to Lebanon Valley in the second half, the Colonels started to cave in a two-minute span. The Dutchmen cut the lead to 30-17 after a 6-play, 43-yard drive with 6:20 left on the clock, then forced the Colonels&#8217; offense to a three-and-out. LebVal needed just four plays to go 74 yards and get another score to trim the deficit to six points with 4:29 remaining. But when the Colonels recovered the onside kick attempt, they picked up two first downs and ran out the clock.Still, Drach said, his team needs to learn how to put teams away, but hopes with experience it will learn to not allow big late scores that pull teams close.&#8220;Last year, we weren&#8217;t in those situations a ton. We were the ones scrapping to come back,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We need to be put in those situations more often so we are more comfortable in them so the kids get that feeling of putting it away. To learn those things you need to be in those situations. So it&#8217;s good to get the experience and hopefully next time we&#8217;ll be a little better at it.&#8221;Wilkes (2-0) used trick plays to get the scoring started in the first quarter. A flea flicker from quarterback Jose Tabora to Derek Nelson for 39 yards gave the team a 6-0 lead after one possession; it was one of three times in the game Drach called for the play. After LebVal cut the lead to three with a field goal, Tabora hit Bryce Harrison with a shovel pass from the 2-yard line that fooled everyone and put the Colonels in front 13-3 with 3:31 on the clock in the second quarter. A 3-yard TD run from Jeremiah Acker just before halftime gave Wilkes a 20-3 advantage.&#8220;This serves warning to the rest of the league that at any point you gotta be ready for anything, and that&#8217;ll continue to happen,&#8221; Drach noted.Besides the defensive breakdown in the fourth quarter, the unit played well &#8212; holding the Flying Dutchmen to just 61 yards on the ground, more than 100 fewer than they had in Week 1.&#8220;We made them one-dimensional, which is what we wanted to do. We wanted to take away the run and make them throw the ball,&#8221; Drach added. &#8220;The running game, them staying on the field was going to beat us. And by forcing it into the quarterback&#8217;s hands, we did what we wanted to do.&#8221;Tabora finished with 23 completions for 275 yards and two scores. Nelson and Nick Yanik each had seven catches with Nelson going for 110 yards and Yanik netting 57. Richard Ermeus also had a nice game receiving with five receptions for 85 yards. Kamaal Reed led the Colonels&#8217; rushing attack with 62 yards on nine carries.Misericordia romps in home openerEric Jeffries scored four rushing touchdowns and Michael Gawlik and David Cromwell both went over 100 yards and added scores as Misericordia rolled over Keystone, 47-7 in the Cougars&#8217; home opener at Mangelsdorf Field, spoiling the return of football to Keystone.The Cougars ran for 395 yards as a team and compiled 549 yards of total offense in the Giants first varsity game in 60 years.Gawlik had a team-high 132 yards and Cromwell added 108.After Gawlik took the opening kickoff back 53 yards to the Keystone 37 yard line, the Cougars took just four plays to take the lead.Brady Williams connected with Sam Gillison for 24 yards and Cromwell gained six yards before going around left end untouched for a four-yard TD with 13:06 left in the opening quarter.Jeffries went off right tackle for six yards on first down and used a nice cutback move to 18 yards for a touchdown to give the Cougars a 13-7 lead with 13:20 left in the first half.Keystone scored on its next possession on a 23-yard pass from Johnathan Bates to Javier Tazza to get within 13-7 with 8:20 left in the first half.Williams hit Isaiah Gillison on a quick out on first down and Gawlik gained three yards on first down before bursting for 18 yards and a score to make it 20-7 with 6:52 to go in the first half.Jeffries went off right tackle for the final yard to give the Cougars a 27-7 lead with 1:00 remaining in the second quarter.Matt Dinnocenti converted a 30-yard field goal as time expired and the Cougars took a 30-7 lead into halftime.Dinnocenti nailed another 30-yard field goal to stretch MU&#8217;s lead to 33-7 with 5:38 left in the third quarter.Jeffries gained six yards on first down and went in from four yards out to make it 40-7 with 11:40 to play.Wilkes 30, Lebanon Valley 24 Lebanon Valley`0`10`0`14`&#8212;`24 Wilkes`6&#8217;14`3`7`&#8212;`30 SCORING SUMMARY First Quarter WU &#8211; Nelson 39 pass from Tabora (kick failed) 11:31Second Quarter LV &#8211; Bentz 41 field goal 13:21WU &#8211; Harrison 2 pass from Tabora (DeSpirito kick) 3:31WU &#8211; Acker 3 run (DeSpirito kick) :39LV &#8211; Diggs 17 pass from Kegarise (Bentz kick) :05Third Quarter WU &#8211; DeSpirito 20 field goal 1:45Fourth Quarter WU &#8211; Sheals 5 run (DeSpirito kick) 10:29LV &#8211; Diggs 7 pass from Kegarise (Bentz kick) 6:20LV &#8211; Niemeyer 1 pass from Kegarise (Bentz kick) 4:29Team statistics`LV`WU First downs`15`22Rushes-yards`23-61`39-129Passing yards`238`279Total yards`299`408Passing`16-28-0`24-35-1Sacks by-yards lost`1-4`0-0Punts-avg.`6-41.0`4-35.2Fumbles-lost`1-1`0-0Penalties-yards`4-50`9-80INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS PASSING &#8211; LV, Kegarise 16-28-0-238. WU, Tabora 23-32-1-275, Hoovler 0-2-0-0, Sheals 1-1-0-4.RUSHING &#8212; LV, Wilson 12-34, Kegarise 6-15, Steinhilber 1-8, Are 1-4, Grauer 1-3, Murhon 1-0, Diggs 1-(minus-3). WU, Reed 9-62, Acker 14-37, Tabora 9-24, Sheals 3-6, Leszczynski 1-4, TEAM 3-(minus-4).RECEIVING &#8212; LV, Clark 5-52, Diggs 4-59, Niemeyer 3-74, Baxter 3-48, Wilson 1-5. WU, Nelson 7-110, Yanik 7-57, Ermeus 5-85, Harrison 2-11, Whitaker 1-6, O&#8217;Donnell 1-6, Sheals 1-4.INTERCEPTIONS &#8211; LV, Atkins 1-7.MISSED FG&#8217;S &#8211; LV, Bentz (26, WR); WU, DeSpirito (36, WR)<style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Dave RosengrantFor Times Leader</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @TLSports</shirttailMeta></div>

Wilkes hangs on to down Lebanon Valley, gets off to a 2-0 start