LYCOMING FOOTBALL UPSET IN SEASON OPENER

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Lycoming College football team opened up the 2004 season by traveling to King’s College. The game was back-and-forth throughout with five lead changes, but the Warriors came up on the short end of a 31-28 score when the final horn sounded. The victory over Lycoming was the Monarchs’ first since the school reinstated football in 1993. It was also the first time the Warriors opened a season with a loss since 1994. King’s improves to 1-1 on the season with the win.

Phil Mann (Sr./Mill Hall, Pa.; Central Mountain) led Lycoming’s offense with 222 yards through the air on 18-of-37 passing, including two touchdowns. He was also the team’s leading rusher with 36 yards and one score on 10 carries. Tim Brown (Jr./Liverpool, N.Y.; Christian Brothers Acad.) led the receiving corps with five catches for 76 yards. Tony Kopp (Jr./St. Mary’s, Pa.; St. Mary’s) added three receptions for 57 yards and a touchdown; and John Moor (Sr./Hawley, Pa.; Wallenpaupack) caught four passes for 30 yards and a score.

Defensively, Brian Kaspick (Sr./Clearfield, Pa.; Clearfield) led the Warriors with 12 tackles. Joe Dumas (Sr./Philadelphia, Pa.; Archbishop Ryan) added 11 stops.

The Monarchs were led by Richard Jackson with 123 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 35 carries. Quarterback Chris Barnic completed 12-of-24 passes for 178 yards and one touchdown. That one score went to Blake Letchford who caught five passes for 77 yards to lead the King’s receivers. Tore Alaimo led the Monarch defense with nine tackles. He also recovered a fumble.

Lycoming opened the game with an impressive seven-play, 73-yard drive that resulted in a 15-yard touchdown pass from Mann to Kopp. The key play of the drive was a 39-yard completion from Mann to Kopp that gave the Warriors a first-and-10 from the King’s 23.

The Monarchs responded by mounting a 13-play drive that culminated in a 35-yard field goal by Bobby Nawrocki. Jackson ran the ball seven times for 28 yards on the drive.

Lycoming coughed the ball up on their next possession, turning the ball over at their own 41 yardline. King’s capitalized, using seven plays to find the endzone and take a 10-7 lead. Jackson capped the drive with a two-yard plunge for the score.

The two squads exchanged possessions as the game entered its second quarter before the Warriors came up with a big special teams play. Facing a fourth-and-seven from their own 28, the Monarchs dropped back to punt. Ryan Repko (So./Perkiomenville, Pa.; Boyertown) came sprinting off the end for Lycoming to block the kick. Tim Hartingh (Jr./Willow Grove, Pa.; Upper Moreland) recovered the ball, giving the Warriors possession at the 12 yardline.

Mann wasted no time converting the opportunity, finding John Moor in the endzone on the first snap. Chris Schrader’s (So./Glenolden, Pa.; Monsignor Bonner) second extra point of the game put Lycoming ahead 14-10.

The Warriors extended their advantage to 21-10 later in the period with a 10-play drive that covered 55 yards. Mann took it himself on the final play, scampering in from six yards out.

A three-and-out and a short punt King’s gave Lycoming another chance to score in the final minute of the half. Starting at the Monarch 37 yardline, Mann found Brown on a second-and-10 play for a 25-yard completion to the 12 yardline. The first two plays from the 12 resulted in a loss of two yards setting up a third-and-12. Mann rolled to his right and looked for Brown in the back of the endzone, but Craig Haywood jumped in front of the receiver and intercepted the ball to end the threat for King’s and leave the score at 21-10 at halftime.

The Monarch grabbed the momentum coming out of halftime, scoring on their first two possessions of the second half to regain the lead. The first drive covered 65 yards on nine plays and was capped by another two-yard run by Jackson. The key play was a 33-yard completion from Barnic to Matt Nicodemus that set up Jackson’s run. The second drive went 58 yards on eight plays and ended with three-yard Jackson run. The pair of scores gave the home team a 24-21 lead with just over six minutes to play in the third.

The quarter ended with the same score but with the Warriors driving. Facing a third-and-four to from the King’s nine yardline to open the final period, Lycoming was aided by a pass interference penalty that gave them a first-and-goal from the four. Dan Snee (So./Montrose, Pa.; Montrose) then carried the ball twice for two yards each time and a touchdown on the second try. Schrader’s point after gave the Warriors a 28-24 advantage with 14 minutes to play.

The two teams swapped possessions giving the Monarchs the ball at their own 34 with 10:43 on the clock. King’s went back to their running game to methodically move the ball downfield to the Lycoming 36 yardline. The Warriors, however, held Jackson to just two yards on a third-and-five to force critical fourth down play. The Monarchs went to the air as Barnic found Letchford in the flats. The completion not only picked up the first down, but when Letchford turned the corner near the sideline and picked up a downfield block from Julian Walker the play resulted in a touchdown. The score gave King’s a 31-28 lead with 6:55 to play.

Lycoming failed to move the ball on their next possession, but held the Monarchs to regain the ball with 3:16 remaining. Starting at the Warrior 37, Mann completed consecutive passes of 10 and nine yards to Ray Withelder (Sr./Aston, Pa.; Sun Valley) and another to Brown for 18 yards, giving Lycoming a first down on the King’s 26 yardline. Mann picked up three yards on two rushes to set up a third-and-seven from the 23. Mann then looked to Withelder down the right sideline, but the pass fell incomplete, leaving the Warriors with one chance to extend the game. A field goal attempt would have been from 40 yards, but Lycoming opted to try for the first. Mann looked for Kopp on a slant pattern, but a diving effort ended in an incompletion and a Monarch victory.