By Tyler Fennell
Staff Writer
The College remains undefeated coming out of their home opener with a 17-3 victory against Wilkes. Their record now stands at 2-0.
As opposed to last week's flurry of scoring against Lycoming, this game was won on the back of an incredible defensive effort. They held Wilkes to only a field goal with no touchdowns.
In terms of the College’s offense, they struggled through the air, with almost all of their total yards coming on the ground, with only four yards of total passing offense.
In the first half, it was a defensive showdown, with neither team reaching opponent territory until the Lions crossed midfield halfway through the second quarter. Their drive stalled, however, and it was a 0-0 tie heading into the locker room.
To open the second half, senior quarterback Dean Licari showcased his legs when he rushed for 40 yards and scored a 15-yard touchdown to open up the scoring after a completely scoreless first half from both teams. The College had a huge game on the ground as a team, accumulating 262 yards of rushing offense.
Sophomore kicker Tim Williver scored a 34-yard field goal to extend the college’s lead in the fourth quarter. Sophomore running back Jordan Morrell had almost half of the team's rushing yards with 126 and scored a touchdown in the final quarter to close out the game.
It was a career day for Morrell, who set personal bests in every rushing stat, carrying the ball 22 times, which was more than his career total up to this point.
When asked about the slow start in the first half and then turning around the offense in the second half, Morrell, an accounting major, attributed the second half success to their mentality.
“Coach always telling us we got to see it through, we got to ride it out. You know, we just got to see it through, grind it out every play. Defense really turned up for us, kind of saved us a little bit. We got it rolling in the second half. We gashed them a little bit, and we used that momentum, and I got in the zone towards the end there, so yeah.”
On the defensive side of the ball, the College had three sacks. Senior defensive lineman Darian Ghahary, senior defensive lineman Dylan Patscher and freshman defensive lineman Clifford Dirkes all contributed one sack each. The entire defense played a huge role throughout the whole game in holding Wilkes to only three points and just five first downs the entire contest.
In addition, the College turned over Wilkes four times, intercepting the quarterback three times and forcing a fumble. Seniors Dave Giulian, Justin Kurc and Jack Young each recorded an interception. Wilkes failed to record a first down until midway through the third quarter.
The Lions return for their third game of the season, and their second at home, on Saturday, Sept. 27, against Juniata College. Both teams will go into this game undefeated.
