Rushing Attack, Turnovers Haunt Football
(Posted October 14, 2006)
King\'s 23, Juniata 7 WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - Both visiting Juniata College and home King\'s College displayed impressive running attacks, but three turnovers from the Eagles proved critical as the Eagles suffered a 23-7 set-back in Middle Atlantic Conference action at Robert L. Betzler Field Saturday afternoon. Juniata is now 1-6 on the season and 1-5 in the MAC while King\'s maintained its lead atop the MAC standings at 5-0 and are 5-1 overall. Juniata senior back Kiel Knisely (Claysburg-Kimmel/Queen) rushed for a career high116 yards and fellow senior Duane J. Ehredt Jr. (Bellwood-Antis/Tyrone) added 99 yards before leaving the game with an injury but three interceptions, including two which came inside the King\'s red zone were missed opportunities that hurt the Eagles. Meanwhile King\'s rode an overwhelming rushing effort offensively as Jeff Field posted a career-best 179 yards on just 11 carries and scored three touchdowns, while John Ortiz finished with 130 yards for the Monarchs. With gusting winds causing problems for the passing attacks, neither team reached 100 yards passing on the day. Juniata gained 304 yards overall in the game, but King\'s finished with 391 yards on the game, 321 of them on the ground. King\'s got on the scoreboard first as 31-yard punt return from Craig Haywood set up the Monarchs at the Juniata 27. Two plays later Field plunged in from one yard out to give the home team a 6-0 lead. Tim Lust missed the extra point keeping the lead at 6-0. Field came up with the big play again on the Monarchs\' next drive. After an offensive pass interference penalty made it first and 20, he broke off a 59-yard run that took it to the Juniata 30. Field then capped the six-play, 76-yard drive with his second one-yard scoring run to give the home team a 12-0 lead. This time the point after was good, making the score 13-0 in favor of King\'s with 14:45 left in the half. Juniata cut into the lead midway through the second quarter. A long run from Ehredt took the Eagles into Monarchs territory, and the senior back then capped the six-play, 50-yard drive with a one-yard run. David Nicklaus\' (Lampeter Strasburg/Lancaster) added the point to make the score 13-7 with 9:00 left in the second quarter. Juniata threatened to put more points on the board late in the half as the Blue and Gold marched inside the King\'s 20 yard line. On a third down play Jay Leonard\'s (Big Sping/Newville) pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage and picked off by Tom Tulaney to halt Juniata\'s attempt to cut into the lead. Earlier in the half Haywood had intercepted Juniata at the King\'s 13 which had also kept Juniata from putting points on the board. The momentum swung completely to the home team in the first few minutes of the second half as the Monarchs added to their lead on the opening drive of the half. Another long rush from Field moved the ball into Juniata territory and after Juniata held on third down, Lust booted a 28-yard field goal to make the score 16-7. On the ensuing possession a Juniata turnover led to the next Monarchs\' score as Leonard\'s third-down pass was picked off by Haywood at the Kings 49 and returned all the way to the Juniata 11. Field would cap the drive with his third one-yard scoring run to give King\'s a 22-7 edge. Lust hit another point to give King\'s the 23-7 edge early in the third quarter. Both defenses would keep the respective offenses out of the end zone for the remainder of the contest. King\'s nearly added to its lead with a fake field goal attempt in the fourth quarter by Tyler Hall (Juniata Valley/Alexandria) broke up the play in the end zone. Leonard finished the game 8-23 for 81 yards for the Eagles. Jason Koch (Kutztown/Kutztown) caught four passes for 24 yards, while Nicklaus had three receptions for 54 yards. Defensively, Andy Miller (Manheim Township/Lancaster), Alex Waleski (Huntingdon/Huntingdon) and Andrew Knittle (Hamburg/Hamburg) all had seven tackles, with Knittle adding a tackle for a loss. Three more Eagles had had six tackles, with Brandon Spayd (Huntingdon/Huntingdon). King\'s quarterback Jeff Searfass was 6-16 passing on the day and passed for 70 yards. Chris Maloney and Mike Sheil each had two receptions, with Maloney finishing with a team-best 27 yards. Matt McGovern and Craig Haywood each had 10 tackles in the game, and Haywood added the two interceptions. Juniata will be off next Saturday with a bye and will be back in action October 28 at home against Widener. King\'s will play Widener this coming Saturday. ###
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