Box Score
A pair of big fourth down conversions set the tone in each half as the Albright College football team held off Wilkes for a 27-13 victory, Saturday in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
With two minutes left in the first quarter of a scoreless game, quarterback/punter
TJ Luddy faked the kick and hit senior
Scott Pillar in stride for 32 yards. Albright rode the momentum and Luddy soon found Pillar in the end zone on the first play of the second quarter.
On 4th-and-13 in the third quarter the Lions went for it, and Luddy found
Caleb Shilko in the end zone for a 36-yard score that made it 20-0 Albright.
Luddy was excellent in multiple phases of the game, completing 21-of-31 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns. He also punted four times for an average of 45.5 yards, pinning the Colonels on their own three-yard line and hitting a 52 yarder, both in the fourth quarter as Albright tried to hold on.
Pillar caught 14 balls for 156 yards and two touchdowns. On the defensive side of the ball, junior
Drew Peterson intercepted two passes and made a game-high seven solo tackles.
Wilkes went to the hurry-up offense right off the bat, and drove down near the Albright goal line.
Jordan Fredo's field goal attempt was blocked by
Daniel McNair however, as the Lions avoided any damage.
Tate Moore-Jacobs leapt to snare an underthrown Luddy pass to thwart Albright's opening drive.
Two plays after Pillar put Albright on top, Wilkes quarterback
Tyler Bernsten threw one right into Peterson's numbers, as the junior jumped the route for his first interception of the season.
Zach Groff got outside for 13 yards down to the five yard line, and Albright soon led 13-0 on Pillar's second TD catch in less than two-and-a-half minutes.
Wilkes nearly forced a fumble on the Lions' drive to open the second half, but Albright caught a break as
Griffin Eldridge's forward progress was blown dead. The Lions would soon score on Shilko's fourth-down catch.
Wilkes drove down to the 25 and Bernsten tried to sneak on fourth and one, but
Sean Cunningham and
Joe Magosin stuffed it.
Matt Bracho recovered Luddy's fumble deep in his own end late in the third quarter, as the Lions' were forced to punt.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Luddy hits a streaking McNair for a diving catch for 39 yards. The Lions couldn't convert, but Luddy did hit a pooch punt down to the three to pin the Colonels.
A diving catch by
Payton Bachman went for 15 yards and a Wilkes first down pickup. Two pass interference calls and a roughing the passer penalty soon allowed the Colonels to reach the three yard line on fourth and goal. Berntsen just evaded the blind-side rush and hit
Drew Devitt for Wilkes' first touchdown of the season, and a 20-7 scoreline.
Berntsen then dove in for another score, and after a missed extra point it was 20-13 with just under six minutes remaining.
The Lions offense rose to the moment however, grinding out a 10-play, 62 yard drive that was capped by
Ty Hughes' icing touchdown run in the final minute of play.
Albright held the ball for 36:44 of play and allowed just 111 yards of total offense in the first half. The Lions improve to 3-0 and face a tough test next Saturday in the Pretzel Bowl, welcoming contender Lycoming College (2-1, 2-0).
