GAME NOTES
 
Albright (0-7, 0-5) vs. King's (4-3, 2-3)
• When: Saturday, Nov. 2, 2019
• Where: Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
• Stadium: McCarthy Stadium (3,500)
• Kickoff: 1 p.m.
• Live Video: VIDEO
• Live Stats: STATS
 
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN
• All-Time Series: Albright leads 16-6-1
• First Meeting: 1993 – Albright won 31-12
• Last Meeting: Oct. 20, 2018 @ Albright – King's won 37-26
• Streak: King's +1
 
The Albright Lions will travel up to Wilkes-Barre to face King's this Saturday as they continue MAC Conference play.
 
Albright suffered a loss in a high-scoring 59-34 contest to Widener in the Pretzel Bowl last Saturday. The Pride raced out to a 17-0 lead after taking advantage of Albright turnovers before the Lions managed to cut into the Widener lead at 24-14 to go into halftime. Unfortunately for the Lions, the Pride used 28 unanswered points to take a commanding 52-14 lead, and would cruise from there. Albright was unable to overcome five turnovers, and a Widener passing attack that went for 453 yards. Albright passed for a season-high of 462 passing yards between quarterbacks senior Jimmy Lahay and sophomore Todd Shelley.
 
King's fell to Stevenson 39-15 on the road last Saturday. The Monarchs struck first to take a 7-0 lead in the opening quarter, but the Mustangs outscored the Monarchs 25-2 over the next two quarters to take a 25-9 lead. King's got within 10 points of Stevenson at 25-15 late in the third quarter, but the Mustangs closed the game out with a pair of touchdowns.
 
LAST SEASON'S MATCHUP
Last season, the Monarchs defeated the Lions 37-26 at Shirk Stadium. After the Monarchs jumped out to a 9-0 lead, the Lions would score to cut the deficit down to 9-7 in the second quarter on a touchdown by sophomore running back Tony Thorpe. However, the Lions would never take the lead in the game as the Monarchs continually had an answer for any Albright scoring. The loss snapped an 11-game winning streak for the Lions over the Monarchs.
 
DUAL THREAT
Jimmy Lahay had quite the day against Widener last Saturday. He threw for a career-high 407 yards against the Pride, and four touchdown passes. The passing yard total was the most in a single-game for a Lion quarterback since Tanner Kelly threw for 403 yards against Lycoming in 2009. Lahay also set a career-high for completions with 31, and attempts with 53.
 
Along with his big game through the air, Lahay had a career-best day of punting. Lahay averaged a career-high 48.5 yards per punt on four attempts, and hit a career-long 57 yard punt. The 48.5 yards per punt were the fourth-highest in a single game in Lions program history. He landed a pair of punts inside the 20-yard line, and added a second 50+ yard punt. His efforts earned him a spot at punter on the D3football.com Team of the Week.
 
RED OCTOBER
Sophomore wide receiver Kevin Zehner set three new career-highs against Widener last Saturday. He finished the day with 12 catches for 190 yards, and caught three touchdown passes. The 12 receptions were the most for a Lion receiver since Kyle Dickerson hauled in 12 passes against Lebanon Valley in the 2018 regular season finale. Zehner has been red hot during the month of October with three 100-yard receiving games. The New Jersey native has registered 546 receiving yards in four October contests on 35 receptions, and has scored eight touchdowns. He came into the month with just four catches for 47 yards in the month of September.
 
BIG DEBUT
Sophomore cornerback Matt McWilliams made his first collegiate start against Widener. McWilliams made the most of his first start as he tallied his first interception, and ran it back 40 yards to set up the Lions last touchdown of the game. McWilliams also tallied three solo tackles, and one pass break up on the afternoon. He was one of two Lions to tally first collegiate interceptions as first-year safety Kyle Komanitsky grabbed one in the third quarter.
 
MILLER TIME
Senior wide receiver Zack Miller has also had a big month of October alongside Zehner. Miller set a season-high with 124 yards on eight catches with one touchdown against the Pride last Saturday. He caught a career-long 65-yard touchdown pass from Lahay in the second quarter. Miller will finish October with 35 catches for 382 yards, and five touchdowns. He has a pair of 100-yard receiving yards to his name in October as well.
 
INT STREAK
After having just one interception in September, the Lions recorded seven interceptions as a team in October. They hold a four-game streak with tallying an interception, and have rose to in the MAC rankings to fifth in total interceptions. Albright tallied multi-interceptions in three of the four games in October. Senior safety Trevan Harris-Dorman and first-year cornerback Omar Sesay lead the team with two interceptions, while four other Lions each have tallied interceptions.
 
RUN STOPPERS
The Lions limited Widener to just 90 yards rushing last Saturday. It was the first time since the Widener contest in 2017 that Albright has held a team under 100 total rushing yards. Albright's run defense has seen improvement in each game since facing Salisbury, the fourth-ranked rushing attack in all of Division III in the season opener.
 
ABOUT KING'S
The Monarchs have lost three of their last four games since starting the season 3-0. However, the Monarchs are 3-0 at McCarthy Stadium so far in 2019. King's sits just 10^th in the conference for scoring offense, and seventh for total yards per game. Senior running back Jordan Downes leads the way on offense for the Monarchs as he ranks first in the MAC with 130.8 yards per game, and ranks second in total yards with 785. Downes leads the conference in all-purpose yards with 1,252 behind strong numbers as a receiver and a returner. Sophomore quarterback Tyler Moore is having an efficient first season as the Monarchs starting quarterback. Moore ranks third in the MAC in completion percentage at 62.7 behind throwing for 13 touchdown passes to just five interceptions. His favorite target is junior wide receiver Gabe Boccella, who ranks fifth in the conference with 608 receiving yards and 86.9 yards per game.
              
King's thrives on a strong defense that ranks third in scoring for the MAC at 24.1 points per game. The Monarchs are third in total yards allowed at 328.1, and in rush defense at 97.6. Junior defensive back Jaret Horn leads the MAC with five interceptions, while classmate Charles McCall is tied for sixth in the conference with 7.5 tackles for loss. Junior Mando Sallavanti has emerged as one of the most consistent linebackers in the MAC as he ranks second on the team with 44 tackles. Sophomore linebacker Myles Shelton ranks second on the team with 5.0 TFL and has forced two fumbles on the season. Junior Yusef Wheeler rounds out the deep Monarch linebacker unit with 31 tackles, 3.0 TFL, and two forced fumbles.