WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Albright Lions football team was unable to overcome four turnovers as they fell 36-16 to King's on a sunny Saturday afternoon in MAC play.
 
With the loss, the Lions fall to 0-8 on the season and 0-6 in conference play. Meanwhile, the Monarchs improve to 5-3 overall and 3-3 in conference play.
 
Senior quarterback Jimmy Lahay finished the game 21-of-47 for 248 yards with no touchdowns and foru interceptions. Sophomore running back Tony Thorpe registered the first 100-yard rushing game of his career with 102 yards on 27 carries, and scored two touchdowns. In his first game back since September 28^th, senior wide receiver Mike Jordan led the Lions with seven catches for 109 yards. Sophomore wide receiver Kevin Zehner finished with 78 yards on seven catches, while senior wide receiver Zack Miller caught three passes for 48 yards.
 
Albright opened the game with a three-and-out, and the Monarchs struck first on their opening drive with a 45-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Tyler Moore to Joe Herman. The Lions moved into Monarch territory on their next drive after Zehner caught a 22-yard pass over two defenders on 3^rd and 10. The drive stalled on a failed 4^th down conversion at the Monarch 34-yard line. King's moved the ball back into Lion territory on their ensuing drive before also stalling on a failed 4^th down conversion attempt.  The Monarchs forced another Lions three-and-out, and used a 33-yard punt return to start in the red zone at the Lions 17-yard line. King's needed just four plays to extend its lead out to 14-0 at the 1:04-mark of the first quarter.
 
The Lions went three-and-out again on the ensuing drive, but a 59 yard punt from Lahay pinned the Monarchs at their own 12-yard line. A sack plus a false start backed King's up to the three-yard line, and the Lions took advantage when senior Trevan Harris-Dorman wrapped up Monarch running back Jordan Downes in the end zone for a safety to make it 14-2. Albright looked to continue momentum after the Monarchs free kick, but Lahay was intercepted at the Monarch 24-yard line to end the drive. Albright moved the ball back into King's territory following a pair of Monarch three-and-outs before Lahay was intercepted at the two-yard line with 1:13 left in the first half. However, the Lions caught a break as sophomore linebacker Sam Viera intercepted Moore deep in Monarch territory, and ran it down to the two-yard line. Thorpe scored two plays later on a one-yard run to make it 14-8 following a missed extra point. The Monarchs needed just 18 of 19 seconds left in the first half, and two plays to get down to the Lions eight-yard line to try a last second field goal. King's knocked home the 25-yard field goal to make it a 17-8 game at halftime.
 
King's wasted little time extending its lead in the second half as Moore hit wide receiver Gabe Boccella in stride for a 66-yard touchdown to make it a 23-8 game at the 13:11-mark of the third quarter. The Lions blocked the extra point, but were unable to get anything going on offense on their first drive of the second half. The Monarchs used a nine-play 78-yard drive to extend its lead out to 30-8 at the 7:01-mark of the third quarter. King's took advantage of two Lion penalties on separate third down plays that were originally stopped. Albright again moved into Monarch territory on their next drive, and this time made it down to the King's five-yard line. Unfortunately for the Lions, they were only able to gain one yard following the first and goal situation, and turned it over on downs. Albright forced a Monarchs punt on the next drive, and moved the ball into King's territory again. The Lions converted a 4^th and 13 to start the fourth quarter following an offensive pass interference penalty. Thorpe finished the 11-play 61 yard drive with a one-yard score on 4^th and goal, and Jordan caught the two-point conversion attempt to bring the Monarch lead down to 30-16.
 
Albright was unable to sustain momentum from the touchdown as the Monarchs scored on another long touchdown pass on the third play of their next drive. The Lions blocked their second extra point of the day to keep the deficit at 36-16. Albright drove back into Monarch territory on the ensuing drive, but Lahay was intercepted at the King's 25-yard line. That would also be the last time the Lions drove into Monarch territory for the rest of the game as King's closed out the game at 36-16.
 
Sophomore defensive lineman Ryan Rapp recorded a career-high 10 tackles (two solo) plus 2.0 TFL, and Harris-Dorman registered nine tackles (six solo) along with 3.5 TFL. Viera added seven tackles (one solo) along with one interception. Moore led the Monarchs with a career-high 280 yards passing, while tossing three touchdowns. The Lions held Downes, the leader in the MAC for total rushing yards, to just 59 yards on 20 carries with one touchdown. Boccella added two scores, and totaled 186 all-purpose yards with 126 coming through the air on five catches. Mikal Butler grabbed two interceptions in the win as well.
 
The Lions will return to action on Saturday, November 9^th as they will head back to Northeast Pennsylvania to face Misericordia at 1 p.m.