GAME NOTES
 
Albright (0-8, 0-6) vs. Misericordia (4-3, 4-2)
• When: Saturday, Nov. 9, 2019
• Where: Dallas, Pa.
• Stadium: Mangelsdorf Field (1,500)
• Kickoff: 1 p.m.
• Live Video: VIDEO
• Live Stats: STATS
 
 
SERIES BREAKDOWN
• All-Time Series: Albright leads 6-1
• First Meeting: 2012 – Albright won 48-0
• Last Meeting: Nov. 3, 2018 @ Albright – Misericordia won 39-29
• Streak: Misericordia +1
 
The Albright Lions will head back to Northeast Pennsylvania for the second-straight week as they will take on Misericordia in the penultimate game of the 2019 season.
 
Albright dropped a 36-16 contest at King's last Saturday afternoon. After falling behind 14-0 in the first quarter, the Lions rallied to make it a 14-8 game with 19 seconds left in the second quarter. However, the Monarchs took momentum back with a last second field goal despite the lack of time. The late field goal carried King's to a pair of third quarter touchdowns to ultimately put the game away. The Lions had four turnovers in the game with all being interceptions. Albright had eight drives go into Monarch territory during the game with six of them either ending in an interception, or a turnover on downs.
 
Misericordia dropped its second-straight game after suffering a 51-14 loss to Lycoming last Saturday on the road. The game went back and forth to start as the Cougars found themselves down just a touchdown at the 14:14-mark of the second quarter. However, the Warriors closed the game out with 30-unanswered points, and shut out the Cougars in the second half.
 
LAST SEASON'S MATCHUP
The Cougars defeated the Lions 39-29 at Shirk Stadium last season. Misericordia got off to a hot start by going up 16-0 in the second quarter, but the Lions rallied to make it a 16-14 game at half. The Cougars pulled away with 20 unanswered points in the second half. The Lions attempted a rally, but ultimately ran out of time after scoring their last points on a touchdown with 36 seconds left in regulation.  Sophomore running back Malik Bootman rushed for 148 yards on 22 carries. The total was the most in four seasons by any Lions running back, and a career-high for Bootman.
 
CENTURY MARK
Sophomore running back Tony Thorpe rushed for over 100 yards against King's last Saturday. Thorpe finished with 102 yards on 27 carries with two touchdowns, marking the first time in his career that he has eclipsed the 100-yard plateau. The 27 carries were also a career-high for the second-year back out of New Jersey. Thorpe also tallied the second multi-touchdown game of the season after his first one came against FDU-Florham.
 
He has climbed to fourth in the MAC in total rushing yards with 604, and fifth in rushing touchdowns with six. Thorpe became the first running back to rush for over 100 yards this season, and since Malik Bootman ran for his 148 yards against Misericordia in 2018. He is the first Albright running back to rush for at least 600+ yards since Romello Monroe had 669 in the 2016 season.
 
MORE ACCOLADES
First-year cornerback Chris Holbrook added a third honor in the past month after being named ECAC Division III South Special Teams Player of the Month this past week. The honor comes behind his performance against Wilkes back on October 12th when he returned two kickoffs for touchdowns. Holbrook was named MAC Commonwealth Special Teams Player of the Week following the Wilkes game, and earned a spot at returner on the D3football.com Team of the Week. Holbrook became the first player since former Lions quarterback, Alec Vignola, in October 2017 to earn an accolade from the ECAC.
 
WELCOME BACK
Senior wide receiver Mike Jordan returned to the lineup against King's, and tallied his second 100-yard game of the season. Jordan had missed the previous four games with an injury, and caught seven passes for a team-high 109 yards against the Monarchs on Saturday. Prior to his injury, Jordan posted 17 catches for 221 yards with four touchdowns during the first three games of the season. It was his third-career 100-yard receivng game.
 
THAT'S A RAPP
Sophomore defensive tackle Ryan Rapp had a career day against King's last Saturday. Rapp led the team with 10 tackles (two solo) with 0.5 sack, and 2.0 TFL. Rapp helped the Lions limit the leading rusher in the MAC, Jordan Downes, to just 59 yards on 20 carries. Rapp has started all eight games for the Lions this season on the defensive line, and now ranks third on the team with 39 tackles and 6.0 TFL.
 
INT STREAK
The Lions extended their interception streak after sophomore linebacker Sam Viera grabbed one in the second quarter against King's. After having just one interception in September, the Lions recorded seven interceptions as a team in October and now one in November. They hold a five-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 five other Lions each have tallied interceptions.
 
BLOCK PARTY
The Lions blocked two extra points in a game for the first time in program history. Sesay blocked the first one in the third quarter before junior safety Armon Jefferson got a hold of the second one in the fourth quarter. For Sesay it was his team-leading second blocked kick of the season, and for Jefferson it was the first one of his career.
 
ABOUT MISERICORDIA
The Cougars have lost back-to-back games after starting conference play 4-0. Misericordia ranks fifth in the MAC in scoring offense at 28.6 points per game, and in total offense at 386.1 yards per game. Misericordia has a strong ground game as they rank second to only Alvernia in rushing yards per game at 153.9. Sophomore running back Michael Gawlik is having a breakout season for the Cougars as he ranks fourth in the conference in rushing yards per game at 83.3. Gawlik ranks fifth in total rushing yards at 564, and has scored four touchdowns. Senior quarterback Brady Williams has command of the Misericordia offense as he continues to build off a strong 2018 season. Williams has passed for 1,626 yards this season with 14 touchdown passes, and seven interceptions. He poses as a dual threat with a team-leading six rushing touchdowns along with 167 rushing yards.
 
Williams has a pair of strong wide receivers with seniors Sam Gillison and Isaiah Williams. Gillison ranks second in the MAC with nine receiving touchdowns, and third with 94.9 receiving yards per game. He leads the team with 664 receiving yards. Williams follows with 531 receiving yards and four touchdowns. On defense, senior defensive back Nick Yeager leads the team with four interceptions to rank second in the conference. Yeager earned D3football.com Team of the Week honors on 10/22 following a three turnover performance against FDU-Florham. Sophomore defensive back Alex Hafner leads the Cougars with 51 tackles (35 solo), while freshman linebacker T.J. Prather paces the team with 5.0 TFL.