Reading, PA - The Albright Lions fell in overtime to the King's College Monarchs by a score of 27-21 on Saturday afternoon. The loss drops the Lions to 0-6 overall, and 0-4 in conference play. The Monarchs improved to 5-1 and 4-1.
This game was a story of two different halves. The first was dominated by the Monarchs, as they would score first in the the first quarter on a 14 yard touchdown pass from Tyler Moore to Tyler Carey. The Monarchs would strike again midway through the second quarter on a one yard run by Shemar Ellis. That capped off a 98 yard drive for King's.With just over a minute left to play in the half, the Monarchs would add to their lead on a 24 yard pass from Moore to Matt DiGregorio. This gave King's a 21-0 lead headed into halftime.
The Lions would come out in the second half like a completely different team. They would get on the board on a three yard run by
Dahlir Adams. That score was set up by a long 46 yard completion to
Isaiah Shockley. On the ensuing Monarchs drive, the Lions got the big play from their defense that they had been looking for when lineman
Berry Dumezil intercepted a pass in Monarch territory, setting the Lions offense up in great position. After an incomplete pass,
Alex Gardsy would take it 31 yards on the ground to score a touchdown.
the fourth quarter saw the Lions start with the ball, and while they were able to move the ball to the King's 25 yard line, a sack on fourth down ended the drive. But the defense would step up and force a three and out on the next Monarchs drive. The punt that came on fourth down would hit one of the Monarch's lineman, and go backwards, giving the Lions great field position. The Lions would move the ball down to the one yard line, but a Gardsy fumble on a QB sneak attempt was recovered by King's. But just like they done the entire game, the Albright defense would battle back. They would force a fumble, which was recovered by
Ryan Rapp at the eight yard line. On the very next play, Gardsy would find
Antonio Bargiel for an eight yard touchdown pass. The following extra point tied things up at 21. The two teams would trade empty drives the rest of regulation, sending the game to overtime.
The Lions would get the ball first in overtime, but missed a 39 yard field goal on their possession. The Monarchs would score on a one yard Shemar Ellis touchdown run to win the game.
Alex Gardsy, despite only playing half the game, led the team in rushing with 99 yards. He also threw for 92 yards on 9-19 passing. He had one touchdown through the air, and another on the ground.
Isaiah Shockley was effective both on the ground (50 yards) and in the receiving game (67 yards). Punter
Keil Heineman was a key player in this game, as he was able to flip the field on multiple occasions. He punted eight times for 356 yards, good for an average of 44.5 yards per punt. He had a long of 64 yards, and had a punt downed at the two yard line, and another at the six yard line.
Defensively, the duo of
Sam Viera and
Daniel Vital continued to put on a tackling clinic, with Viera collecting 12 tackles, and Vital nine. But Rapp was the star on defense, tying the school record for sacks in a game with four sacks and a fumble recovery. He was named the Albright College Pretzel Bowl MVP after the game.
Up Next - The Lions will continue their search for their first win of the season next week, as they take on Widener University in Chester, PA. That game will kickoff at 1pm.
