Behind some strong first half play countered by solid offense in the second half of a 24-21 thriller, No. 18 Delaware Valley slipped past King’s College, the Aggies winning late Saturday afternoon.
King’s kicker Mikhail Kniaziewicz missed a 39 yard field goal as time ran out in the fourth quarter. The Monarchs showed flashes of what they were hyped up to be at the beginning of the season.
And though the Monarchs dropped a thriller in front of a packed house, it was the rushing game that for the second consecutive week stepped up to the plate. But at the end, the offense started too little, too late.
“We just ran out of time,” King’s head coach Jeff Knarr said. “We did a great job just being able to get into field goal range from our own one. We just came up a little short.”
The Monarchs recieved the opening kickoff and began with the ball at their own 25-yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, quarterback Tyler Hartranft rolled out to the right, did not have any recievers open and tucked the ball in to run. Hartranft coughed up the ball and set Delaware Valley up with great field position.
It started to look worse when Aggie quarterback Aaron Wilmer hit Rasheed Bailey for thirteen yards on a third down and nine. The Monarch offense failed to get going early on and they kept putting the pressure on the defense.
The Aggies struck again when Wilmer, who finished with 257 yards passing hit Bailey for 59 yards into the end zone creating a 14-0 lead for Delaware Valley. Bailey totaled five grabs for 115 yards and his two scores.
The Monarchs’ defense stepped up to the task of defending the nation’s eighteenth ranked squad after the second score of the day.
“The defense did a good job,” Knarr said. “They eliminated the big play and played great.”
The offense once again stalled out after being set up with great field position on a Bobby Russell fumble recovery at the Delaware Valley 25. Delaware Valley took a 17-0 lead when Brandon Snyder hit a field goal from 24 yards away.
The Monarch rushing attack finally got things going and got the ball over the 50 yard line to the Aggie 49. Hartranft, who threw 200 yards, hit Dan Kempa for 49 yards and a score as King’s trimmed the lead to 17-7. Kempa, a preseason All-American, had eight catches for 123 yards and a touchdown.
Trailing 17-7 to start the half, King’s defense forced another Delaware Valley punt. The offense took over great field position at the 35 yard line after a block in the back on the kickoff put the Aggies at their own 8.
Right on that possession, the Monarchs started focusing on the running game, McGrath, in particular. He came out and powered through a stout Aggie defense in the first half. McGrath drove to the end zone from two yards out to cut the deficit to a field goal.
Del-Val drove back down the field after the Monarchs slashed the lead to three points. Running back Chris Smallwood scored a three-yard touchdown with 5:10 left in the third. This touchdown, which proved to be the difference, were the only points recorded by the Aggies in the second half.
King’s answered the challenge of competing with the top team in the MAC. Once again, McGrath, who had 88 yards running the football, punched it from one yard out to make it 24-21 with a little under 15 minutes to play.
“He played great,” Knarr said. “He was extremely physical and really came into his own today.”
The Aggies marched down the field and had the ball inside the Monarch 5 yard line. After being stuffed on 3rd and goal at the 1, they elected to go for it on 4th and goal resulting in a Monarch stop and a chance to tie it up.
The Monarchs continued with their strong rushing game and rumbled their way to the opposing territory to set up the Monarch Special Teams for a chance at a last second win.
Mikhail Kniaziewicz had a chance at a 39-yard field goal attempt. Delaware Valley would proceed to take not one, but two timeouts to ice Kniaziewicz. After the two stoppages, Kniaziewicz stepped into the ball and kicked it short, losing the game for the Monarchs.
The loss drops the Monarchs to 3-5 overall and 3-4 in Freedom Conference play. As for Del-Val, their undefeated season continues as they hold on to the top spot with No. 12 Widener next on the slate for King’s at McCarthy Stadium.
Donny Hopkins covers King’s sports for WRKC Digital, follow him on Twitter @HopkinsDonny or email him at DonaldHopkins@Kings.edu