Widener defense dethrones King’s, sets up title showdown
There will be more at stake than the Keystone Cup when Widener travels to Doylestown to take on Delaware Valley next week.
A share of the MAC title, and the league’s automatic berth in the NCAA Division III tournament, also will be up for grabs.
Widener made that possible when it blitzed King’s College, 27-6, Saturday. The victory extended Pride’s winning streak to five games and puts them in a position to claim a piece of a first league title since 2014. It also assured the Pride of a spot in the MACCentennial Bowl if Widener does not win the AQ.
It must beat Del Val to do that because the Aggies (9-0, 8-0 MAC) locked up a share of the crown with a 51-7 romp over Misericordia.
The Pride (7-2, 7-1) turned to its defense to keep its playoff hopes alive. Widener racked up 11 sacks and 16 tackles for loss. Ends Vince Char and Casey Kerschner did most of that damage. Char had six sacks and seven tackles for loss. All four of Kerschner’s TFL’s were sacks.
Widener also picked off five passes, two by Jordan Powell and a pick six by Anthony Jordan. The Pride also forced a fumble, which Powell returned 81 yards for a touchdown.
Quarterback Sean McGaughey threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns to pace the offense. He hooked up with Jim Gillespie on a 49-yard score in the first quarter and found Montrell Hicks-Taylor on a 50-yard TD.
The defense put up the final two scores as Jordan returned an interception 29 yards for Widener’s sixth pick six of the season. Powell returned his second fumble of the year to close out the scoring. PENN 38, PRINCETON 35 » Will Fischer-Colbrie threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Justin Watson to lift the Quakers over the Tigers.
The Quakers (4-4, 2-3 Ivy) trailed 35-31 when Fischer-Colbrie capped an 80-yard drive with his scoring toss to Watson with 1:12 left to play. The Tigers (53, 2-3) got within field goal range on their final possession but Tavish Rice missed a 31-yard attempt.
Fischer-Colbrie finished with 202 yards and two touchdowns passing. Watson had 124 yards and two scores receiving and Abe Willows ran for 136 yards and two touchdowns. KUTZTOWN 65, CHEYNEY 0 » Quarterback Chris Kane made the most of his first career start. The redshirt senior connected on 21 of 25 passes for a career-high 311 yards and five touchdowns as the Golden Bears rolled over the Wolves.
Kane threw two TD passes apiece to Diego Torres and Connor Sullivan as Kutztown racked up 602 yards of total offense and scored on 10 of its first 11 possession. The defense was just as nasty. The Golden Bears held the Wolves (1-9, 0-7) to minus-13 yards rushing and 60 yards of total offense.