EDWARDSVILLE, Pa. – Al Karaffa completed 11 of 19 passes for 184 yards and three touchdowns as Wilkes defeated Lebanon Valley 38-0 in Middle Atlantic Conference football action Saturday afternoon at Ralston Field.
Wilkes (5-3, 5-2 MAC) held LVC (3-5, 2-5 MAC) to 170 yards for the game, including just 57 yards passing. Lebanon Valley entered the game averaging 196 passing yards per game.
The Colonels' Brett Trichilo rushed for a game-high 108 yards and one touchdown on 26 carries, and tied a pair of long-standing MAC records. His touchdown run gave him 62 total TDs and 372 points for his career, and both marks tied Billy “Whiteshoes” Johnson's MAC records. Johnson played for Widener from 1971-73.
Jim Jordan caught four of Karaffa's passes for 60 yards and two touchdowns while Stephon Burgette had four receptions for 61 yards.
Sophomore tailback Brandon Shank (Manheim, Pa./Manheim Central) paced LVC with a career-high 44 yards on 13 carries. Sophomore quarterback Dan Kelly (King of Prussia, Pa./Upper Merion) was held to a season-low 57 yards on 5-of-19 passing.
Lebanon Valley was shut out for the first time since its 16-0 loss to Albright in 2001.
Wilkes took the opening kickoff and promptly drove 69 yards on 12 plays. The 5:26 drive ended with a 27-yard field goal by Ryan Yurewicz, his second of the season, making it 3-0 with 9:34 on the clock.
After going three-and-out on its first possession, Lebanon Valley received great field position midway through the opening quarter following a Wilkes punt. A 23-yard return by freshman Clint Vinju (Earleville, Md./Bohemia Manor) gave the Dutchmen the ball at midfield, but seven plays later Kelly was picked off on fourth-and-nine by Dan DiBella, whose return gave the Colonels the ball at the Wilkes-45. However, LVC forced Wilkes to punt after three plays on the ensuing possession, and the Dutchmen took over at the LVC-19 with 2:27 left in the opening quarter.
Lebanon Valley moved the ball 51 yards on 11 plays, but the drive stalled at Wilkes-30, where the Colonels took over on downs.
The Wilkes offense began to heat up midway through the second quarter. On the first play of a Colonel drive that started at the Wilkes-49, Burgette took a reverse and raced 27 yards down the right side of the field to give his team the ball at the LVC-26. On the next play, Karaffa hit Jordan with a touchdown pass, making it 10-0 with 7:36 left in the half.
After forcing LVC to go three-and-out, Wilkes started its next drive at the Dutchman-34 after a 45-yard punt return by Bo Tkach. On the very next play, Karaffa found Jordan again, this time from 34 yards out, as the Colonels lead ballooned to 17-0 with 5:01 showing on the clock.
A 45-yard punt by freshman Adam Brossman (Lebanon, Pa./Lebanon) pinned Wilkes at its own 9-yard line with just 2:58 left in the half. But the Colonels responded with a nine-play, 91-yard drive, capped by a 21-yard scoring strike from Karaffa to Kevin Carroll with 20 seconds left in the opening half, and Wilkes took a 24-0 lead into the locker room.
Wilkes' defense went to work in the second half, holding Lebanon Valley to four first downs and 55 total yards. The Colonels forced the Dutchmen to punt on their first four possessions of the half, and they forced a pair of turnovers on LVC's final two possessions.
Wilkes moved the ball 56 yards on 12 plays midway through the third quarter, but Yurewicz's second attempt at a 27-yard field goal fell short.
After forcing LVC to another three-and-out, the Colonels went to the ground and for a 10-play, 53-yard scoring march. Trichilo completed the drive, which included only one pass, with his record-tying touchdown run, bulling his way in from 5 yards out as Wilkes pushed its lead to 31-0 with 11:54 left in the game.
The Colonels final touchdown was set up by an interception by Bryan Vivaldo late in the game. Vivaldo stepped in front of a pass by freshman quarterback Brad Bishop (Lebanon, Pa./Lebanon), giving his team the ball at the LVC-41. Kyle Gallagher scored the Colonels' final touchdown of the game seven plays later when he plowed in from the 1-yard line, setting the final score with 4:35 on the clock.
Freshman safety Russel DeStefano (Conshohocken, Pa./Upper Merion) paced the Dutchmen with a season-high eight tackles while junior linebacker Chris Weaver (New Cumberland, Pa./Cedar Cliff) also had eight hits. Senior defensive end Mitch Nyman (Pottstown, Pa./Boyertown) and junior safety Jimmy Holzman (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) had seven tackles apiece.
Lebanon Valley returns to action next Saturday, when it visits Susquehanna University at 1 p.m. in another MAC showdown.
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