ANNVILLE, Pa. – Junior tailback John Ortiz rushed for a career-high 151 yards, leading King's to a 27-6 victory as the Monarchs spoiled Lebanon Valley's home football opener Saturday afternoon at Arnold Field.
The game was also the Middle Atlantic Conference opener for both teams.
King's (1-1, 1-0 MAC) never trailed after a 27-yard field goal by freshman Tim Lust with 7:25 left in the first quarter. Lust finished the game with nine points, hitting a pair of field goals along with three extra points.
Lebanon Valley (0-2, 0-1 MAC) was hurt by four turnovers on three interceptions and a fumble. King's scored 14 of its points off LVC turnovers.
Sophomore receiver Adam Brossman was a bright spot for Lebanon Valley, finishing with seven catches for 124 yards and a touchdown.
A King's fumble recovery led to its first touchdown of the day. Sophomore linebacker Mike Lyons pounced on the loose ball at the King's-33, and 10 plays later senior quarterback Chris Barnic hit senior receiver Julian Walker with a 9-yard touchdown pass, making it 10-0 just before the end of the first quarter.
The Monarchs thwarted the Dutchmen's first two possessions of the second quarter with interceptions. Lebanon Valley had the ball at the King's-21 on its first drive of the quarter, but on third-and-14 freshman Victor Sierra picked off a pass in the end zone for a touchback. After forcing King's to punt, LVC had the ball in Monarch territory again on its next possession, but freshman Bob Cirko intercepted a pass at the King's-16 and returned it to the Monarch-27. It took King's 10 plays again to find the end zone, this time on a 3-yard touchdown run from Ortiz with less than a minute left in the half, to give the visitors a 17-0 lead.
A long pass from junior quarterback Dan Kelly to Brossman set up the Dutchmen's lone score of the game. Two plays after receiving the ball at the King's-39 following a punt, Kelly connected with Brossman for a 52-yard aerial, a career-long for both players, to give LVC the ball at the Monarch-8. One play later, Kelly found Brossman again in the front left corner of the end zone, making it 17-6 midway through the third quarter.
After stopping King's on downs at the LVC-11, Lebanon Valley was poised to strike again after driving to the Monarch-13 late in the quarter. But the King's defense came through again, coming up with a sack on fourth-and-10.
An Ortiz 40-yard run set up King's next score, another 27-yard field goal from Lust, early in the fourth quarter.
Facing fourth-and-two from the LVC-21 with around five minutes left in the game, the Dutchmen elected not to punt, and King's received the ball on downs after a Kelly rush fell short of the first down. Seven plays later, Barnic ran in from 1 yard out, setting the final score at 27-6.
Kelly threw for 193 yards on 17-of-27 passing while Barnic was 12-for-23 with 162 yards.
Freshman tailback Andre Payton finished with 85 all-purpose yards for LVC. Payton caught seven passes for 36 yards and had 49 yards rushing on only seven carries.
Junior linebacker Tore Alaimo led all players with 15 tackles for King's while sophomore linebacker Terry Kaufman had 12 tackles for Lebanon Valley. In his first collegiate game and start, freshman defensive end Curt Brown had 10 tackles for the Dutchmen.
Lebanon Valley returns to the grid next Saturday, when it visits Juniata College at 1:30 p.m. in another MAC contest.
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