Football
Wilkes 35, Lebanon Valley 28 (OT)

Box Score

ANNVILLE, Pa. - Wilkes took advantage of Lebanon Valley mistakes as it rallied back from 21-3 down to force overtime and stop the Dutchmen, 35-28, in a thriller at Arnold Field on Saturday.

The Dutchmen (1-4, 0-2 MAC) blew a 28-6 fourth-quarter lead as the Colonels (3-2, 2-0 MAC) scored 22 points in the fourth, including third-string quarterback Alex George's 20-yard pass to Anthony Dorunda and subsequent game-tying two-point conversion to Todd Eagles.

Matt Nawracaj's potential game-winning field goal was barely wide right from 21 into a stiff wind, and George's TD lunge in overtime was the decider as LVC was stopped four times at the goal line on their turn.

It spoiled a great day for Ben Guiles, who had 172 yards rushing with a touchdown as LVC ran for 296 yards in all with 523 yards of total offense. Caleb Fick returned to start and had his best game of the year, going 16-for-30 for 206 yards and two touchdowns to become just the second player in program history to pass for 5,000 career yards.

Brittany Ryan became LVC's all-time leader in PATs, booting four to surpass Doug Zook '92's record. She has 79 for her career. Defensively, Nick Bowne had a career game with 16 tackles, including two for a loss with a sack, while Jason Gigous had 10 tackles and an interception.

Penalties and mistakes again hurt LVC; the Dutchmen were flagged 11 times for 91 yards, including a call that negated a Matt Lillis interception in the end zone in the fourth quarter. LVC also lost four fumbles, including a game-changer late in the fourth as Fick was hit by Chris Swinarski to set up Wilkes' game-tying score.

LVC had taken a comfortable lead early on as Matt Mankiewicz caught an 18-yard pass from Fick to go up on their opening drive, and Guiles doubled the lead with a four-yard tote just into the second quarter.

Chris Horn hit a 20-yarder to make it 14-3 with 59 seconds to go in the half, but a great return by Nic Shirey gave LVC a chance to get some more as Tim Picerno hauled in a 23-yard pass from Fick with 34 seconds to go to take a 21-3 halftime lead.

Horn kicked a 24-yard field goal to open the second half before Blair Ransom scored from six yards out to put LVC up 28-6.

Despite losing starting quarterback Tyler Berntsen just before the half to injury and back-up Marc Persing midway through the second half, Wilkes marched back under George as he ran in from six yards out to start the fourth quarter. LVC couldn't convert their next drive, and George again keyed a long Wilkes drive that ended with a 20-yard pass to Jordan D'Emilio to cut the lead to 28-20.

Fick fumbled the ball away on the next possession, giving Wilkes great field position as they tied the game on George's 20-yard pass to Dorunda and the two-point conversion.

LVC put together one final drive with 2:36 to go, but it stalled at the Wilkes four, and Nawracaj was barely wide on his 21-yard bid to win the game with four seconds left.

In overtime, George ran it himself, gaining on three plays before punching in himself from a yard out. The Dutchmen got close themselves, getting first-and-goal from the four, but consecutive runs by Pete Panichi, Fick, and twice by Guiles were all stopped as Wilkes held the lead.
 

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Game Notes
Each of the last five games between LVC and Wilkes has been decided by a single score ... Fick joined Dan Kelly '07 as the only quarterback in program history to pass for 5,000 yards ... Freshman Tate Moore-Jacobs, who led the MAC in tackles, had 15 stops and two fumble recoveries for Wilkes ... Nic Shirey had a career-high nine tackles ... It was Guiles' seventh career 100-yard game and second-best by yardage. He had a career-high 187 yards against Wilkes last year ... Guiles moved up to fifth on LVC's all-time rushing list with 1,930 career yards, surpassing Frank Tavani '76 ... Guiles would be LVC's fifth 2,000-yard rusher ... Andrew Burkholder had three tackles on special teams.