Wilkes University 30, Lebanon Valley 24
 
LVC Offense
QB Kegarise, TB Wilson, FB Steinhilber, WR Diggs, WR Niemeyer, TE Clark, LT Klinger, LG Johnson-Ortiz, C Heft, RT Heft, RG Redmon
 
LVC Defense
DE LaPorta, DT Miller, DT McLeod, DE Brubaker, LB Gerhart, LB Lutz, LB Estes, CB Okoma, SS Jenkins, CB Gaumer, FS Yetter
 
Wilkes Offense
QB Tabora, RB Gonzalez, FB Leszczynski, WR Nelson, WR Yanik, TE Harrison, LT Boris, LG Berrien, Anderson, RT OSayi, RG Rogers
 
Wilkes Defense
DE Schneider, DT Werner, DT Tarantelli, DE Ricci, LB Allgyer, LB Jesmer, LB Moyer, CB Woods, SS Weber, CB Washington, FS VanLenten
 
How It Happened
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – Lebanon Valley's furious fourth-quarter comeback fell just short in a narrow 30-24 loss at Wilkes University on Saturday, Sept. 14. The Dutchmen slipped to 0-2, while the Colonels improved to 2-0.
 
With 10:29 remaining in the fourth quarter, Wilkes' JaQuan Sheals went for a five-yard touchdown to cap a 10-play, 74-yard drive for the home team that seemingly put the Colonels up for good at 30-10. The Dutchmen had other ideas, however, and never quit until the clock struck zero. Each team had a drive stall out after Wilkes went ahead by 20, but LVC got good field position at Wilkes' 43-yard line with 7:44 left after a punt.
 
Quarterback Kody Kegarise and the Dutchmen offense had no choice but to throw the ball more with the clock ticking in the final period. He began the drive with a pass to Tyeair Diggs for 18 yards, followed by another to Patrick Clark for nine yards, setting the offense up nicely at Wilkes' 16-yard line. After a Kegarise nine-yard rush made it first and goal, Kegarise then chucked the ball to Diggs in the endzone for the touchdown. After Nick Bentz's point-after attempt, it was a game again and the visiting Dutchmen were down by just 13 at 30-17 with 6:20 to go in the contest.
 
LVC desperately needed a defensive stand on Wilkes' ensuing offensive possession, and got just that. CJ LaPorta stopped Jeremiah Acker's rush for just one yard, followed by quarterback Jose Tabora's rush for a loss of three yards thanks to Tom Miller and Dillon Estes. On 3rd and 12, Tabora completed a pass to wide receiver Nick Yanik, but Brendan Yetter was right on him quickly to make the stop and the Colonels punted the ball back to LVC. Cameron Niemeyer returned it eight yards to LVC's 26-yard line with 5:44 left.
 
Kegarise and the rest of the offense picked up where they left off on their last drive and Kegarise completed back-to-back passes to Dylan Baxter (eight yards, 17 yards), and followed it up with a huge connection with Niemeyer for 48 yards. Later in the drive, on first-and-goal, Kegarise again found Niemeyer for the six-yard TD. Amazingly, with just 4:29 to go, the Dutchmen were down by just one score at 30-24.
 
Despite LVC using all three of their timeouts in the previous defensive stand, Wilkes knew it needed to throw the ball a few times in order to run out the clock. Tabora began the drive with consecutive short completions, followed by Acker's four-yard rush to LVC's 34-yard line. The clock, which became the Dutchmen's enemy, continued to run and LVC's could do nothing to stop it. The defense for the Dutchmen stood tall and forced a 4th down and 5 on LVC's 33 for the Colonels. Tabora was able to complete a pass to wide receiver Nick Yanik for 11 yards to put the game on ice.
 
In the early going, Tabora showed his offensive skills with a 39-yard TD pass to Derek Nelson at the 11:31 mark of the opening quarter. Wilkes missed the extra point, but still went up early at 6-0. LVC answered and came to within three after Bentz nailed a 41-yard field goal with 13:21 left in the second quarter, but 10 minutes later, the Colonels went ahead 13-3 after Tabora's TD pass to Bryce Harrison. After an LVC punt, the home team took advantage of solid field position and capped it with Acker's three-yard TD run with just 39 seconds left in the first half that put Wilkes ahead 20-3.

The Dutchmen had 39 seconds to work with to try to put points on the board before halftime. After a home team unsportsmanlike conduct foul, Kegarise found Baxter for a 23-yard gain, followed by a 20-yard strike to Niemeyer that put the ball at the Colonel's 17. After a Dutchmen timeout with 12 ticks left in the half, Kegarise hit Diggs for a 17-yard score to cap the four-play, 75-yard drive that brought LVC to within 10 at 20-10 right before the break.
 
Inside the Numbers
 - Kegarise went 16-for-28 for a career-high 238 yards and three touchdowns, also a career-high for TDs in a game.
 - Cameron Niemeyer finished with three catches for a career-high 74 yards and a touchdown.
 - Tyeair Diggs caught four balls for 59 yards and added a pair of scores.
 - Patrick Clark hauled in five balls for 52 yards.
 - Dylan Baxter caught three for 48 yards.
 - After a career-day last weekend against F&M, Hunter Wilson was held in check by Wilkes this afternoon and rushed 12 times for 34 yards.
 - Dillon Estes made a team-high 10 tackles, including one for loss. He added half of a sack as well.
 - Anthony Jenkins had eight tackles, while Brendan Yetter added seven.
 - CJ LaPorta made six tackles, including one for a loss.
 - Tom Miller had half of a sack and made six tackles., while Tyler Lutz and Tyler Okoma registered six tackles apiece.
 - Wilkes' Jose Tabora went 23-for-32 in the air for 275 yards and a pair of TDs.
 - The Colonels' Derek Nelson had a game-high 110 yards receiving on seven catches and added a score.
 - The home team's Kamaal Reed ran for 62 yards on nine carries.
 - Wilkes led in first downs on the day at 22-15.
 - The Colonels also held the edge in total offensive yards at 408 to 299.
 - LVC was 3-for-11 on third-down conversions and Wilkes went 7-for-15.
 - Wilkes led in time of possession at 38:17 to 21:36.
 
Who's Next?
LVC returns to the friendly confines of Arnold Field next Saturday for the Dutchmen's 2019 MAC opener against Alvernia. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
 
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