Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Lycoming Football at King's Week Four Preview

www.MACfb.com File Photo From 2015
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. - After a narrow four-point loss to an Albright squad that is receiving votes in the D3football.com poll, the Lycoming College football team is set for its first MAC road contest of the season when it faces King's College at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 23.

The Warriors (0-3 overall, 0-2 MAC) held a 10-point halftime lead against Albright, but two third-quarter touchdowns helped the Lions post a 21-17 win. Sophomore Dante Gipson notched 149 all-purpose yards to lead the Warriors.



The Monarchs (2-1 overall, 1-1 MAC) beat Lebanon Valley in a 44-39 slugfest, with King's senior quarterback Zach Whitehead scoring the winning touchdown with 25 seconds left on a six-yard rush.

Warrior Notes
• Lycoming's scored two touchdowns in the first quarter against Albright for the first time since jumping out to a 14-0 lead over Misericordia on Nov. 14, 2015.

• Senior Mike Ward's 203 career tackles are tied for 23rd in school history and 35th amongst active Division III players. Ward also leads the MAC with 7.0 solo tackles per game.

• Sophomore Jamie Fisher is tied for the MAC lead and is tied for 23rd in Division III with an average of 1.33 field goals per game.

• Senior Nick Costello needs one more reception to become the 24th player in program history to catch 75 in a career.

• Sophomore linebackers Trey Smith (9) and Sam Romanofsky (7) each had career-highs in tackles against Albright.

• The Warriors lead the MAC in kickoff return defense (14.1) and are second in net punting (35.3).

A lot of stops
Senior Mike Ward became the 27th player in school history to post 200 career tackles with his fourth of seven against Albright. He is now six tackles shy of reaching the top 20 in program history in tackles. The senior safety has led the Warriors in tackles in each of the last two years and again leads the team with 28 stops this year, as he is on pace to become the first Warrior to lead the team in tackles in three straight years since Bill Small did it from 1989-91. Ward leads the MAC with 7.0 solo tackles per game and he is seventh in the league with 9.3 tackles per game.

A grand receiver
Junior Nick Costello had just two catches for eight yards against Delaware Valley, but that was good enough to become the 23rd player in school history to post 1,000 career receiving yards. He is now just two yards shy of entering the top 20 in program history in career tackles. The 6-5 receiver  made an impact as a freshman, nearly posting 300 yards before posting 625 and finishing third in the MAC in yards per game as a sophomore. He leads the Warriors with 114 receiving yards this year.

Fishing for field goals
Sophomore Jamie Fisher stepped into the team's field goal kicking role and he has connected on all four of his attempts this year. He connected on 20- and 34-yard field goals in the opener against Susquehanna and followed that by hitting a 43-yarder against Delaware Valley, which is tied for the seventh-longest field goal in program history. He added a 23-yarder against Albright. Fisher, who was 1-for-2 in field goal opportunities as a freshman, leads the conference and is 23rd nationally with his average of 1.3 field goals per game.

Junior receivers
In 2016, 72 percent of the team's 1,858 receiving yards were accounted for by then-sophomore receivers. That impact has grown in 2017, as  Nick CostelloMike MulvihillKyle Slivka-FralinJohn Kim and Brock Zollicoffer continue to lead the team's receiving corps. The quintet accounted for 69 percent of the team's 45 receptions and almost 80-percent of the team's 360 receiving yards through the first three games this year.