Date: Saturday, September 06, 2008
Contact: Chris Kilcoyne, Sports Information Director
(804) 752-7387, christopherkilcoyne@rmc.edu

King's College Tops Randolph-Macon 34-13 in 2008 Football Season Opener
(Box Score)

WILKES-BARRE, PA - After falling behind early, King's College scored 27 unanswered points with Jeramia Jones leading the way with 192 yards on 34 carries and four touchdowns as the Monarchs topped Randolph-Macon College 34-13 in the opening game of the 2008 football season.

R-MC (0-1) took the opening possession and held the ball for 4:32, driving down to the King's 35-yard line before a penalty and a sack stalled the drive, forcing a punt by the Yellow Jackets' Ben Keyser, who pinned the Monarchs on their goal line.

After the Jackets defense forced a three-and-out, Federico Jellineck returned the ensuing King's punt to the six-yard line. Two plays later, R-MC quarterback Brandon Braner executed a play action pass and found tight-end Stuart May in the back of the end zone for the first touchdown of the game. Scott Shope's extra point was blocked to keep the R-MC lead at 6-0.

Randolph-Macon was able to hold King's (1-0) on its next possession and took over at the Monarch's 47 after another strong punt return by Jellinenck. Randolph-Macon picked up one first down on the drive but was not able to go any further than the King's 32, fumbling the ball on a fourth down play.

King's took over and got on the board four plays later when its quarterback Olayinka Soda hit Mike Verbitski on a 54 play action pass to put the Monarchs up 7-6 with 1:21 to go in the first quarter.

The game remained that way until just over three minutes lefts in the first-half when Jones capped a 10 play, 84 yard drive that ate up 5:13 off the clock with a seven-yard touchdown run, giving King's a 14-6 lead at intermission.

The Monarchs put the game away in the third quarter, scoring on a three yard run by Jones, one play after R-MC mishandled a punt giving King's prime field position to go up 21-6 with 6:42 to go in the quarter.

Jones struck again on Kings next possession, scampering for a 45-yard touchdown run on the first play of the drive, giving the Monarchs a 27-6 lead with just under five minutes remaining in the third.

R-MC pulled within two scores with 8:35 left in the game after using a bit of tricking on a four-down play in which Braner moved out to a receiver position and backup quarterback Austin Faulkner found him for a 16 yard touchdown pass.

That would be as close as the Jackets would get as they fumbled on their next possession and Jones sealed the game with a 39-yard touchdown run to put the game out of reach.

Thornton carried the ball 31 times for 121 yards to lead R-MC, while Tristan Carr led the defensive effort with seven stops on the day.

Randolph-Macon will return to action next Saturday at home against Johns Hopkins University. Kickoff is slated for 2:00 p.m.

- Yellow Jackets -