Athletics
Athletics
DiGregorio's Touchdown Sends King's to Second Round of NCAA Division III Football Championships
Trailing 29-25, Russell Minor-Shaw found Mike DiGregorio in the back of the end zone for the game-winning touchdown catch to give the King's College football team the 32-29 win over Ursinus College in the First Round of the 2024 NCAA Division III Football Championships on Saturday at McCarthy Stadium. The Monarchs win their 10th straight and improve to 10-1 to advance to the Second Round next weekend, while the Bears fall to 9-2 overall.
It was a slow start to the highly-anticipated match up as both teams came up empty on their opening drives. Ursinus (9-2) got on the board first with a 27-yard field goal with 5:17 to go in the first before forcing a safety to jump ahead, 5-0, at the end of the first. The Bears added to their edge with a touchdown to open the second before the game slowed again with back-to-back scoreless possessions.
King's (10-1) finally got their break on offense as Russell Minor-Shaw set a new single-game longest run, just one yard shy of the NCAA Championships record, with a 94-yard rush to put the Monarchs in the red zone. After a quick gain by Jayon Hailey, Minor-Shaw finished off the drive with a one-yard run to get King's on the board, 12-7, with 3:17 remaining in the half.
A huge fumble at the Ursinus 40-yard line forced by James Mangine on the second play of the ensuing Bears drive was recovered by Osman Kamara. Two plays later, Minor-Shaw hit Kival Clarke for a 36-yard touchdown grab to give King's their first lead of the game, 13-12, with 1:55 left in the second. The defense delivered again on the next drive, forcing a turnover on downs, and a play as time expired from the Monarchs special teams fell shy as King's held on to a 13-12 advantage at the break.
Ursinus shifted the momentum on the opening drive using a pick-six to jump ahead, 19-13. King's wasted no time tying the game again, using nine plays and 75 yards over 5:05 of game as Joey Rehberg came in and delivered a scoring drive capped off with a four-yard touchdown run to tie the game, 19-19, with 6:24 remaining in the third.
The Bears converted again, this time on a 32-yard field goal to end the third with a 22-19 edge. King's put together a methodical driving, chipping away at the yardage as a 12-play, 76-yard drive was capped off by a touchdown pass, this time to Connor Walsh, with 9:23 left as the Monarchs led, 25-22.
Joachim McElroy intercepted a pass on the next Ursinus drive, but the Bears defense came up big to turn the tide and take a 29-25 lead on a touchdown drive with 6:13 to play. After trading punts, King's set up their heroic drive with 2:30 left.
A few short gains saw the team drive down the field. On first and goal from the 9-yard line, Minor-Shaw settled in the pocket before hitting DiGregorio in the back of the end zone to jump ahead, 32-29, with 18 ticks on the game clock.
The Ursinus offense did not record a positive yard on their first two plays, and on a last-stitch effort Jacob Mullery recovered the fumble as time expired to secure the 32-29 win for King's in the First Round of the NCAA Division III Football Championships on Saturday afternoon at McCarthy Stadium.
Minor-Shaw led the offense with 146 passing yards with three touchdowns and 173 rushing yards on 25 carries with a score. Hailey added 38 yards, while Rehberg posted 34 yards and a touchdown on just five attempts. DiGregorio led the receivers with 52 yards and a touchdown on five catches, while Walsh added 47 yards on a pair of grabs with a score.
It was a balanced defensive effort in the win, led by Jake Ruppert with nine tackles and 1.0 tackle for loss, while Jared Reto and Matt Blakemore recorded eight tackles each. Ahmad Griffin led the secondary with six tackles and two break ups, while Mangine made six tackles with his forced fumble.
Jalen Bradford threw for 293 yards, completing 23-for-38, while Justin Collier caught nine passes for 128 yards. The defense was led by Connor Carter with 14 touchdowns, 2.0 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, and two quarterback hurries. Jordan Carr was 2-for-2 on field goals and 3-for-3 on extra-point attempts.
King's out gained Ursinus, 424-394, for the game including a 256-101 edge in the run game. The Monarchs also went 6-for-15 on third down while limiting Ursinus to just 3-for-11.
The Monarchs will now set their sights on their Second Round match up at Salisbury University next Saturday, November 30 at 12:00 p.m. in Salisbury, Md.
It was a slow start to the highly-anticipated match up as both teams came up empty on their opening drives. Ursinus (9-2) got on the board first with a 27-yard field goal with 5:17 to go in the first before forcing a safety to jump ahead, 5-0, at the end of the first. The Bears added to their edge with a touchdown to open the second before the game slowed again with back-to-back scoreless possessions.
King's (10-1) finally got their break on offense as Russell Minor-Shaw set a new single-game longest run, just one yard shy of the NCAA Championships record, with a 94-yard rush to put the Monarchs in the red zone. After a quick gain by Jayon Hailey, Minor-Shaw finished off the drive with a one-yard run to get King's on the board, 12-7, with 3:17 remaining in the half.
A huge fumble at the Ursinus 40-yard line forced by James Mangine on the second play of the ensuing Bears drive was recovered by Osman Kamara. Two plays later, Minor-Shaw hit Kival Clarke for a 36-yard touchdown grab to give King's their first lead of the game, 13-12, with 1:55 left in the second. The defense delivered again on the next drive, forcing a turnover on downs, and a play as time expired from the Monarchs special teams fell shy as King's held on to a 13-12 advantage at the break.
Ursinus shifted the momentum on the opening drive using a pick-six to jump ahead, 19-13. King's wasted no time tying the game again, using nine plays and 75 yards over 5:05 of game as Joey Rehberg came in and delivered a scoring drive capped off with a four-yard touchdown run to tie the game, 19-19, with 6:24 remaining in the third.
The Bears converted again, this time on a 32-yard field goal to end the third with a 22-19 edge. King's put together a methodical driving, chipping away at the yardage as a 12-play, 76-yard drive was capped off by a touchdown pass, this time to Connor Walsh, with 9:23 left as the Monarchs led, 25-22.
Joachim McElroy intercepted a pass on the next Ursinus drive, but the Bears defense came up big to turn the tide and take a 29-25 lead on a touchdown drive with 6:13 to play. After trading punts, King's set up their heroic drive with 2:30 left.
A few short gains saw the team drive down the field. On first and goal from the 9-yard line, Minor-Shaw settled in the pocket before hitting DiGregorio in the back of the end zone to jump ahead, 32-29, with 18 ticks on the game clock.
The Ursinus offense did not record a positive yard on their first two plays, and on a last-stitch effort Jacob Mullery recovered the fumble as time expired to secure the 32-29 win for King's in the First Round of the NCAA Division III Football Championships on Saturday afternoon at McCarthy Stadium.
Minor-Shaw led the offense with 146 passing yards with three touchdowns and 173 rushing yards on 25 carries with a score. Hailey added 38 yards, while Rehberg posted 34 yards and a touchdown on just five attempts. DiGregorio led the receivers with 52 yards and a touchdown on five catches, while Walsh added 47 yards on a pair of grabs with a score.
It was a balanced defensive effort in the win, led by Jake Ruppert with nine tackles and 1.0 tackle for loss, while Jared Reto and Matt Blakemore recorded eight tackles each. Ahmad Griffin led the secondary with six tackles and two break ups, while Mangine made six tackles with his forced fumble.
Jalen Bradford threw for 293 yards, completing 23-for-38, while Justin Collier caught nine passes for 128 yards. The defense was led by Connor Carter with 14 touchdowns, 2.0 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, and two quarterback hurries. Jordan Carr was 2-for-2 on field goals and 3-for-3 on extra-point attempts.
King's out gained Ursinus, 424-394, for the game including a 256-101 edge in the run game. The Monarchs also went 6-for-15 on third down while limiting Ursinus to just 3-for-11.
The Monarchs will now set their sights on their Second Round match up at Salisbury University next Saturday, November 30 at 12:00 p.m. in Salisbury, Md.
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