MADISON, NJ (October 26, 2024) – Russell Minor-Shaw put on a stellar performance, and Amir Gibson's late interception sealed the win as the King's College football team remained unbeaten in conference play with a 42-35 win at FDU-Florham on Saturday. With the win in the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) match up, the Monarchs stand at 6-0 in the conference and improve to 6-1 on the season, while the Devils drop to 5-2 with a 4-2 conference mark.
It was a shoot out from the start. King's (6-1, 6-0 MAC) got on the board first in their opening drive in just six plays as Minor-Shaw completed a 21-yard touchdown pass to Brennan Robinson to put the Monarchs ahead 7-0. FDU-Florham (5-2, 4-2 MAC) answered with a lengthy 13-play, 74-yard drive over 6:32 of the game clock to tie the game, 7-7. The Devils tallied another score with 2:34 on the board, but Jared Reto blocked the extra-point attempt to remain within 13-7.
A quick drive by King's over 2:17 of the clock as Minor-Shaw connected with Tony Brinson for a 50-yard touchdown score to jump ahead, 14-13, for their second lead of the game. Again, the Devils had a response, milking 4:55 of action to find the end zone on a 12-play, 70-yard drive and completed the two-point conversion to regain the lead, 21-14, with 10:11 left in the half.
The back-and-forth affair continued, this time with the Monarchs finding the end zone in just five plays, this time with Minor-Shaw delivering the scoring catch to Kival Clarke for a 53-yard score to knot the game, 21-21.
A big defensive stand by King's forced an FDU-Florham punt, and Jacob Mullery made a great play to block the punt and recover the ball on the FDU-Florham 12-yard line. After a timeout with 5:28 left, Minor-Shaw used his legs to run it in for a four-yard touchdown score as the Monarchs led, 28-21, with 5:14 in the half.
The defense delivered again as the Devils went for it on 4th-and-1 from the Monarchs' 28-yard line, and Tarylle Stewart sacked the FDU-Florham quarterback to force the turnover on downs. King's wasted no time, scoring in 1:57 over 72 yards, this time returning to the pass-game and finding Mike DiGregorio for a 17-yard touchdown catch to push their advantage to 35-21. The Devils tried one more time to match the Monarchs before the break but settled for a 51-yard field goal as King's held on to a 35-24 halftime lead.
It was a slow start to the third with both teams punting on their first possession of the half, but FDU-Florham bounced back on their next drive, scoring on a 35-yard touchdown catch and completing the two-point conversion to close within 35-32 with 6:28 to go in the period. Their defense matched the effort to force another King's punt, but the FDU-Florham offense settled for yet another field goal, this time from 25-yards out, to tie the game, 35-35, heading into the final quarter of the game.
King's continued to struggle offensively to start the fourth, but the defense delivered another big stop on 4th-and-6 to regain possession. The offense found its spark, feeding off the energy of the defense, as Minor-Shaw hit Ryan McCombs for a 25-yard touchdown grab to go ahead, 42-35, with 5:49 to play.
The Devils were driving to try and force overtime in the important MAC match up, but after 12 plays and 53 yards across 4:16 of the game clock, the FDU-Florham pass was intercepted by Amir Gibson in the end zone. The Monarchs knelt down the final 1:15 and secured the 42-35 MAC win on Saturday in Madison, N.J.
Minor-Shaw had a stellar day, completing 16-of-23 passes for 288 yards and five touchdowns while also leading the team with 48 rushing yards and a score. DiGregorio led the receivers with six catches for 65 yards, while Clarke added 62 yards on two grabs.
Reto led the defense with 10 total tackles, adding 1.5 tackles for loss, and 1.0 sack to go with his blocked kick. Gibson added nine tackles, including seven solo, with two break ups, an interception, and 0.5 tackles for loss. Jake Ruppert, Ahmad Griffin, and Matt Blakemore all added seven tackles, and Stewart posted 2.0 sacks.
On special teams, Delaney Hilferty remained perfect on extra-point attempts, going 6-for-6, and Aaron Losada kicked off seven times for an average of 50.6 yards per kickoff.
FDU-Florham was led by Ryon Thomas who threw for 341 yards, completing 27 passes on 43 attempts, while Kwanir Edwards ran for 94 yards and two touchdowns. Anthony Bilotta had a day, catching nine passes and two touchdowns for 157 yards. The defense was led by Christian Puntolillo with eight tackles.
As a team, the Monarchs were deficient on third down, converting 7-of-12, and were a perfect 3-for-3 in the red zone.
The Monarchs will look to keep the momentum going next weekend as they host Delaware Valley University at McCarthy Stadium. Kick off in the MAC contest is set for 1:00 p.m.
--MONARCHS--