EDWARDSVILLE, Pa. – Senior Blake Bowman (Valley View, Pa./Tri-Valley) rushed for 127 yards and two scores on 31 carries to lead the Lycoming College football team, but a four-score first half helped Wilkes University post a narrow 28-26 win in Middle Atlantic Conference action at Schmidt Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 29.
 
Bowman scored the first two touchdowns of the game for the Warriors (3-5 overall, 2-5 MAC), as he became the second player in program history to reach 30 career touchdowns and the fifth to post 10 100-yard games in a career.
 
The Warriors rallied from a 28-16 halftime deficit, getting rolling with their first drive of the fourth quarter, getting a huge lift from a 22-yard rush from sophomore Brock Zollicoffer (Owings Mills, Md./Owings Mills) to get the ball to the Wilkes 34. Five plays later, senior quarterback Chase Whiteman (Gettysburg, Pa./Gettysburg) found the corner on a 19-yard touchdown run to close within five points at 28-23.
 
After a three-play Wilkes drive, the Warriors got the ball back at their own 46 with 8:20 left and a chance to take the lead. Four plays later, Whiteman found sophomore Mike Mulvihill (Tabernacle, N.J./Seneca) for a 25-yard gain to get it to the 12-yard line, but a holding penalty and a sack moved the Warriors back to the 30. After a six-yard completion, junior Devon Flynn (Levittown, Pa./Conwell-Egan Catholic) drilled a career-best 41-yard field goal to make it 28-26 with 4:19 left.
 
The Warriors never got the ball back, though, as Wilkes (2-6 overall, 2-5 MAC) ran the clock out with a 10-play, 54-yard drive to earn it first win over the Warriors since 2010.
 
Wilkes got on the board first with an 83-yard drive to open the game, scoring on a four-yard run from Jose Tabora. Lycoming responded with a 43-yard completion to sophomore Nick Costello (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) on its first play from scrimmage to get it to the 23-yard line and eight plays later, Bowman rushed into the endzone from one-yard out for his 30^th career touchdown.
 
Lycoming took the lead with its next drive, as Flynn connected on a 26-yard field goal after a nine-play, 43-yard drive. Wilkes responded quickly, though, as Marcellus Hayes returned a kickoff 80 yards to get it to the eight, where Jeff Steeber rushed it in. After a Lycoming three-and-out, Wilkes added another score with a 67-yard drive before Tabora found William Deemer in the end zone with a four-yard score.
 
Lycoming closed back within a score thanks to Bowman, gaining all 63 yards on a nine-play drive, piling into the end zone with 6:25 left in the half from two yards out to make it 21-16. Wilkes, however, responded quickly with a four-play drive before scoring on a 25-yard pass from Tabora to Aaron Coyne to make it 28-16, where the score stood until the late Lycoming rally.
 
The Warriors racked up 385 yards of total offense, with Whiteman finishing 14-of-19 for 154 yards passing. Sophomore John Kim (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) led the team with four catches for 28 yards and Mulvihill posted three catches for 42 yards.
 
Tabora finished 9-of-17 for 120 yards and two touchdowns and Jacob Brook added 15 carries for 120 yards. Tabora rushed 17 times for 81 yards and a score.
 
Junior Mike Ward (Edgewater, Md./South River) led the Warrior defense with eight tackles, 0.5 for loss and senior Zach Smith (Elliotsburg, Pa./West Perry) added eight stops. Freshman Zach Kovach (Duncansville, Pa./Hollidaysburg Area) added seven tackles and a sack and sophomore Sam Romanofsky (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) added a sack and five tackles.
 
Tanner Stengel led the Colonels with 20 tackles and 1.5 sacks and both Joseph Guglioti and Hayes each had a fumble recovery.
 
The Warriors get back on the field on Saturday, Nov. 5, when they head to Delaware Valley for a 1 p.m. MAC game.