WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – From the first play from scrimmage, when sophomore Joe Lyons III (Margate City, N.J./Atlantic City) found senior Karson Kline (Clearfield, Pa./Clearfield Area) for a 65-yard touchdown, the Lycoming College football team led in a 31-21 Landmark Conference win over Wilkes University on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 25, at David Person Field at Girardi Stadium.
 
Lyons finished 23-of-29 for 327 yards and two touchdowns for Lycoming (3-5 overall, 3-1 Landmark), as four of his targets finished with 49 or more yards. Kline led the group, posting career highs of six catches for 107 yards and a score. Senior Dawson Debebe (Schwenksville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) caught three passes for 89 yards, senior Brendan Clark (Montoursville, Pa./Loyalsock Township) added four catches for 51 yards and junior Jared Zimmerman (Souderton, Pa./Souderton Area) added three catches for 49 yards.
 
Junior Terrance Oliver (Sharon Hill, Pa./Academy Park) posted 19 rushes for 95 yards and junior Spencer Ferguson (Downingtown, Pa./Coatesville Area) added 12 rushes for 56 yards and a score. Senior Michael VanHorn (Philadelphia, Pa./Father Judge) rushed three times for nine yards and a score and caught two passes for nine yards and a score.
 
Sophomore Cam Tolbert (Suitland, Md./Suitland) paced the defense with a forced fumble, an interception, a breakup and three tackles. Sophomore Daniel Atsou (Capitol Heights, Md./Suitland) had nine tackles, one for loss, two breakups and a fumble recovery and senior Matt Trolinger (Carlisle, Pa./Carlisle) had seven stops and a breakup. First-year Jeremiah Boyer (Crofton, Md./DeMatha Catholic) and first-year Christon Mitchell-Brown (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) each had two tackles for loss and a sack. Senior Mike Sipps (Lawrenceville, Pa./Cowanesque Valley) had a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss to go with four tackles.
 
Lyons got the Warriors started on the first play of regulation, finding Kline deep over the middle before Kline beat his last defender for the score. A five-play, 67-yard drive that included long passes to Zimmerman and Debebe set up a three-yard scoring pass from Lyons to VanHorn three plays into the second quarter.
 
The Colonels (4-3 overall, 2-1 Landmark) closed within seven with a touchdown on their ensuing drive, but a miscue on a punt gave the Warriors the ball at their own 35 with 57 seconds left, setting up a 29-yard field goal from first-year Vasco Granitto (Dover, Del./Polytech) before halftime.
 
Wilkes closed within three points on the first drive of the second half, but Lycoming responded with a nine-play, 71-yard drive that included a 26-yard hookup from Lyons to Clark before VanHorn dove across the goalline from one-yard out to make it 24-14. Lycoming's last score came two plays into the fourth quarter, capping a nine-play, 80-yard drive with a five-yard rush from Ferguson to make it 31-14.
 
Wilkes got a touchdown midway through the quarter, but their last drive fizzled out after five plays.
 
Cooper King was 20-of-33 for 272 yards and two scores for Wilkes. Justin Moore caught five passes for 60 yards and King led the rushers with 10 rushes for 33 yards. Tallen Murray led the defense with 12 tackles, two for loss and Cohen Creswell had nine tackles, 3.5 for loss and a sack.
 
The Warriors are back on the field on Saturday, Nov. 1, when they head to the Catholic University of America for a 12 p.m. Landmark Conference game.