Colonel Football put together a 14-6 lead early in the second quarter at Misericordia. 37 unanswered points later, it would be the Cougars who would have the last laugh on Saturday afternoon.

The Wilkes offense moved the football early and often in the first quarter. In the games first drive, sophomore Shane Deemer had three touches for 20 yards, along with junior Jeff Steeber getting a touch of his own. Backup freshman quarterback Wade Rippeon found Steeber twice for completions during the first scoring drive.

Rippeon completed a second down pass to senior preseason All-American Garrett Armstrong. A Misericordia facemask penalty tacked on a half-the-distance yardage of six yards. With first and goal, Rippeon found Armstrong for the game’s first score at 12:03 in the first quarter. After a Mike Hauck extra point, Wilkes had completed a strong first drive, now leading the game 7-0.

A senior Isaiah Robinson interception would give the Colonels the football back at 9:02, but after gaining 32 yards in 2:37, the drive stalled, forcing a senior Bobby Nye punt. From there, the Cougars then put together their own first scoring drive on a nine yard passing touchdown, but would miss the PAT.

Wilkes regained possession after the Misericordia kickoff but would see the ensuing drive stall after two gains were negated by a false start penalty.

Robinson would get the best of another Cougar pass by scoring on a 40-yard interception return. Hauck drilled another extra point and things seemed like they had returned to normal for the Colonels.

Except, Misericordia would posted 37 points the Colonels would never be able to answer. After being shutout numerous other times, Rippeon’s season-high four interceptions would allow the Cougars to find their rhythm in Middle Atlantic Conference action.

Rippeon would finished 32-51 passing for 269 yards and one touchdown. Senior Aaron Coyne finished as Rippeon’s top target securing ten completions for 76 yards.

The Colonels will continue their MAC schedule when they travel to Williamsport to take on Lycoming College. Kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m.