The Misericordia University football team scored the first and last touchdowns in Saturdays MAC battle with local rival King's.

In between, however, the Monarchs scored four straight touchdowns on the way to a 28-14 win over the Cougars, Saturday afternoon before a large crowd at Mangelsdorf Field.

Jeff Puckett ran for a score and threw for another to fellow senior Tyler Rowe.

Puckett had 84 yards rushing and Rowe had five catches for a team-high 65 yards receiving.

Jordan Aquino led the MU defense with 11 tackles and Cory Dickerson add nine stops, including for a loss.

Dom Picarillo Brandon Salazar both had seven tackles and Jared Harris had an interception for MU.

The Cougars opening drive was hampered by a holding penalty that negated a big pass play and King's took over on their own 39 following an MU punt.

With King's facing third-and-nine near midfield after a pair of penalties, Aquino's big hit on Monarchs' quarterback Tom Hehre forced a fumble and Sean Weg pounced on the loose ball at the MU 45.

Puckett hit Tyler Rowe across the middle on third-and-10 for a 17 yard gain to the King's 38 yard line.

On second-and-10, Puckett dodged a tackler on a draw play and picked up 15 yards to the Monarchs 23.

Facing third-and-10 after a pass break-up in the end zone, Rowe made an over-the-shoulder catch at the left pylon to give the Cougars a 7-0 lead 4:43 left in the first quarter.

The Cougars had King's pinned deep in their own end, but an off sides penalty negated the play and the Monarchs' Justin Burke took advantage of the do-over with a 43-yard return to the MU 42 yard line.

Hehre connected with Matt Demarco twice to set up first and goal and Marquis Miller's four-yard grab tied the score, 7-7 on the first play of the second quarter.

Jared Harris picked off a tipped pass in King's territory later in the second quarter, but two penalties backed the Cougars up and the teams eventually went into halftime with the score still tied.

Demarco took the second half kickoff 47 yards to the MU 40 and Jordan Downes put the Monarchs ahead with a 23-yard  scoring run just three minutes into the third quarter.

After Pat Newins' punt pinned King's inside their own 10 and the Cougars forced a punt from the Monarchs end zone.  Tom Anderson partially blocked the punt and MU took over at the King's 28.

The Monarchs thwarted the threat with an interception in the end zone.

Hehre hit Mike Palmer for 18 yards to the King's 36 found Tyler Marroni for 11 yards for a first down into MU territory.

Demarco hauled in a 48-yard pass on the next play to give King's a 21-7 lead with 4:25 left in the third quarter.

King's got the ball back near midfield after an MU fumble and eventually missed a field goal early in the fourth quarter.

After an MU punt, King's started from their own 17 and used a 62-yard run by Zack Funk to take a 28-7 lead.

The Cougars took over near midfield after stopping a fake punt attempt to set up the game's final drive.

Puckett broke loose for 35 yards and then hit Juwan Petties-Jackson for a short gain to set up first and goal.  Puckett went off left tackle for a one-yard TD with less than a minute to play.