The Misericordia University football team opened its MAC schedule with a 41-14 loss at King's, Saturday.

Jacob Hunter ran for one score and threw for another to lead the Cougars.

L.T. Messick had five receptions for 56 yards while Billy McCleery had four catches, including a touchdown.

The Cougars took advantage of an early turnover to take a 7-0 lead, but King's scored 34 unanswered points to take a 34-7 lead late in the third quarter.

McCleery scored as time expired in the third quarter and the Monarchs added a TD late in the fourth quarter for the final margin.

Gavin Morris led MU with 10 tackles and Brooks Snider had nine stops.  R.J. Tocco had eight tackles, including two for loss.

MU was forced to punt on its first possession, but Christian Ibe recovered a fumble to give the Cougars the ball back deep in King's territory.

After two runs by Shafeeq Frazier, Hunter rolled around left end and outran the defense to the left pylon to give MU a 7-0 lead just over three minutes into the game.

The Cougars bot the ball back when they recovered a short kickoff at the King's 34-yard line, but turned it over on downs.

King's tied the score with a 78-yard drive with 1:27 left in the first quarter.

Down 14-7, Cougars controlled the ball for much of the second quarter, but came up empty.  Davon Reams had a 19-yard run into King's territory, but the drives stalled at the Monarchs 32-yard line.  MU was forced to punt after a nearly eight-minute drive.

King's scored in the final minute of the first half to take a 21-7 halftime lead.

After the Monarchs scored on their first two drives of the second half, the Cougars took over with 3:50 left in the third quarter.

Hunter connected with McGuffey for 15 yards to convert a third down to MU's 46-yard line.  Facing a third-and-9, Angelo Fluri made a 17-yard catch on the left side for a first down at the King's 36.

Messick had a 32-yard reception to convert a second-and-25 to the King's 19.  After a short loss, McCleery made a catch near the left pylon to get MU within 34-14 as time expired in the third period.

King's scored late in the fourth quarter to close out the scoring.