District College Football Recap for October 24th

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, October 25, 2015 | 1:39 AM

As October winds down, races in the PSAC-West and the PAC got a little tigher. SRU and Cal posted huge wins, while Clarion fell from the unbeaten ranks.

W & J dropped from PAC title contention and likely out of the top 25 with a loss in Cleveland.

Here are recaps of ALL THE GAMES:

California 42 – Clarion 28
The Vulcans played the role of spoiler at home on Saturday, handing the #25 Golden Eagles their first loss of the year. John Franklin scored twice and Jimmy Wheeler(West Mifflin) once as Cal controlled the clock and the game. The Vulcan defense also stood tall with 6 interceptions.

Cal jumped on an early break as Aaron Terry picked off Connor Simmons, which set up a James Harris touchdown pass to Garry Brown. Clarion tied the game on a Simmons td pass to Kevin Genevro. The Vulcans took back the lead in just 5 plays as Franklin scored his first touchdown. The big play on the drive was Harris to Kowan Scott for 53 yards. Franklin added a yard run late in the quarter for a 21-7 lead.

Simmons went to Genevro for their second scoring pass of the game, this time a 9 yarder. But Wheeler capped off a 7 play drive with a 10 yard run and a 28-14 lead at the break.

The Vulcans pulled away in the third with a Pick 6 by Cameron Tarver and Harris to Scott for a second td and the 42-14 lead. Simmons hit Kyle Evans for a 14 yard score and Delrece Williams(Steel Valley) added a 13 yard td run. Cal went on a 15 play drive that took 8-plus minutes off the clock to seal the win.

Cal is now 5-3 overall. Franklin carried 19 times for 101 yards. Wheeler ran 18 times for 93 yards. The Vulcans are 3-2 in the PSAC West.

Simmons was 24-51 for 367 yards. Williams ran 18 times for 112 yards. Matt Lehman had 8 catches for 106 yards he was held off the scoreboard. Clarion is now 7-1 overall, the Golden Eagles are now 4-1 in divisional play.

Gannon 43 – Seton Hill 28
The Griffins led 28-16 in the third quarter, but Brock Jones scored his second touchdown of the game to give the Golden Knights the lead for good.

Jones scored on runs of 19 and 14 yards, the senior ran for 199 yards on 32 carries. Liam Nadler threw for 2 scores, Gannon is now 6-2 overall and 3-2 in the PSAC West.

QB Christian Strong threw for 2 td’s for the Griffins, he was intercepted 3 times. Seton Hill is 2-6 overall and 1-4 in the West Division. 

Slippery Rock 40 – IUP 39
Lenny Williams(Sto-Rox) scored on a 45 yard run with 10:56 left in regulation, but Ryan Stewart missedthe extra point and the Crimson Hawks could not find the end zone again. The win puts SRU back in the drivers seat to repeat as West Division champions. The Rock, Crimson Hawks and Clarion are all tied at 4-1 in the division.

#15 SRU led 9-0 early on a Dante Nania(Hempfield) 26 yard run and a safety. IUP stormed back to take an 11 point lead on two Williams touchdown passes and a Chris Temple yard run.

Shamar Greene(West Mifflin) scored on a 46 yard run for the Rock, which was answered by a Temple 3 yard run. SRU used a couple of former Parkway Conference players to take back the lead at the half. Julian Durden(Montour) scored on a 3 yard run and Marcus Carter(New Castle) added a 49 yard pass from Nania to put the Rock up 30-26.

IUP opened the third quarter with Temple’s third touchdown, the yard run capped an 8 play drive. Andrew Huska kicked a 33 yard field goal to knot the game at 33. Durden gave the Rock back the lead on an 8 yard run before the Williams td run.

The Crimson Hawks got the ball back midway thru the quarter, driving to the SRU 42. IUP elected to go for it on fourth down, Williams was stopped for no gain and the Rock took over. The IUP defense held and forced Slippery Rock to punt. Pegues fumbled the return, John Conglose(Neshannock) pounced on it
SRU could not add to the lead. The Rock decided to skip a field goal and went for it on 4th and and 13 from the IUP 17. Nania failed to connect with Carter and IUP had one more shot.

Out of timeouts, IUP drove to their own 45, but Williams threw 3 straight incomplete passes to give the Rock the win. Greene was the workhorse for SRU, carrying 40 times for 192 yards. The Rock is 7-1 overall.

Williams ran 15 times for 140 yards. IUP is 6-2 overall.

The Rock travels to winless Edinboro next week, while Clarion hosts IUP as the 3-way tie will be broken.

Duquesne 16 – Robert Morris 7
For the third straight year, the Dukes take the Steel City showdown, this time in Moon Township. Sophomore Rafiq Douglas ran 32 times for 172 yards, both career highs in the win.

Robert Morris led 7-6 at the half on a Rameses Owens 5 yard run.  Austin Crimmons kicked field goals of 29 and 45 yards for the Dukes.

Crimmons gave Duquesne the lead with a 44 yard kick. Dillon Buechel(Montour) added to that lead 5 plays into the fourth quarter on a 8 yard td pass to Nehari Crawford. Sam Martello sealed the win on a pickoff of a Matthew Barr pass with 3:22 left in regulation.

Buechel was 16-32 for 167 yards. The Dukes are 5-3 overall and 2-1 in the NEC. Cole Blake ran 22 times for 117 yards for RMU. Barr was just 7-26 for 84 yards, he was sacked 5 times. The Colonials fall to 2-5 overall and 1-2 in conference.

Bryant 26 – Saint Francis 24
The Red Flash trailed 26-3 in the third quarter and stormed back with three scores in the just over 13 minutes.

Khairi Dickson scored on a 16 yard run on the final play of the third quarter. Zach Drayer connected with Daniel Adams on a 13 yard td with 6:39 left, plus a two-point conversion. Dickson scored on a 5 yard run, but Drayer’s two point attempt failed. Bryant recovered the onsides kick attempt and ran out the clock.

Dickson ran 20 times for 130 yards for Saint Francis, 3-3 overalol and 1-1 in the NEC. Ricardo McCray had the only offensive touchdown for Bryant, now 4-3 overall. Jose DePadua returned the opening kickoff for the Bulldogs, who also scored with a safety, a field goal and a punt return to go to 2-1 in conference.

Case Western Reserve 35 – W & J 28
The Spartans remained tied with Thomas More at 6-0 and set up a showdown with the Saints in two weeks, likely with the PAC crown on the line. Rob Cuda threw 5 touchdown passes, two to Bryan Erb. The second, a 39 yarder with 5:03 remaining, gave Case Western the lead for good.

After a scoreless first quarter, Ryan Ruffing(Thomas Jefferson) gave W & J the opening score on a 14 yard pass from Pete Coughlin(USC). Cuda put Case Western on the board with a 10 yard pass to Zach Medved. Ruffing scored from 29 out but Cuda came back again, to Ethan Albers on a 7 yard pass to knot the score at 14 at the half.

Following the break, it took the Presidents just 1:16 to take back the lead. Coughlin hit Jesse Zubik(Avonworth) for a 59 yard td and a seven point advantage. Case Western took their first lead of the night as Cuda hit Albers to tie the game, then went to Erb for the go ahead score.

Ruffing put the Presidents tied the game with 5:34 left in regulation. That lasted just 33 seconds as the Cuda-Erb connection worked for a 33 yard gain to set up the final score. W & J got as close as the Case Western 44 before Coughlin was intercepted by Nick Kwon to seal the deal.

Cuda was 21-35 for 278 yards, he ran 27 times for 100 yards. Erb had 9 catches for 147 yards. The Spartans are 6-1 overall.

Ruffing ran 21 times for 118 yards. Coughlin was 28-37 for 377 yards, Zubik had 12 catches for 196 yards. The Presidents fall to 5-2 overall and 3-2 in the PAC.

Waynesburg 28 – Thiel 15
Willie Leavell scored twice and freshman Jake Dougherty threw 3 touchdown passes as the Yellow Jackets get back on the winning track at home.

Leavell ran for 58 yards and a score, he also caught a td pass. Dougherty was 20-27 for 296 yards, he was intercepted twice. Kevin Barnes caught 7 passes for 138 yards and a fourth quarter score. Waynesburg is now 3-5 overall and 2-4 in PAC play, the Yellow Jackets end a 4 game losing streak.

Thiel got 2 fourth quarter 8 yard scoring runs by QB Ryan Radke. The senior carried 9 times for 88 yards. Alex Horvatite had 7 catches for 100 yards. Thiel is 1-6 overall and 0-5 in the PAC.

Thomas More 66 – Grove City 14
Hjavier Pitts and Luke Zajac each ran for 3 scores and backup QB Brendan Kuntz threw 2 touchdown passes as the 11th ranked Saints go to 8-0 overall. 

Pitts ran 24 times for a career high 156 yards. CT Tarrant added 62 yards and a score. Kuniz was 14-20 for 339 yards, Cohorn had 4 catches for 139 yards. Thomas More is 6-0 in the PAC.

Converted wide receiver Caleb Jakiel(Moon) threw 2 second quarter td passes to cut the Thomas More lead to 35-14, the Saints scored 24 points in the second half. Grove City is 0-7 overall and 0-5 in the PAC. 

Carnegie Mellon 41 – Saint Vincent 14
The Tartans led 21-0 at the half and didn’t look back on the way to a 4-3 record. .

John Prather opened the scoring with a 20 yard pass from Andrew Hearon midway thru the first. Sam Benger, D-III’s leading rusher, scored in the second on a 10 yard run. Hearon hit Max Reinertson for a 13 yard score late in the half for the commanding lead.

Hearon and Prather connected a second time for a score and a 28-0 lead. Shavonta Craft(Jeannette) hit the board for the Bearcats on a 2 yard run. Benger scored his second touchdown on a 11 yard run following a Drew Fitzmorris interception in the fourth. Damon Black scored 3 plays later on a pass from Evan Shimensky. Bryan Jangro came on for CMU and threw a td pass to Chris Herrera of 47 yards to close the scoring.

Benger ran 37 times for 113 yards. Hearon threw for 260 yards on 16-26. Graham Schilling caught 9 passes for 159 yards. CMU is now 4-2 in the PAC. 

Black had 8 catches for 116 yards for Saint Vincent, now 3-4 overall. The Bearcats turned the ball over 4 times and fall to 2-3 in PAC play.

Bethany 41 – Geneva 15
Jalen Holmes(New Castle) ran for 135 yards and 2 touchdowns and Eric Blinn(Western Beaver) caught 7 passes for 117 yards and a score. The senior also added an 85 yard punt return in the second quarter. The Bison defense allowed just 59 yards rushing.

Aaron Channing threw a pair of touchdowns to Nick Cook in the second quarter for the GT’s, now 2-5 overall. Channing was 21-41 for 298 yards. Cook had 12 grabs for 144 yards. Geneva is 1-4 in the PAC.