District College Football Recap for Saturday, October 3rd

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, October 4, 2015 | 8:29 AM

The first Saturday in October brought cold and wet weather to Western Pennsylvania. On a day not fit for man or beast….or golfers, it didn’t bother the area football teams and offenses in general in putting up points.

A top 25 showdown highlighted play in the PAC, while 3 local teams remain tied after 2 weeks in the PSAC West. Here are recaps of ALL THE GAMES.

Clarion 41 – Mercyhurst 27
Connor Simmons threw for 3 touchdowns and ran for 2 more as the Golden Eagles go to 5-0. Simmons threw for 431 yards as Clarion scored 17 unanswered points in the second half.

Simmons hit Delrece Willams(Steel Valley) for the opening score, Phil Esposito tacked on a field goal for a 10-0 lead. Brendan Boylan got the Lakers on the board with a 21 yard pass to John Matarazzo(New Castle), it was the tight end’s third td catch of the season. Simmons made it 17-7 on a 41 yard td strike to Kevin Genevro.

The teams traded scores in the second, Boylan hit TJ Latimer from a yard out. Simmons scored on a 8 yard run as Clarion led 24-14 at the half.

Boylan cut the deficit to three on a 2 yarder to FJ Williams. Simmons put the game away with a yard run and a td pass to Matt Lehman(Burrell). Zack Emerick came on at QB for the Lakers and connected with FJ Williams in the game’s final seconds.

Simmons was 26-33. Genevro had 4 catches for 103 yards, Lehman added 8 grabs. Clarion is 2-0 in the West. Brandon Brown-Dukes ran 12 times for 100 yards for Mercyhurst, now 3-2 overall but 0-2 in the West. 

IUP 42 – Edinboro 21
Chris Temple had a career day, running for 234 yards and all 6 touchdowns in the win. Temple scored on runs of 22,6,6,8,1 and 67 yards as IUP led 28-0 at the half.

Mitch Thomas had a 88 yard Pick 6 for Edinboro, now 0-5. Nick Helmick and Jon Girvin also scored for the Fighting Scots.

Slippery Rock 41 – Gannon 14
Shamar Green(West Mifflin) returned to the Rock lineup and ran for 100 yards and 3 scores as the Rock goes to 4-1. Isiah Neely(OLSH) ran for 2 fourth quarter scores to seal the win.

Gannon led 14-6 in the second quarter on a Brock Jones rub and a Jesstin Hamm 71 yard punt return. The Golen Knights, who were picked by the coaches to win the West are now 3-2 overall and 0-2 pn the West. QB Liam Nadler struggled for Gannon, going 18-45 for 222 yards.

Marcus Carter(New Castle) had 4 catches for the Rock, now1-1 in the West.

California 38 – Seton Hill 34
The Vulcans rallied from a ten point deficit for the home win. James Harris connected with Gary Brown for a 37 yard score midway thru the final quarter to take the lead for good. The senior QB threw for 309 yards and 4 scores as the Vulcans go to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in the West.

Seton Hill jumped to a 21-3 halftime lead, paced by two Christian Strong touchdown passes. Harris brought Cal back within seven points with td passes to Kowan Scott and Derek Ftore. Seton Hill countered with a Strong pass to Ardell Brown for a 69 yard score.

The Vulcas came right back in 34 seconds as Harris went to Scott for a second time, this a 47 yard touchdown. After a Griffins field goal John franklin scored on a 2yard run, setting up the go-ahead score on the next possession.

Jimmy Wheeler led the Vulcans had 13 carries for 105 yards for the freshman from West Mifflin. Scott added 4 catches for 142 yards. For Seton Hill, Strong was 44-65 for 463 yards and 3 scores. Jarvis McClam had 15 catches for 179 yards. The Griffins are 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the West.

Waynesburg 35 – Grove City 31
Jerry Jawman scored the go ahead touchdown 35 seconds remaining to give head coach Rick Shepas his 66th win to break the Waynesburg record for career wins.

The Yelllow Jackets took the lead in the first on a Lawman 3 yard run. Steve Maskrey countered with a 6 yatd td run for the Wolverines. But Jake Dougherty hit Kevin Barnes for a 21 yard touchdown with 2 seconds left in the first to give Waynesburg a 14-7 advantage.

Grove City took the lead in the second on a Nick Scholle 9 yard run, Scholle also score in the third to puy Grove City up 24-14. Lawman added a 2 yard run  and the Dougherty/Barnes connection worked again for a 27 yard strike to put Waynesburg back on top.

Matt Pennypacker gave Grove City back the lead with a with a 12 yard toss to Josh Peach, Waynesburg took over with 3 1/2 minutes left at midfield, and drove 8 plays for Lawman’s winning score.

Lawman carried 24 times for 148 yards along with the 3 scores. Waynesburg is now 2-3 overall and 1-2 in the PAC. Scholle had only 12 yards for Grove City but the 2 scores, the Wolverines fall to 0-4 and 0-2 in conference play.

Case Western Reserve 59 – Bethany 20
The Bison led 13-7 in the second quarter on touchdown runs by Jalen Holmes(New Castle) and Tyler Ambush but the Spartans scored 45 straight points to go to 3-0 in the PAC and tying Thomas More for the top spot.

Rob Cuda threw for 210 yards and three touchdowns, 2 to Bryan Erb, who finished with 7 catches for 107 yards. Case Western is now 3-1 overall. Eric Blinn(Western Beaver) added to his career numbers with a td catch in the fourth. The senior had 9 catches for 132 yards, the Bison falls to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in conference.

Saint Vincent 65 – Thiel 14
Shavonta Craft(Jeannette) ran for 3 scores and ran 11 times for 270 yards as the Bearcats go to 3-2 overall. Saint Vincent posted 609 yards of offense and are now 2-1 in the PAC.

Richard Proper returned a kickoff 90 yards and Grant Syster also scored for Thiel, now 1-4 overall and 0-3 in the PAC.

Thomas More 38 – W & J 20
In a battle of top 25 teams, #12 Thomas More came away with the home win. CJ Tarrent sealed the win in the fourth with touchdown runs of 14 and 9 yards on the way to 193 yards rushing on 37 carries.

The 12th ranked Presidents led 10-7 after one on a Pete Coughlin(Upper Saint Clair) touchdown pass to Jesse Ztbik(Avonworth) from 28 yards out. Jensen Gebhardt connected with Goose Cohorn for their second touchdown of the day to put the Saints up 14-10. Gebhardt hit Daylin Garland for a 36 yard touchdown with 1 tick of the first half clock left to put Thomas More up 21-13.

After a Tommy Radke field goal, Ryan Ruffing(Thomas Jefferson) cut into the Saints lead, but Tarrant closed the door on a comeback with the 2 scoring runs.

Gebhardt was 13-26 for 190 yards. Cohorn had 5 catches for 90 yards. The Saints are 3-0 in the PAC and 5-0 overall. Coughlin was 34-56 for 340 yards, he was picked off 4 times. Daniel Lis(Char-Houston) had 11 catches for 155 yards. Zubik added 7 grabs for 115 yards. W & J is now 3-1 overall and 1-1 in PAC play. 

Westminster 26 – Carnegie Mellon 16
The Titans scored 13 points in the final quarter to claim the Homecoming win. Freshman Kimu Kim scored twice for the Titans, now 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the PAC. Dominique McKinley and Paul Columbo each ran for over 100 yards at 113 and 100 respectively.

Sam Benger ran for 83 yards and a score for CMU, now 1-3 and 1-2 in conference

Robert Morris 9 – Wagner 6
In the NEC opener for both teams, Connor Shennan kicked 3 field goals to take the Colonials to 2-3 overall. The final kick, a 19 yarder, capped a 12 play drive with just 24 seconds left in regulation. Cole Blake led RMU with 89 yards rushing. The Colonials played without starting QB Matthew Barr and leading rusher Ramses Owens. 

RMU held Wagner to 170 yards of offense and had 7 sacks. Jake Tkach(West Mifflin) had 10 tackles. Wagner was 1-14 on third down. Wagner falls to 0-4.

Duquesne 27 – Central Connecticut State 10
Klartel Claridy ran for 123 yards and 2 first quarter scores to pace the Dukes to 3-2 overall. Rafiq Douglas added a 4 yard rush in on the opening drive of the second half as Duquesne wins the NEC opener for both teams.

Dillon Buechel(Montour) was 23-38 for 323 yards. Chris King added eight catches to his NEC leading total and 132 yards. Claridy ran 25 times for 123 yards.

Jacob Dolegala threw a td pass to Courtney Rush for the Blue Devils, now 1-4 overall.

Saint Francis 58 – East Tennessee State 9.
Lorenzo Jerome returned the opening kickoff 98 yards for touchdown and that would be all the Red Flash needed in the non-conference win. Khari Dickson returned to the lineup and ran for 72 yards on 13 carries, plus a score. Terrell Smith had 6 catches for 148 yards and a score.

Robert Miller and freshman LB Sean Orsini(West Allegheny) each had Pick 6’s for the Red Flash, now 2-2. ETSU falls to 0-5.