District College Football Recap for Saturday, October 4th

By: Bruce Markey
Sunday, October 5, 2014 | 1:23 AM

The month of October brought cold and damp weather to this weekend’s district college football games. Two main games highlighted the schedule, an early season battle of Top 25 teams in the PAC and a pair of unbeaten in the PSAC-West.

Here are recaps of ALL the games, including the Top 25 matchup on the Network.

W & J 51 – Thomas More 28
Cameron Stadium in Washington saw a battle of nationally ranked teams, the fans there also saw the Presidents take a huge step towards another PAC title with a convincing win that will likely move them up the ranks in the AFCA Top 25 poll next week. Upper St. Clair’s Pete Coughlin threw for 383 yards and six touchdowns as the #25 Presidents used the skies to claim the win.

W & J scored on their first possession, it was Coughlin hooking up with Daniel Lis for a 35 yard touchdown, finishing a ten play drive. Domonique Hayden quickly tied the game with a 49 yard run, but W & J used the big play again, Coughlin finding Jesse Zubik for a 49 yard strike. The Presidents added a Blake Davis field goal and led 17-7 after a quarter.

Eight plays into the second quarter, it was Coughlin again, finding Michael Giampole for a nine yard touchdown. The #24 ranked Saints struck again in less than a minute, this time with Jensen Gebhardt hitting Bobby Leonard for a 72 yard touchdown, Hayden scored on the next possession with a 21 yard touchdown and the Presidents lead was cut to three points. Coughlin wasn’t done, going to Max Creighan for a twelve yard touchdown and a 31-21 lead at the break.

Hayden scored his third touchdown of the evening with 2:26 left in the third to cut the lead to three again but two plays later it was Coughlin to Lis again for 77 yards and a score and W & J pulled away again. The duo started the fourth quarter where they left off, a four yard td pass put the Presidents up 44-28, Ryan Ruffing added a seven yard score set up by a Dan Graziano interception to close out the game.

Lis had nine catches for 188 yards, Ruffing added 117 yards on 34 carries. W & J is now 4-0 and 3-0 in the PAC. Hayden ran 24 times for 183 yards, Leonard had five catches for 136 yards, the Saints are now 3-2 and 2-1 in the conference, they will likely fall out of the top 25.

Duquesne 39 – West Liberty 13
The Dukes picked up their eighth straight home win, beating the D-II Hilltoppers at Rooney Field on a Homecoming afternoon that saw sun, wind, rain and even hail. Dillon Buechel was 22 of 34 for 330 yards, the Montour grad threw for two scores in the win.

Buechel started the scoring with a 25 yard td pass to Dave Thomas in the first, the Dukes added a two yard scoring run by Char Valley’s Wayne Capers. Marcus Hughes scored in the final minute of the second on a five yard run, Duquesne led 22-0 at the break.

Buechel connected on a bomb to Chris King for a 73 yard touchdown on the first drive of the third. West Liberty got on the board as Upper St Clair’s Dakota Conwell threw a five yard touchdown pass to Daree Goodwin. After a Duquesne field goal, Conwell tossed his second score of the day, to Anton McCallum for 13 yards. Capers scored on a one yard run to end the scoring early in the fourth.

Devin Rahming had eight catches, King made seven grabs for 142 yards, the Dukes are now 3-2. Conwell struggled, going 14 of 34 for 134 yards and ran for 36 yards. West Liberty falls to 2-3 overall.

Slippery Rock 31 – Gannon 28
#20 SRU claimed a huge home win on Saturday night at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium and first place in the PSAC Western Division with the victory. The Rock defense allowed 519 yards of offense but did not allow Gannon to tie or take the lead in the fourth quarter.

The Golden Knights, undefeated entering the game, took the lead in the first quarter. Liam Nadler finished a twelve play drive with a seven yard touchdown pass to Jesstin Hamm. Slippery Rock answered with a field goal, Gannon followed with another touchdown as Brock Jones broke a 27 yard run for a 13-3 lead after one.

The Rock took the lead back in the second, Teddy Blakeman scored on a 3 yard run and Zack Newsock hit Melvin German for 48 yards and a score. It’s the third consecutive game that Newsock has connected with German for a score. The touchdown put SRU up 17-13 with 9:53 left in the half. Gannon took the lead back with a Jones 24 yard run and a 20-17 lead at the break.

Slippery Rock let the specials teams take over to regain the lead early in the third, Sam Funk blocked Adam Schaffer’s punt, Nick Davis returned it six yards for a touchdown and a 24-20 advantage. The Rock extended the lead when Austin Miele recovered a fumble, Shamar Greene scored eight plays later on a yard run and the Rock led 31-20 after three.

Gannon was driving early in the fourth, Admire Carter intercepted a Nadler pass at the four yard line, the return brought the football out to the Rock 43. The Golden Knights scored later in the quarter, Nadler hooking up with Hamm again for eleven yards and a score, the two point conversion made it 31-28 with 5:23 remaining. The Gannon defense held the Rock to three and out, taking over at the Rock 41. But Nadler could not lead the Golden Knights to a first down, the Rock got the ball back on downs with 2:50 left and ran out the clock for the win.

For SRU, Newsock threw for 219 yards on 17 of 25. German had two catches for 90 yards. Greene was held to 85 yards on 22 carries, the first time he did not go over 100 yards this season. SRU moves to 5-0 overall and 4-0 in the West.

For Gannon, Nadler was 30 of 50 for 370 yards. Quad Law, the former Uniontown star, had 9 catches for 127 yards. Jones carried 14 times for 83 yards, he also caught seven passes for 81 yards. Gannon falls to 4-1 overall and 3-1 in the West.

California 31 – Seton Hill 21
The Vulcans held off the upset bid of the Griffins at Offutt Field and will host Slippery Rock next week with a chance to knock the Rock from the top spot in the West.

Terrill Robinson ran for 64 yards and three touchdowns for the Vulcans, his runs of one and twenty yards in the fourth allowed Cal to pull away for the win. James Harris added 195 yards passing and a touchdown to Kowan Scott. Nick Grissom added 94 yards on 20 carries, Cal is now 4-1 overall and 3-1 in the West.

Khalil Howard scored twice for Seton Hill, now 1-4 overall and 1-3 in the West. Drew Jackson was 41 of 77 for 354 yards and a touchdown.

Mercyhurst 28 – Clarion 0
The Lakers pick up their first win of the season in front of the home folks at Tullio Field. Former Union standout Drew Robinson caught an 78 yard touchdown pass from Brendan Boylan in the second quarter, Robinson added a 17 yard scoring run, also in the second.

Boylan was 14 of 25 for 241 yards and three touchdowns. Robinson carried 14 times for 46 yards and caught two passes for 89 yards. The Lakers are now 1-4 overall and 1-3 in the PSAC West.

Clarion was held to 78 yards rushing. Darelle Carson returned as the starting QB for the Golden Eagles, he was 9 of 29 for 113 yards and was sacked four times. Clarion falls to 2-3 overall and 2-2 in the West.

IUP 18 – Edinboro 8
On a blustery day at Sox Harrison Stadium, the IUP defense holds Edinboro to minus six yards rushing, the second straight week the Fighting Scots put up a minus in the rushing column and 129 total yards in the victory.

The game was played with a steady 20 mph wind that affected both teams. IUP managed two Brett Ullman field goals to lead 6-0 at the break. Chase Haslett hit Drew Carswell for a 16 yard touchdown and Ullman added another three pointer in the third to put the Crimson Hawks up 16-0.

Edinboro scored in the fourth, Cody Harris hit Kolbe Hughes for a six yard touchdown with 9:45 remaining, a two pointer from Harris to Marcus Hill got the Fighting Scots within one score. But on the next possession, Edinboro was pinned deep in their own territory and took a holding penalty in the end zone for a safety that put IUP back up by ten points.

Freshman Luigi Lista-Brinza from Pittsburgh Central Catholic had another great game, he was held out of the end zone but did run for 118 yards on 24 carries. Beaver’s Darian Bradley added another 61 yards on the ground. IUP is now 4-1 overall and 3-1 in the PSAC West, the Crimson Hawks sit one game back of both Cal and SRU. The Fighting Scots fall to 0-5 and 0-4 in the division.

Bethany 25 – Case Western Reserve 14
The Bison go to 3-0 in PAC play and remaining tied with W & J for the top spot. Brandon Hill staked the Bison to a 13-7 first quarter lead with touchdown runs of 17 and one yard. Brian Vales hit former Western Beaver receiver Eric Blinn for a 26 yard touchdown in the third and New Castle’s Jalen Holmes scored on a 9 yard run with 6:56 left in regulation to extend the Bethany lead.

Billy Beecher threw for 208 yards and two touchdowns to Brendan Lynch, Beecher was sacked five times. Case Western goes to 2-2 overall and in the PAC.

Blinn set a school single game record with 15 catches, he had 145 yards. Hill ran for 87 yards and Holmes 74 to make a nice 1-2 punch for the Bison ground game. Bethany is now 4-1 overall.

Thiel 21 – Saint Vincent 20
The Tomcats knocked the Bearcats out of a first place tie and ended Saint Vincent’s two game winning streak. Branden Dice scored on a two yard run, eight seconds into the final frame for the eventual game-winner.

Saint Vincent led 14-0 early in the second quarter on a DJ Oceant-Kelly three yard run and a Matt Duffey 22 yard reception from Matt Deakins. Dice broke a ten yard run less than a minute later to put Thiel on the board, Morgan Porter added a field goal for the Bearcats, now with a 17-7 lead into the half.

Ryan Radke hit Rich Smallwood for a seven yard touchdown on the first drive of the third, Porter kicked his second field goal of the day, this one from 28 yards to put Saint Vincent up six.

Porter was not automatic however, he missed tries of 30 and 42 yards that would have given Saint Vincent the lead. The second attempt came with 6:27 left, giving the Tomcats the ball at their own 24. Saint Vincent likely thought they would be able to get the ball back, but that was not the case. Taylor Fink carried eight times on a thirteen play drive that ran out the remaining time with Thiel taking two kneel downs at the 28 yard line.

Radke had more success running the football than throwing, rushing for 148 yards on 16 carries. Fink toted 31 times for 147 yards, Thiel is now 2-3 overall and 1-2 in the PAC.

With the loss, Saint Vincent sees their PAC title hopes take a huge hit, the Bearcats are now 2-3 overall and tied with Thomas More and Waynesburg at 2-1 in conference.

Waynesburg 35 – Grove City 0
After being knocked off last week, the Yellow Jackets stung hard in Mercer County, holding the Wolverines to 60 yards rushing.

Carter Hill threw for 311 yards and five touchdowns for Waynesburg, now 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the PAC. Bennie Thompson and Andrew English each had six catches, Thompson with two scores and English one. Willie Leavell had four catches for 125 yards and two scores, including a 91 yard touchdown in the second quarter. Jake Forsythe ran for 90 yards on 23 carries.

Josh Peach had six catches to lead the Wolverine offense, Grove City is now 0-4 overall and 0-2 in the PAC.

Carnegie Mellon 27 – Westminster 24
The Tartans scored ten points in the final minute to keep the Titans winless on the season. Tyler Kohman kicked a 50 yard field goal on the final play to take CMU to 2-2 overall and in the PAC.

Nico Comsa opened the scoring for the Tartans with a 24 yard Pick 6, Justin Dahl kicked a 25 yard field goal for Westminster, CMU led 7-3 at the half.

Westminster opened the scoring in the third, Taran Sifontes-Lavine caught a 51 yard touchdown pass from Paul Columbo for a 9-7 advantage. Kohman kicked a 20 yard field goal to put CMU back on top, Westminster answered with a John Jones 14 yard touchdown pass from Columbo, the Titans got the two point conversion. But Zach Cree came back with a one yard run for CMU and a 17-17 deadlock after three.

The Titans took the lead on a Columbo to Xaiver Eubanks 19 yard pass with 5:24 left in regulation. After a penalty and good kick return by Sam Benger gave the Tartans the football at the Westminster 39. The Tartans could not get a first down and turned the ball over on downs.

Westminster could not get a first down but took 90 seconds off the clock, giving the ball back to CMU with 2:50 left. Andrew Hearon led the Tartans on an eight play drive, finding Hayden Cardiff for a ten yard touchdown with 43 seconds left and a 24-24 tie. Ryan Aitkin stepped in front of a Columbo pass, setting up CMU at their own 47 as just 19 seconds remained. Hearon was sacked for a loss of two at the Westminster 48 with just one tick remaining. CMU tried a Hail Mary but Hearon was sacked again to end the game but that was not the case, Westminster was called for roughing the passer, setting up an untimed down. The Tartans decided to kick, Kohman’s boot hit the cross bar and passed over, giving CMU the win.

Carnegie Mellon is now 2-2 overall and in the PAC, despite only having 203 yards of offense. Domonique McKinley led Westminster with 120 yards on 30 carries, Columbo was 16 of 29 for 238 yards, the Titans are now 0-5 and 0-3 in the PAC.