District College Football Recap for Saturday, September 27th

By: Bruce Markey
Sunday, September 28, 2014 | 3:45 PM

A wild finish in Oakland, a record setting performance in Loretto and another home win for Slippery Rock highlighted the slate of local college football action on Saturday. Here are recaps of ALL the games, including one heard here on the Network.

Carnegie Mellon 22 – Geneva 21
Trailing 19-7 in the fourth quarter, freshman Nick Cook came on for an injured Aaron Channing and led the Golden Tornadoes to a touchdown, but the GT’s could not find the end zone until the game’s final play and came up just short. Geneva has now lost eight straight on the road, dating back to 2012.

Geneva led 7-0 on the opening drive of the game, Channing connected with Josh Guiser for a 15 yard touchdown. CMU tied the game on their second drive, Andrew Hearon to Tim Swanson for a 18 yard score.

The 7-7 deadlock held up until the third quarter when Channing fumbled, recovered by Jacob Bartell. Hearon found Garrett Strobel four plays later for a 23 yard touchdown and a 13-7 lead. The defense hit the scoreboard for the Tartans later in the third, Vince Demarchi stepped in front of a Channing pass and took it 84 yards for a Pick 6 and a 19-7 lead after three.

Channing was shaken up two plays into the fourth quarter, allowing Cook to come on. On his second series, Cook led Geneva on a seven play drive and an 18 yard touchdown pass to Lemuel Fuller. Cook tried to run for the two-pointer, but failed, leaving the GT’s down two scores with 6:45 remaining. The defense forced a three and out but Cook was intercepted by Nico Comsa with just over three minutes left. CMU returned the favor as Hearon was picked by Jon Fiscus. But Cook tossed his second pick, Kyle Brittain snagged the pass with 2:21 to play and all seemed lost for Geneva.

But the GT defense did the job, holding CMU to just three plays. Geneva took over at their own 20 with 31 seconds left. Cook completed four straight passes, the final to Jeff Clegg with triple zeros remaining. Geneva got the two pointer but were one point short.

Hearon was only 10 of 23 for 121 yards but had the two touchdowns. Swanson led the Tartans with four catches. Carnegie Mellon goes to 1-2 overall and in the PAC.

Channing was 31 of 42 for 239 yards before leaving, Cook was 10 of 19 for 129 yards. Guiser had 11 catches for 115 yards, Fuller 9 catches for 76 yards. Geneva falls to 1-3 overall and 0-2 in the PAC.

Saint Francis 80 – Virginia Lynchburg 0
The Red Flash set many offensive records in the lop-sided home win. Saint Francis led 35-0 at the end of one quarter, 63-0 at the half and cruised to the win.

Khairi Dickson ran for 157 yards on ten carries, he had three touchdowns. Dickson led the NCAA FCS in rushing to start the week. Marcus Bagley ran for 92 yards and three scores. The Red Flash are now 2-3. Virginia Lynchburg had won only one game since the program was formed in 2010, they were held to 98 yards of offense, including negative 17 yards rushing.

Slippery Rock 63 – Seton Hill 19
#22 SRU rolled to the Homecoming win at Thompson-Mihalik Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Drew Scales returned the opening kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown and the Rock controlled the day on the way to a 4-0 record.

Zach Newsock threw for 299 yards and four touchdowns on 23-33. Melvin Gorman had four catches for 114 yards and three scores. Shamar Greene continued his success rushing the ball with 22 carries for 128 yards and two touchdowns. The Rock racked up 583 yards of total offense and are now 3-0 in the PSAC West.

For Seton Hill, Drew Jackson threw for 343 yards and three touchdowns. FJ Williams had six catches for 104 yards. The Griffins are now 1-3 overall, 1-2 in the West.

California 34 – Edinboro 16
The Vulcans led 28-0 at the half, going to 3-1 overall while keeping the Fighting Scots winless on the season. James Harris threw for 260 yards and two scores. Terrill Robinson ran for just 47 yards but scored twice, Cal is now 2-1 in the PSAC West.

Cody Harris ran for two fourth quarter scores for the Fighting Scots, now 0-3 in the West Division. Harris was 29 of 42 for 312 yards, but he was sacked six times.

IUP 41 – Mercyhurst 7
The Crimson Hawks held the Lakers to just 146 total yards as IUP goes to 3-1 on the season. Luigi Lista-Brinza ran for three touchdowns, Chase Haslett threw for two scores.

Lista-Brinza, a freshman from Pittsburgh Central Catholic, ran for 103 yards on 16 carries, his third 100 yard game of the year. Haslett was 12 of 15 for 157 yards. Drew Carswell and Brock DeCicco pulled in the touchdown passes. IUP is 2-1 in the PSAC West.

Zach Emerick scored on a 1 yard run with nine minutes to play in the game. Mercyhurst falls to 0-4 overall and 0-3 in the West.

Gannon 33 – Clarion 7
The Golden Knights go to 4-0 for the first time since 1949 with the road win, after trailing 7-3 after one quarter. Connor Simmons scored on a 7 yard run with 34 seconds left in the opening period, it was all downhill for Clarion from there.

Liam Nadler threw for one touchdown and ran for three more for Gannon. Nadler was 21 for 33 for 246 yards, he also ran for 46 yards. Brock Jones carried 32 times for 213 yards. Justin Caliste had 11 catches for 113 yards as Gannon goes to 3-0 in the PSAC West.

Simmons was 7 of 19 for 96 yards for the Golden Eagles, now 2-1 in the West.

Bethany 33 – Waynesburg 27
The Bison remain unbeaten in PAC play at 2-0, while the Yellow Jackets saw their title hopes take a hit with the loss, falling to 1-1.

Brandon Hill ran for career highs with 28 carries and 148 yards, he scored twice. Brian Vales threw for 264 yards and two scores. Eric Blinn caught 12 passes for 145 yards and a score, the former Western Beaver star became the Bethany career leader in catches. The Bison are now 3-1 overall and have won three straight.

Jake Forsythe scored his second touchdown of the game with 9:49 remaining in regulation, the Yellow Jackets drove to the Bison 32 in the final minute but Carter Hill could not hit Bennie Thompson and the ball went over to Bethany on downs.

Forsythe ran 23 times for 183 yards. Hill was 21 of 46 for 235 yards and two touchdowns. Thompson had seven catches, Andrew English six. Waynesburg is also 3-1.

Thomas More 49 – Westminster 6
The #20 Saints cruised to a 3-1 overall record and will take on W & J for first place in the PAC next week after the home win. Domonique Hayden ran for 336 yards and four touchdowns on 28 carries, Jensen Gebhardt threw for only 86 yards, he did have a score, but was also picked off three times. Thomas More is now 2-0 in the conference.

Westminster was held to 207 yards of offense, Paul Columbo threw for 127 yards on 17 of 32, he was sacked five times. Justin Dahl kicked two second quarter field goals for the Titans, now 0-4 and 0-2 in the PAC.

Case Western Reserve 23 – Thiel 16
Billy Beecher hit Luke DiFrancesco with 1:08 remaining for a 23 yard touchdown and the home win. Jon Fennick had kicked a 25 yard field goal with 2:54 left in regulation to knot the game at 16.

Thiel led 7-0 on a Chris Jones 10 yard fumble recovery and return in the second quarter. Nick Bavaro kicked a 37 yard field goal for Case Western, also in the second. The Spartans took the lead in the third on an Adam Hochman 35 yard run and extended it with a Beecher to Zech Medved 12 yard pass in the fourth.

Ryan Radke led Thiel down the field, hitting Rich Smallwood with a 3 yard pass with just under ten minutes to play. Radke threw for 249 yards but threw four interceptions. Tim Walker had 8 catches for 137 yards, the Tomcats fall to 1-3 overall and 1-1 in the PAC.

Case Western Reserve is now 2-1 overall and in the PAC.

Saint Vincent 31 – Grove City 14
Break up the Bearcats, after dropping 23 straight games, Saint Vincent has now won two straight and is tied with Thomas More and Bethany for the top spot in the PAC at 2-0.

Saint Vincent led 10-0 after one quarter, Dwayne Brown returned a blocked punt 25 yards for  a score and Morgan Porter kicked a 24 yard field goal. Aaron Lundmark put Grove City on the board in the second with a 11 yard td pass to David Folkmire.

Shavonta Craft scored on a 21 yard run early in the third for Saint Vincent. Josh Peach hit Sam Ivan for a 32 yard touchdown for the Wolverines, but Grove City got no closer. Renny Larue-Holloman returned a fumble 51 yards to the end zone and Andy Borgen connected with Dustin Lowman for a 36 yard touchdown to cap the scoring.

Craft carried 22 times for 199 yards for Saint Vincent, now 2-2 overall. Grove City falls to 0-3 overall and 0-1 in the PAC.