BOX SCORE

PHOTO GALLERY

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

by Mike Hustava, Sports Information Assistant
The Saint Vincent football team fell on the road to Grove City, 21-16. The Wolverines scored 21 consecutive points and capitalized on four turnovers by Saint Vincent to pick up their first victory of the season.
 
Saint Vincent opened the game's scoring on its first drive. On fourth-and-goal at the Grove City one-yard line, Aaron Smetanka found Scott Weaver on a rollout pass to give Saint Vincent the early 7-0 lead. The Bearcats marched 64 yards in 13 plays and took 6:41 off the clock.
 
On the Bearcats' second possession, Smetanka hooked-up with Jairus Marlow for a 50-yard completion that put Saint Vincent at the Grove City five-yard line.  However, an offensive pass interference call negated the big gain and Saint Vincent was forced to punt two plays later.
 
On the ensuing punt, the Bearcats were guilty of another costly penalty, this one a kick-catch interference the set the Wolverines up at the Saint Vincent 49-yard line. Nine plays later, Blaine Miller plunged in from the two-yard line to tie the game at seven with 14:37 left in the opening half.
 
The Bearcats were poised to score on their next possession after driving deep into Wolverines territory.  On third-and-three from the Grove City seven-yard line, Smetanka's pass was intercepted in the end zone by Aaron Palmieri.
 
Both defenses forced punts on the next few offensive possessions and field position became a factor. Grove City was able to pin the Bearcats at their own one-yard line late in the second quarter. On third down from the Saint Vincent one, the Bearcats attempted a long pass but Smetanka was intercepted again, this time by Kurt Devlin, and set Grove City up on offense at the Bearcats' 38-yard line.
 
Eight plays after the pick, quarterback Brian Pell connected with Anthony Ritchie for the score. The extra-point attempt was wide and Grove City led 13-7 going into the half.
 
The Bearcats' defense forced Grove City to go three-and-out on the opening possession of the second half. It looked as if the Grove City defense was going to force the Bearcats' offense to punt but a fake punt and run by Mike Kale gave the Bearcats a fresh set of downs in Grove City territory. Two plays after the fake, Smetanka was intercepted again by Devlin and Grove City went back on offense.
 
The Wolverines were able to capitalize on the Bearcats' turnover when Miller scored his second touchdown of the game, this time on a nine-yard run. The two-point conversion was good and Grove City held a 21-7 lead with 8:00 left in the third quarter.
 
Saint Vincent was putting together a solid drive on their next offensive possession and got the ball deep into Grove City territory again. On fourth-and-one at the Wolverines' six-yard line, the Grove City defense held Saint Vincent and forced the Bearcats to turn the ball over on downs.
 
After the defensive stand by Grove City, the Saint Vincent defense buckled down and forced the Wolverines to punt. The Bearcats got the ball back with just over 11:30 remaining in regulation but were forced to punt after a three-and-out.
 
The Saint Vincent defense answered back and forced the Wolverines to a three-and-out, giving the Bearcats' the ball back at their own 46-yard line with just under 9:00 left. On second down at the Grove City 37-yard line, the Bearcats caught a break when the Wolverines were called for a personal foul, setting Saint Vincent up with a fresh set of downs at the Grove City 22-yard line. Two plays later, Saint Vincent capitalized when Marlow took a reverse pitch 18 yards for a score, cutting the Grove City lead to 21-14 with 6:57 left in regulation.
 
Once again, Grove City was forced to punt on their next possession and gave Saint Vincent the ball back at their own 25-yard line with under four minutes remaining. On second-and-five, Smetanka hooked-up with Ricky Douglas on long pass deep into Grove City territory but it was again negated by an offensive pass interference penalty.  Facing third-and-18, Smetanka again tried to connect with Douglas but Devlin intercepted his third pass of the game to give Grove City the ball back with 1:13 remaining. 
 
With two timeouts left, Saint Vincent forced Grove City to punt from their own end zone with 19 seconds remaining. Rather than punting, the Wolverines' Joe Diani elected to take a safety, making the score 21-16 Grove City with 11 seconds left.
 
The Bearcats' got the ball back on the Grove City 40-yard line with six seconds on the clock. Smetanka took a shot to end zone but the pass was batted down, preserving the win for the Wolverines.
 
Offensively, Saint Vincent was paced on the ground by the duo of Huey Ehredt and Kale who rushed for 65 yards and 61 yards, respectively.
 
Smetanka finished the day 17-of-32 for 158 yards and a touchdown, but threw four interceptions in the contest.
 
Douglas led the Bearcats receivers with six catches for 52 yards.
 
On defense, Anthony Johnson turned in a monster game, registering 16 tackles, 13 solo and three for a loss. Dan Wirkowski finished with eight stops while Jim Muraco and Armando Fortunato added six tackles apiece.
 
Saint Vincent returns to action next Saturday, Oct. 29, traveling to Waynesburg for a PAC contest beginning at 1:30pm.