BOX SCORE
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VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
By Mike Hustava, Sports Information Assistant
The Saint Vincent football team defeated Waynesburg, 17-14, on a field goal by
Morgan Porter as time expired. The win marks the first time the Bearcats have won four games since the rebirth of the football program in 2007.
In a game in which both teams turned the ball over five times, the Bearcats capitalized on a bad punt by the Yellow Jackets with time running down. Saint Vincent started with the ball at the Waynesburg 30-yard line and drove the ball deep into Waynesburg territory. On third down at the seven-yard line with two seconds remaining, Porter connected on the 24-yard field goal to give Saint Vincent the dramatic conference victory.
To go along with the five turnovers, the Bearcats also blocked a pair of Yellow Jackets' punts, both of which led to Saint Vincent touchdowns.
In the opening quarter, both defenses recorded a pair of key interceptions. Freshman
Darius Brown picked-off two passes from Waynesburg quarterback Josh Graham, the second one coming in the end zone to stop a Waynesburg drive.
Quarterback
Aaron Smetanka also threw two interceptions, the second of which came in the end zone to stop a Saint Vincent drive.
The offenses for both teams finally got on the board in the second quarter. With 11:30 remaining in the half, Graham connected with his tight end Adam Moses to give the hosts a 7-0 lead.
On their next offensive possession Waynesburg was forced to punt when
Zara Wallace broke through to block the kick and set the Bearcats up with first down at the Yellow Jackets' 20-yard line. Two plays later, Smetanka connected with tight end
Jake Smith for a 17-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7-7 with 7:29 remaining.
The hosts seized control of the lead late in the half on a one-yard rush from Betrand Ngampa to make the score 14-7.
With only seconds left in the half, the Bearcats took one more shot to the end zone but the pass was intercepted, keeping the score 14-7 at the break.
On the first possession of the second half, the Bearcats' defense stopped the Yellow Jackets on fourth down at midfield.
The Bearcats were moving the ball on their opening possession but fumbled on a reverse pitch play and gave Waynesburg the ball back.
The Bearcats' special teams unit came up big once again after the turnover. On fourth down,
Devin Anderson blocked the Waynesburg punt attempt, then picked up the loose ball and scampered 25 yards for the touchdown to tie the game at 14-14 with 6:20 left in the third. The game would then turn into even more of a defensive battle the rest of the afternoon.
The Saint Vincent defense got their third takeaway of the contest on the next Waynesburg offensive play when Terry Kernan intercepted Graham, setting the Bearcats up at their own 46-yard line.
On fourth-and-one at the Waynesburg 36-yard line, the Yellow Jackets' defense answered with a stop of their own and the score would remain tied at 14 going into the fourth quarter.
With under 12 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter the Bearcats' defense forced yet another turnover, this time a fumble by the Yellow Jackets that gave Saint Vincent the ball on the Waynesburg 48-yard line. The defensive battle would continued as the Bearcats were forced to punt and pinned Waynesburg inside their own 20-yard line.
On the next Saint Vincent possession, the Bearcats appeared to catch a break when
Mike Kale's punt was touched by a Waynesburg player and recovered at the Yellow Jackets' nine-yard line by
Marvin Daney. On the next play, though, Waynesburg forced a fumble and got the ball back on their own five-yard line.
Saint Vincent's defense answered the call again and forced Waynesburg into their second consecutive three-and-out. The Yellow Jackets shanked the punt on fourth down and gave the Bearcats great field position at the Waynesburg 30-yard line. The botched punt then set up game-winning drive for Saint Vincent.
Smetanka finished the afternoon 16-of-35 for 136 yards and one touchdown. Kale and
Huey Ehredt finished with 70 yards and 66 yards, respectively, on the ground.
Jairus Marlow led the Saint Vincent receivers with three catches for 33 yards.
Christian Sutton and
Ricky Douglas each totaled three catches, as well. In all, seven different receivers had a catch in the contest.
Leading the way on defense for Saint Vincent was linebacker
Anthony Johnson with 10 tackles.
David Ribero had nine stops on the afternoon while
Chaz Coleman and
Armando Fortunato each contributed four.
With the win, Saint Vincent improves to 4-4, 3-3 in the PAC. The Bearcats return to action next Saturday, Nov. 5, at 1pm, hosting Westminster College in a PAC match-up at Chuck Noll Field.