BOX SCORE

PHOTO GALLERY

By Steve Janik, Sports Information Assistant

The Bearcats dropped a non-conference game at home to Carnegie Mellon University, 34-7.

Carnegie Mellon's first drive created promise for Saint Vincent when on the fourth play, safety Dan Wirkowski intercepted a Rob Kalkstein pass at at the Tartan 38-yard line and took it down inside the redzone for a 23-yard return to the CMU 15. However, a holding penalty, a tackle in the backfield and a Carnegie Mellon sack stalled all momentum for the Bearcats and they were forced to punt.

CMU had a chance for a 27-yard field goal just before the end of the first quarter. Darius Brown cut the corner and blocked the kick, giving the momentum back to the Bearcats with 0:33 seconds left.

A scoreless first quarter would quickly change in the second, after Carnegie Mellon used a 10-play 55-yard drive, ending on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Kalkstein to Tim Swanson to break the stalemate. The ensuing kickoff was returned for a touchdown by Brown; however, an illegal block in the back penalty negated the score. Saint Vincent would be forced to punt for the sixth time in the first half.

With just 0:19 left in the first half, CMU was down to the Saint Vincent 43-yard line when Tim Kikta fumbled a reception that was recovered by Dwayne Brown, ending all hopes of a late score from the Tartans, who had the 7-0 half-time advantage.

The Bearcats received the ball to start the second half, and showed promise after Andy Borgen and David Butler connected on a 13-yard reception, near midfield. However, two plays later a fumble was scooped up by Alex D'Angelo of Carnegie Mellon and returned 45 yards for a touchdown, giving the Tartans the 14-0 lead with just under 14 minutes left in the third quarter.

Saint Vincent showed a burst of momentum with 9:02 to go in the third after Matt Deakins stepped in at quarterback and tried to engineer a scoring drive that went six plays 32 yards, highlighted by a Ryan Crawford 31-yard burst. The drive ended in a punt, and Carnegie Mellon gave it right back five plays later.

That very next drive, Saint Vincent attempted a fourth down conversion at the CMU 32-yard line, with just under four minutes left in the quarter. Jack Butler stepped in front of the Deakins pass and intercepted it, taking it 68 yards for another Carnegie Mellon touchdown, and the 21-0 lead.

To start the fourth quarter, CMU went down the field in 17 plays, for 68 yards, finishing it with a 5 yard run from running back Zach Cree, followed by a failed PAT making it 27-0. After the Bearcats were forced to punt again, CMU scored again, this time on 3 plays, 42 yards on a 41-yard pass from Andrew Hearon to Chris Herrera.

The Bearcats finally got on the board with under a minute left to play when Greg Hendershot put together a 78-yard drive on 10 plays, finishing it with a 1-yard sneak for a touchdown. The Steven Scherer PAT made the score 34-7.

The Bearcats attempted an onside kick and the Tartans recovered it, ending the game after two kneel downs.

Crawford led Saint Vincent with 62 yards rushing on 10 carries. Borgen finished 8-of-18 for 82 yards and Hendershot went five-of-six for 72 yards in his only series. Dustin Lowman led the receiving corps with six catches for 74 yards and David Butler added four grabs for 45 yards.

Defensively, Saint Vincent recorded 13 tackles for loss on the day, including 3.5 (and 1.0 sack) by Renny LaRue-Holloman, who also led the team with 14 stops (six solo). Jake Keller added eight tackles and 2.0 TFL and Mitchell DePellegrini also contributed 2.0 TFL, including 1.0 sack, with four total stops.

With the loss, Saint Vincent drops to 0-4 and Carnegie Mellon improves to 3-2 on the season.

SVC returns to action next Saturday October 12, at Thiel. Kickoff is scheduled for 3PM.