BETHANY, W.Va. (Nov. 10) - The Saint Vincent College football team closed the 2018 season with a 35-0 loss at Bethany College in Presidents' Athletic Conference play in West Virginia. The annual Green Game was played as a part of the conference's rivalry week.
The host Bison completely stifled the Bearcats offense on the afternoon. SVC was held to just 86 yards of total offense on 58 plays. This marks the first time the Bearcats have been shut out since Sept. 6, 2014 in a road loss to John Carroll University.
Saint Vincent looked poised for a strong start as
Shandon Marsden returned the game's opening kickoff 56 yards to set up the Bearcats at the Bison 32 yard line. However, a dropped pass and a sack by Bethany backed SVC up to a 3rd and long opportunity before eventually punting the ball away.
After
Christian Witchey pinned Bethany inside its 10-yard line, the Bison marched 94 yards on 12 plays to opening the scoring. The drive was capped by a 32 yard touchdown pass by Carlin Bason to Stephon Carter on a 4th and 8 play at the SVC 32-yard line. Sean Cole tacked on the point after to make it 7-0 Bethany with 6:38 left in the opening quarter.
On its second possession, Saint Vincent would again advance into Bethany territory, using a 22-yard pass by
Zavion Thompson to
Philip Harding to move the ball to the Bison 27. However, the Bison defense forced a Thompson fumble on the very next play to end the Bearcat drive. On the next Bethany possession, the SVC defense came up with a stop on 4th and 2, giving SVC possession at the Bethany 38-yard line.
For the third consecutive time to open the game, Saint Vincent held possession in the Bison end of the field. However, the Bethany defense came up with a turnover on downs on a fourth and six play to open the second quarter.
The SVC continued to play strong in the first half, as
Zack Altieri intercepted a pass by Bethany backup quarterback Dom Salinetro. Both teams traded punts on their next three possessions to keep the score at 7-0. Late in the second quarter, Joseph Fiasco put together a nice punt return to set up the Bison in Bearcat territory with 1:12 remaining in the half. Bethany drove 45 yards on just four plays, pushing the lead to 14-0 on a nine-yard touchdown pass from Bason to Hunter Klein with 22 seconds left in the half.
Bethany opened the game up in the third quarter, taking on three more touchdowns to put the game out of reach at 35-0. Bason tossed two more touchdowns to give him a career-high four touchdown passes. Meanwhile, Saint Vincent was unable to record a first down the entire third quarter. Three of the five third quarter drives for SVC ended in punts, while another finished up on a turnover on downs and the other on a lost fumble.
Both teams were held scoreless in the fourth quarter to close the final score at 35-0.
Despite the decisive loss, the Bearcat defense held the Bison to 270 yards of total offense (98 rushing and 172 passing). The Saint Vincent offense was the story of the game, as the unit recorded a season-low 86 yards, lost two fumbles and turned the ball over on downs twice in the contest. The Bison defense also recorded four sacks as they made it difficult for the Bearcats to get anything going offensively.
Bason had the notable offensive performance of the game, recording four touchdowns and 224 total yards. Klein hauled in two touchdown receptions for the Bison.
Mike Stasko rushed 12 times for 16 yards to lead the Bearcat rushing attack, while
Aaron Austin grabbed two catches for 15 yards. Thompson completed 11 of 25 passes for 79 yards.
Defensively,
Hauns White paced all players with nine tackles and a sack.
Cody Henry put together a strong effort in his final contest, recording eight tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack.
Izaak Gray added seven tackles, while
Caleb Collins capped a solid freshman season with six stops.
Witchey punted 11 times for 400 yards, an average of 36.4 per punt.
Saint Vincent closed the season at 1-9 overall and 1-8 in league play. Meanwhile, Bethany finishes the season at 5-5 overall and 5-4 in PAC games.
