MEADVILLE, Pa. (Oct. 22) – Senior quarterback
Brady Walker tied a career high with five touchdown passes to lead the Saint Vincent football team to a 52-35 victory in an offensive shootout at Allegheny College.
With their second straight victory, the Bearcats improved to 3-2 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference and 3-4 overall, while the Gators dropped to 1-4 in the PAC and 2-5 overall.
Behind Walker's 315 passing yards, the Bearcats recorded a season-high 439 yards of total offense and amassed 28 first downs.
Molayo Irefin was one of five Bearcats to record touchdown receptions in the win, while he led the squad with nine receptions for 103 yards.
Wayne Corbin Jr.,
Ja'Tier Berkley,
Ryan Whitman and
Jeffrey Downs II also made touchdown grabs for SVC.
D.J. Gray Jr. ran for a team-high 75 yards on 13 carries, while Berkley ran nine times for 43 yards and
Max Pisula ran for a pair of touchdowns for the second time this season.
After Irefin returned the game's opening kickoff 33 yards, the Bearcats wasted little time in taking the lead, with Walker connecting with Corbin for a nine-yard score just 2:09 into play. On the opening drive, which spanned six plays and 67 yards, Walker went 4-for-5 for 65 yards, including two completions to Irefin for 45 yards.
The Gators answered with a pair of unanswered touchdowns to take a 13-7 lead at the close of the first quarter, but the Bearcats would seize the momentum with 17 unanswered points before the intermission.
Saint Vincent regained the lead for good with 12:30 left in the second half when a one-yard touchdown plunge from Pisula capped off a 9-play, 75-yard drive and put SVC up 14-13.
Ethan Facey's second interception of the season ended the Gators' next drive prematurely, and the Bearcats would make the hosts pay for the miscue. Gray opened up the ensuing drive with a pair of rushes for 12 yards, before Walker hooked up with Irefin for a 23-yard completion and
Kaelib McElroy for a 31-yarder to set up first-and-goal at the Allegheny 3. Walker and Irefin would then close out the scoring drive with a 3-yard connection to put the visitors in front 21-13.
May's sack on third down forced the Gators to punt on their next drive, before the Bearcats closed out the first half scoring in record-breaking fashion. Rookie
Justin Emeigh booted a school-record 42-yard field goal with 52 seconds left to make the score 24-13. Emeigh's kick broke the previous Saint Vincent mark of 41 yards set by Matt Houston on Oct. 13, 2007 against Thomas More College.
The two teams traded punts to open up the third quarter, before Facey came up with another big play defensively, forcing and recovering a fumble on the Allegheny 14-yard line. After a 13-yard Gray run set up first-and-goal inside the 1-yard line, Pisula dove in for his second score of the day to give the Bearcats a 31-21 lead with 10:53 left in the third quarter.
The Gators pulled to within 31-20 when Jack Johnson's quarterback-keeper capped off a long, 11-play, 77-yard drive with 7:07 left in the quarter, but Saint Vincent answered right back. Berkley rushed twice for 20 yards, before Walker connected with
Scott Garlock for a 20-yard completion to move the ball to the Allegheny 10. Berkley would then scamper from 10 yards out to up the SVC lead to 17 points with 5:17 remaining in the quarter.
Just four minutes later, the Bearcat advantage grew to 45-21 when Walker threw his fourth touchdown of the day, this one to Whitman from 12 yards out, with 1:12 left in the third.
After Tre Worship's 1-yard touchdown run capped off a 20-play, 70-yard Allegheny drive with 10:37 left in regulation, the Bearcats quickly struck back for their final touchdown of the afternoon, with Walker connecting with Downs for a 42-yard strike with 9:03 left in regulation.
Saint Vincent out-gained Allegheny 439-366 in total offense, with the Bearcats averaging 6.8 yards per play and holding a decisive edge in time of possession, 32:24 – 27:26. The Bearcats went 6-for-11 on third down conversions.
Walker turned in just the fourth five-touchdown performance in program history and the second of his career, having previously done so on Apr 17, 2021, in a win over Waynesburg. The Allegheny contest also marked Walker's fifth career 300-yard passing performance, and Irefin's seventh career 100-yard receiving effort.
Derius May paced the SVC offense with 10 tackles, including 2.0 for loss and a sack.
Joanes Polynice finished with eight tackles and 1.0 TFL, while
Desonio Powell and
Caleb Green teamed up for a sack. In all, seven different SVC players were credited with at least a half tackle for loss.
Worship paced the Allegheny offense, rushing 32 times for 135 yards and two touchdowns. Jack Johnson completed 14 of 33 pass attempts for 170 yards and one touchdown, caught by Declan O'Brien, who finished with a team-high five catches for 67 yards. Hudson Alread led Allegheny with eight tackles.
The Bearcats will look to up their winning streak to three games when they travel to Pittsburgh on Saturday, Oct. 29, to take on PAC-leading Carnegie Mellon University. It will mark Saint Vincent's final road contest of the 2022 campaign.
