LATROBE, Pa. (Oct. 7) – The Saint Vincent College football team saw its two-game winning streak come to an end with a 19-0 loss to Case Western Reserve at Chuck Noll Field.
After being limited to just a pair of field goals over the first three quarters, the visiting Spartans (4-1, 4-1 PAC) pulled away with a pair of touchdowns in the early stages of the fourth, while keeping the Saint Vincent (2-3, 2-3 PAC) offense in check.
The teams traded scoreless trips to open the first quarter, with SVC forcing a Case Western Reserve punt on the opening drive, before the Bearcats' first possession ended with a missed field goal. The Spartans would then embark on a lengthy drive to advance inside the red zone, but the Bearcat defense would hold, forcing Case Western Reserve to settle for a 30-yard field goal to open up a 3-0 lead with 5:28 left in the quarter.
On Saint Vincent's ensuing trip, Austin Slye threw for a pair of first downs, first on a 12-yard completion to Matthew Esdelle and then on a 9-yard, third down toss to Jeffrey Downs II to move inside the Spartan 40. Slye would then find Wayne Corbin Jr. for four yards, before a 5-yard Gino Caesar run set up fourth-and-one on the Case 30. The Bearcats elected to go for it, but were stopped for no gain and turned the ball over on downs with 1:19 left in the quarter.
The Bearcat defense returned the favor on Case's next trip. The Spartans closed the quarter with a 24-yard pass, before a 20-yard completion opened up the second frame and moved the ball inside the Saint Vincent 22. On first down, Case quarterback Alex Fromberg scrambled for five yards to the 16, but the Bearcats then forced three straight incompletions to take the ball over on downs with 13:06 left in the half.
Following an SVC punt, the Bearcat defense again came up big, with Andrew Gelin's 5-yard sack of Fromberg preceding Wiley Purry's interception at the goal line to thwart the Case scoring chance.
A similar scenario would play out just moments later, this time with SVC's Ethan Facey making a diving interception on a first down pass at the Saint Vincent 34 yard line.
The Bearcats' subsequent drive looked to stall out, but on fourth down, a successful fake punt saw Kyle Murray run for 14 yards and a first down at the Case 46. Slye would follow with a 20-yard completion to Dammion Bundridge, but a holding penalty on SVC would hamper the drive, which would end on a fumble on the final snap of the first half.
After the two squads traded punts to open the third quarter, Case looked primed to add to the lead after picking off a pass on the SVC 15-yard line. The Bearcats held strong, allowing just two yards over the next three plays, forcing the Spartans to settle for another 30-yard field goal to extend the lead to 6-0 with 8:30 left in the quarter.
A pair of penalties hampered the Bearcats' next trip, and the Spartans would then embark on a 10-play, 64-yard drive that culminated with a 16-yard touchdown run by Gage Duesler on the second play of the fourth quarter. After a failed two-point conversion try, the Spartans held a 12-0 lead with 14:08 left in regulation.
Less than three minutes later, the Spartans added on, with a 46-yard touchdown pass from Fromberg to Riley Knurek on a slant opening up a 19-0 advantage with 11:28 to go.
The Bearcats then looked to embark on a fruitful drive, with Slye completing a 34-yard third down pass to Keegan O'Brien, followed by a 30-yard completion to Esdelle, to set up first-and-goal at the 8-yard line. The drive stalled, however, with the Spartans forcing incompletions on both third and fourth downs to take over at their own 5. It was the final possession of the afternoon for the Bearcats, as the Spartans would go to the ground to eat up the remaining 7:19 and seal the win.
Slye completed 17 of 34 passes for a career-high 206 yards. Esdelle led the SVC receiving corps, making five catches for 74 yards, while O'Brien finished with two grabs for 43 yards and Kaelib McElroy three for 33.
The Bearcat ground game was limited to just 56 yards on 25 attempts, with Caesar and Ty Murray each netting 15 yards.
Nathan Sullivan led the SVC defense with eight tackles, while Purry and Robbie Labuda were each credited with seven. Max Pisula, the reigning PAC Defensive Player of the Week, tallied 2.5 tackles for loss, while Josiah Wyandt made six tackles, including a half sack, and Gelin finished with 1.5 quarterback takedowns.
For Case Western Reserve, Fromberg completed 17 of 26 passes for 238 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions. Duesler ran or a team-high 48 yards, while Knurek finished with four catches for 93 yards. Defensively, Osi Chukwuocha, Gabe Troch and Kaden Tong each had six tackles, with Tong adding a solo sack.
The Bearcats will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 14, traveling south to take on PAC foe Waynesburg University beginning at 1 p.m.
