inBETHANY, W.Va. (Nov. 11) – Freshman Gino Caesar ran for a career-high 111 yards, while the Saint Vincent defense forced three turnovers, as the Bearcats closed out the 2023 season with a 29-21 road win over Bethany.
 
Along with Caesar's career performance, senior quarterback Austin Slye completed 15 of 24 passes for 218 yards, throwing for one touchdown and rushing for another, while Max Pisula ran for a pair of scores. Saint Vincent (3-7) amassed a season-high 358 yards of total offense, while holding Bethany (0-10) to just 294 yards on the day.  
 
Slye's 15 passes were completed to seven different receivers. Vinny Chirdon recorded a team-high 49 receiving yards on two grabs, while Austin Wells caught three balls for 45 yards, Kaelib McElroy three for 39, and Keegan O'Brien four for 27.
 
Defensively, junior linebacker Wiley Purry amassed a career-high 16 tackles, the second-highest single-game total in the program's modern era, while he closed his season with 111 total stops, breaking a 12-year old program record.    
 
Freshman Devon Dean-Coles and junior Ethan Facey each registered interceptions, while graduate defensive lineman Dwight Collins Jr. tallied a season-high nine tackles, and Alex St. Julien and KeShawn Davis each recorded quarterback sacks.
 
Saint Vincent received the game's opening kickoff and promptly marched down the field to take an early 3-0 lead on Justin Emeigh's 30-yard field goal just over five minutes into the quarter. Slye completed three passes for 50 yards on the opening trip, including a 19-yard screen pass to sophomore Brandon Saint-Preux and completions of 14 and 17 yards to McElroy.

After St. Julien's sack forced a three-and-out on Bethany's subsequent possession, the Bearcat offense went right back to work. Slye's 25-yard pass to Wells set up first down inside the Bethany 25-yard line, before the veteran completed an 8-yard pass to McElroy to set up first down inside the red zone. Two plays later, Slye and Wells hooked up again for a 9-yard touchdown to open up a 10-0 lead with 4:53 left in the quarter.
 
The second quarter opened with Davis' 6-yard sack on third down, and the Bearcats took over on their own 40 on the ensuing punt. Saint Vincent then used some trickery to add onto the lead, successfully executing a double-reverse flea-flicker for a 49-yard completion from Slye to freshman Vinny Chirdon to move the ball inside the 1-yard line. Pisula would then close out quick 4-play, 60-yard scoring drive by bullying into the end zone to extend the lead to 16-0 with 11:44 left in the half.
 
Bethany answered back with a pair of long scoring drives. With 6:43 left in the quarter, Luke Hilyard ran through the middle for a 5-yard score to make it 16-7, before the Bisons' final possession of the half ended with a 4-yard touchdown run from Charlie Mills to close the gap to 16-14 at the intermission.
 
Bethany's first trip of the second half ended when Purry stuffed the Bison for no gain on fourth-and-two near midfield. The Bearcat offense was forced to punt on its ensuing trip, with Kyle Murray's boot pinning the hosts inside their own 7-yard line. Bethany then gave the ball right back to SVC, with Dean-Coles picking off a pass at the 16. 
 
Slye would then increase the SVC lead on a dazzling 11-yard touchdown run. Faced with heavy pressure after the shotgun snap, Slye eluded a host of Bethany tacklers in the backfield, before racing down the sideline and burrowing through two more defenders and into the end zone. Emeigh's extra point would make the lead 23-14 with 9:24 left in the quarter.
 
Bethany refused to go away, answering right back with a 10-play, 85-yard scoring drive, capped off by a 5-yard touchdown pass from Miles Goffe to Jorden Alderige with 4:57 left in the quarter to again make it a two-point game, 23-21, which is how the score would remain entering the final stanza.

Saint Vincent's defense forced another turnover-on-downs to open up the fourth quarter, and the offense would then put together another productive scoring drive. The Bearcats opened the trip with six runs that netted 32 yards, with Caesar carrying the ball four times for 24 yards, before the rookie running back hauled in a 17-yard pass from Slye to set up first down at the Bethany 9. The Bison would cede just six yards over the next three plays, but the Bearcat offense stayed on the field on fourth down and Pisula scored from three yards out to up the lead to 29-21 with 6:11 left in regulation.
 
Bethany's next trip ended with a three-and-out, and the Bearcats took over at their own 32 with 4:32 left. Facing third-and-four with 3:00 left to play, Caesar ripped off his longest run of the day, a 35-yarder that set up first down on the Bethany 27 – and gave the rookie Saint Vincent's first 100-yard rushing game of the season - with 2:34 to go. After the Bison used their final two timeouts, Caesar would then seal the game with a 4-yard run on third-and-three with less than a minute remaining.
 
Along with Caesar notching the team's first 100-yard game of the season, Pisula closed the year with eight rushing touchdowns, tied for the third-most in a season in program history, while he upped his career total to 14, also the third-most for a Bearcat in the team's modern era.
 
Mills ran 18 times for 74 yards to lead Bethany, while Goffe completed 12 of 24 passes for 157 yards, and Tim Mickens made six receptions for 74 yards. Rondell Lewis led Bethany with 15 tackles.