LATROBE, Pa. (Sept. 16) – The Saint Vincent football team rode a stellar defensive performance and a balanced offensive attack to earn a 23-19 victory over Allegheny College on Homecoming at Chuck Noll Field.
 
The Saint Vincent (1-2, 1-2 Presidents' Athletic Conference) defense limited Allegheny (1-2, 1-2 PAC) to just 194 yards of total offense, while the Bearcat offense possessed the ball for nearly 38 minutes and amassed a season-high 324 yards.
 
Rookie Ty Martin paced the Saint Vincent offense, rushing 15 times for a career-high 96 yards, while classmate Gino Caesar gained 43 yards on nine tries. Quarterback Austin Slye turned in an efficient performance under center, completing 16 of 26 passes for 164 yards and a touchdown to Kaelib McElroy, who made five grabs for 74 yards.
 
Defensively, Dwight Collins Jr. led the Barcats with 10 tackles and Wiley Purry nine, while Collins, Josiah Weyandt, Payton Hrehovchak and Andrew Gelin all recording quarterback sacks.
 
Holding onto the four-point lead, Bearcat punter Kyle Murray pinned the Gators inside the 4-yard line with 52 seconds remaining, and the SVC defense would then cap off its solid day by forcing a turnover on downs to seal the win.
 
While Murray's special teams play capped off the victory, the game also started with a pair of wild plays on the kicking unit. Just two minutes into the first quarter, a Saint Vincent field goal attempt was blocked by the Gators' David Babb, who raced 68 yards for the touchdown.
 
The ensuing extra point attempt was then blocked by SVC's Ahmad Shaw and recovered by Ethan Facey, who completed a 97-yard dash down the sideline and into the end zone to promptly cut the deficit to 6-2 with 12:14 to go in the quarter.
 
The two teams traded punts over the next several minutes, before the SVC defense came up with a big turnover in the closing minutes of the frame. On second-and-10 near midfield, Max Pisula stripped Gator quarterback Jack Johnson, with Brandon Nolder recovering the fumble on the Allegheny 44 with 1:35 left in the quarter. The Bearcats would then ride Martin, who ran four times for 38 yards to set up first-and-goal at the Allegheny 7 in the opening minute of the second quarter. An Allegheny unsportsmanlike penalty set up first-and-goal at the 5, before Pisula, in the wildcat position, rumbled in for the touchdown. Justin Emeigh's extra point was good to give the Bearcats a 9-6 lead with 13:33 left in the half.
 
On Allegheny's next trip, SVC's defense held on a fourth-and-one run attempt at midfield, and the Bearcat offense looked to take advantage of the miscue. Caesar ran three times for 20 yards, before Slye completed a pair of passes for seven yards to advance the ball inside the Allegheny 10. The drive would stall, however, as the Gator defense forced a fumble on first-and-goal with 3:19 left in the half.
 
It was the final scoring chance for either team in the quarter, as the Bearcats took the 9-6 lead into the break.
 
Receiving the kick to open the second half, Saint Vincent methodically advanced the ball downfield. Martin ran four times for 33 yards to move inside the 30, before a 9-yard completion from Slye to McElroy pushed the Bearcats inside the red zone. Following an Allegheny unsportsmanlike penalty and a 9-yard pass to Brandon Saint-Preux, the Bearcats moved to the 3-yard line, but the Gator defense snuffed out a run on fourth-and-goal to quash the 15-play, 68-yard drive.
 
The SVC defense promptly forced a three-and-out, and the Bearcats took over on the Allegheny 45. Just two plays later, Slye found McElroy wide open down the middle for a 44-yard touchdown to open up a 16-6 lead with 4:51 left in the third quarter.
 
The game's next points were scored midway through the fourth quarter, as the Gators took advantage of a botched SVC punt attempt and marched 34 yards in nine plays, with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Jack Johnson to Declan O'Brien closing the gap to 16-13 with 7:46 left in regulation.
 
The Bearcats wasted little time in answering back. On the first play of the ensuing drive, Slye completed a 27-yard pass to Matthew Esdelle over the middle, advancing the ball inside the Allegheny 40. Following a 30-yard run by Martin, Pisula capped off the drive with another 2-yard plunge through the middle to up the SVC lead to 23-13 with 4:03 left.
 
The Gators would then go to the air to cut into the deficit, with Johnson promptly completing four passes for 50 yards to advance to the SVC 17, before Tre Worship closed out the 8-play, 75-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown run to make it 23-19 with 2:19 left.
 
The Bearcats were unable to gain any ground on their next trip, but Murray's end-over-end punt would back the Gators up inside the shadow of their own goalposts with inside a minute left. A pair of Johnson completions advanced the Gators to their own 14, but on fourth-and-seven, his final pass fell incomplete to end the game.
 
Saint Vincent amassed 25 first downs to the Gators' 14, while the Bearcats held a 36:11 – 23:49 advantage in time of possession. Along with holding the Gators to more than 220 yards under their season average, the Bearcat defense limited the visitors to just 5-for-13 on third-down attempts and 0-for-3 on fourth down tries.
 
Johnson completed 16 of 132 passes for 134 yards and a touchdown, while Worship ran 16 times for 47 yards and O'Brien caught six passes for 73 yards. Defensively, Malcolm Denomme recorded 13 tackles, including 4.0 for loss, to lead the Gators, while Travis Dear had nine tackles, 1.5 TFLs, and a fumble recovery.
 
The Bearcats will now head into their bye week, before traveling to Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, to take on longtime PAC foe Geneva College at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 30.