LATROBE, Pa. (Sept. 2) – The Saint Vincent College football team was defeated, 51-0, by Washington & Jefferson College in both teams' 2023 season-opener.
 
The Saint Vincent (0-1) offense managed just 139 yards of total offense and was hamstrung by four turnovers, while W&J amassed 574 yards of total offense and held a 35-7 advantage in first downs.
 
The Presidents took the lead just over nine minutes into the first quarter, capping off a 10-play, 60-yard drive with a 9-yard touchdown pass from Jacob Pugh to John Peduzzi. After an SVC three-and-out, the Presidents came right back with another lengthy scoring drive, with a 15-yard touchdown run from Troy Volpatti closing out a 13-play, 75-yard drive and pushing the visitors in front 14-0.
 
The SVC defense forced a pair of W&J punts in the opening eight minutes of the second quarter, before the Bearcats forced a W&J turnover-on-downs inside the 10-yard line to keep it a two-score game with 2:33 left in the half.
 
On the ensuing drive, the Bearcats were forced to punt, with Kyle Murray blasting a 66-yarder to pin the Presidents inside their own 25-yard line with 1:35 remaining. The visitors, however, wasted little time adding onto the lead, marching 76 yards in nine plays to take a 21-0 lead on a 14-yard hookup from Pugh to Peduzzi with eight seconds left in the quarter.
 
After the late second quarter score, W&J would use a stifling defense and balanced offense to pull away over the second half.  
 
In his collegiate debut, rookie Ty Martin paced the Saint Vincent offense by gaining 60 yards on eight carries, while Molayo Irefin corralled three receptions for 33 yards. SVC quarterback Austin Slye went 9-for-17 for 63 yards.
 
Defensively, Wiley Purry made a team-high 11 tackles, including 1.0 tackle for loss, while Kyle Murray recorded nine tackles and Nathan Sullivan eight. Jake Beistel tallied four stops, including 1.5 TFLs.
 
Murray also led the SVC special teams efforts, averaging 38.0 yards on seven punts, including a career-high 66-yarder, while Daishaun Alexander booted a 62-yard punt on his first career attempt.
 
The Bearcats will return to action on Saturday, Sept. 9, traveling to two-time defending PAC champion Carnegie Mellon for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Gesling Stadium in Pittsburgh.