GREENVILLE, Pa. (Nov. 2) – The Saint Vincent football team saw a late lead slip away, falling 20-10 at Thiel College in a Presidents' Athletic Conference matchup at Stoeber Field.
Thiel (2-6) scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:57 left in the fourth quarter, utilizing a 10-play, 99-yard drive to take a 14-10 lead. The Tomcats would then put the Bearcats (1-8) away for good with an insurance touchdown with 30 seconds remaining.
The Bearcats opened the game in fine fashion, taking the opening kick and embarking on a 14-play, 60-yard drive to take a 7-0 lead on senior
Billy Beck's touchdown run with 6:17 left in the opening quarter. The drive featured a healthy run/pass mix, with Beck and freshman
Isaiah Sosak combining for 24 rushing yards and sophomore quarterback
Lance Bender completing four passes for 55 yards, including two passes to sophomore
Keegan O'Brien covering 41 yards.
The SVC defense would then turn Thiel over on downs on back-to-back trips, before the Tomcats' second possession of the second quarter ended with a fumble forced by senior
Wiley Purry and recovered by freshman
David Simouang.
The Bearcats were unable to pay for the Tomcat turnover, however, and the hosts would get on the board with 2:09 left in the second quarter on a 3-yard touchdown run by Deon Logan to tie the game at 7-7.
SVC answered right back with another productive drive to end the half. Taking over at their own 38 after the kickoff following Logan's touchdown, Bender completed a 14-yard pass to O'Brien and a 19-yarder to
Austin Wells to advance into Thiel territory. The Bearcats continued to matriculate down the field, and were aided by a Tomcat penalty that set up first down at the Thiel 14 with 1:10 left. After a Beck run and a Bender completion to senior
Jeffrey Downs II took the clock inside 10 seconds, senior
Adam Koscielicki buried a 22-yard field goal to give the Bearcats a 10-7 lead at the intermission.
After a scoreless third quarter saw each team punt twice as well as another turnover-on-downs forced by the SVC defense, the final frame began with three more punts over its first three minutes, with sophomore
Daishaun Alexander's fifth boot of the day downing the Tomcats inside their own 1-yard line with 10:01 left in regulation.
The hosts would then embark on the eventual game-winning drive, with the 99-yard venture capped off by Daniel Rennie's 4-yard pass over the middle finding Joseph Blake for the touchdown to go in front, 14-10, with 1:57 left.
Saint Vincent turned it over on downs at its own 13 on the ensuing drive, and Thiel took advantage of the short field, with Rennie completing an 11-yard touchdown pass on fourth down to Jayveehr White with 32 seconds left to account for the final score.
Bender completed 13 of 28 passes for 138 yards and two interceptions for the Bearcats, with O'Brien hauling in four grabs for 47 yards, and Wells three for 43. Beck topped SVC with 48 rushing yards on 48 carries, while Sosak amassed 23 yards on nine tries.
Defensively, freshman
Nathan Parker led Saint Vincent with 12 tackles, while Purry added nine along with his forced fumble. Freshman
Fred Woodfork made eight stops, including 1.5 for loss and a half sack shared with senior teammate
KeShawn Davis, who totaled 2.0 TFLs among his four tackles.
Rennie completed 24 of 31 passes for 271 yards and two touchdowns for Thiel, with White making four catches for 89 yards, and Logan rushing 20 times for 73 yards.
Thiel outgained Saint Vincent 367-187 in total offense on the day and held the edge in time of possession, 35:18 – 24:42.
Saint Vincent will now close out the 2024 season on Saturday, Nov. 9, hosting Bethany College at 1 p.m. on Senior Day at Chuck Noll Field.
