LATROBE, Pa. (Oct. 31) – The Saint Vincent College football team suffered a 40-18 defeat to visiting Westminster College in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) matchup on Senior Day at Chuck Noll Field.
Despite totaling 417 yards of offense and holding a significant advantage in time of possession, the Bearcats (4-3, 2-3 PAC) were unable to overcome several big plays by the Titans (4-4, 3-2 PAC), who scored 20 points in the second quarter to pull away.
Saint Vincent quarterback Jake Phillips completed 26 of 48 passes for 248 yards and two touchdowns, while Drahcir Jones led the Bearcats' rushing attack with 125 yards on 19 carries.
Chris Downs turned in a strong performance in the receiving game, hauling in nine passes for 138 yards and a touchdown. James Reyer added seven receptions for 49 yards, while Tristan Doy caught four passes for 34 yards and a score.
Westminster opened the scoring just two minutes into the contest when quarterback Quentin Goode broke free for a 38-yard touchdown run, giving the Titans an early 7-0 advantage.
The Bearcats responded with a lengthy 13-play, 70-yard drive that consumed nearly eight minutes of game time, culminating in a 27-yard field goal by Jarrett Garn with 9:46 remaining in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 7-3.
Westminster answered with three touchdowns over a span of less than three minutes late in the first half. Jayveerh White broke loose for a 90-yard touchdown run before Goode connected with Sean O'Shea for a 53-yard touchdown pass. The Titans then recovered a Saint Vincent fumble for a touchdown, extending their lead to 27-3 heading into halftime.
Neither team found the end zone in the third quarter, but the Bearcats opened the fourth with a five-play, 66-yard scoring drive. Phillips connected with Downs for a 36-yard touchdown pass, and Garn added the extra point to trim the Westminster lead to 27-10 with 13:39 remaining.
The Titans responded quickly, as White scored his second rushing touchdown of the afternoon on a 10-yard run to push the advantage to 34-10.
Westminster added another touchdown on a 26-yard run by Brady Prohovic with 3:07 remaining, extending its lead to 40-10.
Saint Vincent closed out the scoring in the final minutes when Phillips found Doy for a four-yard touchdown pass with 1:12 remaining. Phillips then connected with Reyer on the two-point conversion to account for the 40-18 final.
The Bearcats finished with 24 first downs compared to Westminster's 21 and held possession for 38:03, compared to just 21:57 for the Titans. Saint Vincent totaled 169 rushing yards and 248 passing yards, while Westminster finished with 515 yards of total offense, including 342 on the ground.
Defensively, Robbie Labuda and Patrick Connolly led the Bearcats with eight tackles apiece. Connolly also recorded a tackle for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery, while Nathan Parker added six tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.
Labuda and Devon Dean-Coles each recorded an interception for Saint Vincent, with Dean-Coles also finishing with five tackles and a pass breakup.
For Westminster, White led the rushing attack with 185 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries, while Goode threw for 132 yards and a touchdown.
Saint Vincent returns to action on Saturday, November 7 with a road PAC matchup at Bethany. Kick off is scheduled for 2 p.m. in West Virginia.
