Allegheny 28, Bethany 0
BETHANY, W.Va. — Hampered by two early interceptions which
led directly to Allegheny touchdowns, the Bethany College football
team could not recover and dropped a 28-0 decision to the Gators in
the season opener for both programs Saturday at Bison Stadium.
The Gators had a chance to score on their first possession, but a
missed field goal kept the game scoreless. On the third play after
Bethany took possession, BC freshman QB Matt Grimard was picked off
by Sid Facaros to give Allegheny possession at the Bison 31. Three
straight completions put the first points on the board, as AC
quarterback T.J. Salopek tossed a 12-yard scoring pass to Terry
Hartford.
Following the kickoff, Bethany pieced together their best drive of
the day. Grimard threw two completions for 29 yards to junior RB
Eric Walker, who also ran 20 yards on the march. Another big play
was a nine-yard connection from Grimard to junior WR Alex Evans on
fourth-and-three. The drive reached the Gator 22 when Doug Williams
intercepted a Grimard aerial at the 16 and returned it to the AC
43, ending what proved to be Bethany's best chance of the
game.
Allegheny took advantage of the miscue again, as they went 58
yards in 10 plays to double their advantage to 14-0. A third-down
pass interference call on Bethany kept the drive going and the
Gators reached paydirt when Salopek hit Hartford with a two-yard
scoring pass for a 14-0 lead.
Just before halftime, the Gators tacked on another score when
Salopek connected with Rob Carlisle on a 10-yard touchdown pass
with 28 seconds to go in the second period to make it a 21-0
visitor lead at the break. Allegheny completed the scoring late in
the third quarter with Salopek's fourth scoring pass of the
game, a nine-yard strike to David Strawser.
Meanwhile, the Bethany offense struggled to find a rhythm all day.
They finished the game with four turnovers and only 202 yards of
offense. Walker was a bright spot, as he rushed for 73 yards on 18
carries and caught a team-high six passes for 42 yards.
Despite the 28 points allowed, BC's defense limited
Allegheny to 288 total yards of offense, the second-lowest total
given up by the Green and White since the 2007 season. Junior FS
Jeff Joyce and sophomore LB Kyle Arrington each made 11 tackles and
junior DE Kasib Taalib-Din finished with eight hits, one sacks and
broke up on pass.
Bethany will aim to even their record at 1-1 next week when they
travel to King's for the PAC-MAC Showdown. King's
suffered a 31-7 loss in their opening week contest at Springfield.
Kickoff in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., next Saturday is slated for 1
p.m.
