Game Leaders
Team Stats
Passing Yards
Rushing Yards
Turnovers
Time of Poss.
GREENVILLE, Pa. – Freshmen tailbacks Kevin Daly and Evan Imgrund and quarterback Ryan Radke combined for 310 yards on the ground Saturday night, leading the Thiel Tomcats to a season-opening 37-21 non-conference victory over the visiting Allegheny Gators at Alumni Stadium.
In all, the Tomcats outgained the Gators 334-42 on the ground. The Tomcats also picked up 25 first downs compared to Allegheny's nine first downs.
After receiving the opening kickoff, Keyonia Dennis put the finishing touches on a 5-play drive when he scored on a three-yard run. The Gators tied up the game 7-7 on their second possession of the game when Logan Lee tossed a 44-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Smith.
Thiel took the lead back 14-7 on its next possession when Radke tossed a 24-yard touchdown pass to Alex Horvatits, capping off a six-play, 48-yard drive. The Tomcats extended their lead to 21-7 when Dennis scored his second touchdown of the contest, this time on a 28-yard scamper that finished off a nine-play march over 62 yards.
After Juwan Campbell cut Thiel's lead back down to seven points on a two-yard run with 8:42 remaining in the first half, Colin Peal booted what proved to be the eventual game-winning field goal from 23 yards out with 3:13 left before the break.
The two teams traded touchdowns late in the first half. Gator signal-caller Jon Nigro threw a 58-yard touchdown strike to Smith, but Thiel quarterback Pat Shaffer came back with an 18-yard pass of his own to freshman wide receiver Paul Jones with 2:22 remaining before halftime.
After a scoreless third quarter, Imgrund put an exclamation point on the win when he scored on a 62-yard run early in the fourth quarter to cement the Tomcats' 37-21 win.
Daly led the Tomcats with 115 yards on the ground while Radke ran for 104 yards. Imgrund ran for 91 yards and scored a touchdown while Dennis ran for 36 yards and scored two touchdowns.
Radke completed 11-of-18 passes for 142 yards. He threw one touchdown pass. Shaffer connected on seven of the 10 passes he threw for 82 yards and one touchdown pass.
Nigro completed seven passes for 160 yards and one touchdown pass for Allegheny. Smith paced the Gators with 26 yards on the ground.
Thiel's defense stuffed Allegheny's offense all night. The Tomcats surrendered just 251 yards of offense and came up with nine tackles for a loss of yards and six sacks. Senior defensive tackle Nick Ravida, who received the game ball, recorded three tackles for a loss of yards and 2.5 sacks. Senior defensive end Reily Shane also tallied three tackles for a loss of yards, two sacks, two pass breakups and a quarterback hurry.
The Tomcats (1-0) will travel to Bethany, W.Va., next Saturday to face the Bethany Bison in a non-conference matchup. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.