Derek Stewart threw for 442 yards and 7 touchdowns, whileDalton Dietrich caught 10 passes - including three for touchdowns - to lead the Bearcats to a 57-32 win over Grove City College on Homecoming Day in Latrobe.
Stewart was 28-for-38 overall, and surpassed his own modern-day Bearcat record for passing yards with the effort, with Dietrich's receptions accounting for 151 yards. Stewart's passing total was the fifth highest in the 60+ year history of the Presidents' Athletic Conference, and his 7 TD passes equaled the all-time conference standard.
The beginning of the game gave no clues as to how things would end, as defense dominated much of the first quarter. SVC finally got on the board with 3:03 to go. Rushes of 15 and 12 yards by Shavonta Craftmoved the ball near hte red zone, then Stewart took off on a 16-yard quarterback keeper to the one-yard-line. After a three-yard loss moved the ball back to the four, Stewart threw a timing pattern pass to the back corner of the end zone, and Dietrich managed to make the catch and keep his feet in bounds for the score.
Down 7-0 early in the second, the Wolverines came right back, putting together a 13-play, 74-yard scoring drive that featured 10 rushes by Wesley Schools. The final run was for 8 yards into the end zone. However, a missed extra point left the Bearcats with a 7-6 lead.
SVC struck back in a hurry, with Stewart connecting with DJ Oceant-Kelly for a 71-yard catch-and-run, and the Sam Elliott point after made it a 14-6 game with 10:46 left in the second quarter.
After the SVC defense forced a Grove City punt, a balanced Bearcat offense went back to work. After Dietrich caught a pass for 19 yards, Jhanard Dorsett broke free for a 20-yard run, followed on the next play by an 18-yard run by Craft. Two plays later, Stewart threw a 2-yard pass into the end zone to Oceant-Kelly and SVC was in front 21-6.
On the kickoff, SVC was flagged for a personal foul, giving the Wolverines the ball at midfield. Six plays later, Brett Laffoon threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Nick Ponikvar, cutting the margin to eight, 21-13.
Saint Vincent drove downfield quickly, but the drive stalled at the Grove City 9, so Elliott came on and hit a 26-yard field goal to make it a 24-13 game, but the visitors answered with a 28-yard field goal by Mitch Causer as time expired in the half, sending the teams into the locker room with SVC in front, 24-16.
The second half started well for the Wolverines, as they scored on a 56-yard run by Schools on just the third play of the third quarter, cutting the margin to 24-22 after a missed extra point. However, the remainder of the quarter belonged mostly to the Bearcats. After Grove City's kickoff went out of bounds, Saint Vincent took over on the 35 yard line. Stewart started the drive by completing a 22-yard pass to Ryan Crawford, then threw four straight passes to Damon Black Jr, the last of which was for a 9-yard touchdown.
After a Grove City field goal made it a 30-25 game, Stewart answered with a 44-yard pass to Crawford, moving the ball to the visitors' 6-yard-line. On the next play, Craft ran the final distance to the end zone, making the score 36-25 after a missed PAT.
On their next drive, the Bearcats scored again, this time on a short pass from Stewart to Craft, which turned into a 63-yard scoring play as Craft eluded the defense and found the end zone. Elliott's extra point made it a 43-25 game with 5:07 left in the third.
After another Grove City punt, Stewart and Dietrich connected on three passes for 17, 7 and 24 yards, the last of which was a scoring pass that made the score 50-25 with less than a minute remaining in the third.
Early in the fourth, the visitors answered with an 11-yard scoring drive to make it a 50-32 game, but against it was Stewart and Dietrich teaming for a 28-yard touchdown pass, Stewart's record setting 7th of the game, to complete the scoring.
On the ground, Schools had a career-day for the Wolverines, rushing 39 times for 236 yards and three touchdowns. Laffoon was 18-for-35 through the air for 198 yards.
SVC's ground game was led by Craft, with 12 carries for 53 yards. Following Dietrich on the receptions list was Black, who caught 7 passes for 63 yards. Oceant-Kelly had 4 receptions for 83, while Crawford pulled in four passes for 75 yards.
Defensively, Kim Ornis, making his first start of the season for the Bearcats, led the team with 15 tackles, while Matt Jenkins had 13. Andrew Siefert led the Grove City defense with 7 tackles.
Saint Vincent now equals its mark from 1957 with a 4-0 start (2-0 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference). The team will be on the road next weekend (Saturday, October 1), traveling to Cleveland for a 6PM matchup against Case Western.
Stewart, Dietrich lead SVC to Homecoming win over Grove City
/seasons/2016/boxscores/20160924_e6il.xml
2016
Grove City
32
St. Vincent
57
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grove City (0-4) | 0 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 32 |
| St. Vincent (4-0) | 7 | 17 | 26 | 7 | 57 |
Sep 24, 2016