Gallant effort vaults Grove City past Geneva, 13-7
GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Grove City College football team pulled out a 13-7 victory over visiting Geneva Saturday night at Robert E. Thorn Field. The Wolverines limited Geneva to just 60 net rushing yards overall and only 42 yards of total offense in the second half.
Junior nose tackle Jarred Frawley led the Wolverine defense with 12 total stops, including 5.5 for loss and 1.5 quarterback sacks. Grove City held Geneva scoreless on its final nine possessions of the night. Four of those drives netted negative yardage.
Geneva did take a 7-0 lead with 1:58 left in the first quarter on Gerard Muschette's one-yard touchdown run.
Grove City quickly countered however as junior tailback Blaine Miller caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Brian Pell. The pass capped an 8-play, 74-yard drive. Earlier in the drive, Pell threw a 24-yard pass to freshman wide receiver Anthony Ritchie on a third-and-8 play.
The Wolverines then surged ahead with 14:14 left in the game when Miller ran into the end zone on fourth-and-goal at the Geneva 1. The conversion failed.
Junior Ed Reith gave Grove City a goal-to-go situation five plays earlier with a 23-yard run. The touchdown closed a 12-play, 87-yard drive that consumed 7 minutes, 19 seconds.
Reith led Grove City with 57 rushing yards on six attempts. Miller added 36 yards on 16 carries. Pell completed 15 of 25 passes for 218 yards in his first collegiate start.
Senior wide receiver Zach Summy caught a season-high five passes for 69 yards. Miller had four catches for 61 yards and senior Luke O'Hara pulled in four passes for 44 yards.
Sophomore safety Shawn Mercer recorded a career-high nine tackles in his first start. Junior linebacker Marc Shamley had six stops and a half sack. Junior defensive tackle Marcus Chakot made six tackles and recovered a fumble.
Grove City outgained Geneva 331-216.
Muschette ran for 75 yards on 30 carries. He came into the game averaging 146 yards per game. Quarterback David Girardi completed 13 of 24 passes for 156 yards. Geneva entered the game averaging 31 points and 427 yards of offense per game.
Geneva owned a 31:54-28:06 edge in time of possession. Grove City went 1 for 10 on third downs while Geneva converted 7 of 13. Girardi did "quick kick" twice on third down in the game.
The Wolverines are now 2-2 all-time in night games at Thorn Field. Saturday night's game does not count in the conference standings due to Geneva's provisional status in NCAA Division III.
Grove City will visit Saint Vincent next Saturday at 1 p.m. in conference action.
