Lebanon Valley Goes To 2-0 With Grove City Win
GROVE CITY, Pa. - Three passing touchdowns from Colt Zarilla and another 100-yard rushing game from Ben Guiles led Lebanon Valley to its 400th win in program history, 27-7, over Grove City as part of the PAC-MAC Challenge on Saturday.
The Dutchmen improved to 2-0 with a mistake-free performance, committing no turnovers and holding the Wolverines (0-2) to only 187 yards of offense, including 51 yards on the ground.
The game represented the return trip for Lebanon Valley as part of the PAC-MAC Challenge series, a two-year committment between members of the two conferences. Grove City won in Annville, 17-14, last season.
Zarilla was 16-for-24 for 206 yards and three touchdowns, finding Joey Miller in the end zone twice and roping another to Matt Mankiewicz. Guiles ran for 103 yards with a touchdown, part of 200 yards rushing overall for the Dutchmen.
After leading 13-0 at the half, Lebanon Valley finished the game off with two unanswered touchdowns to blow open a one-score contest following Grove City's lone touchdown, a five-yard Blaine Miller run in the third quarter.
"When they scored to make it a one-score game and we came right back and answered the bell, that took some wind out of their sails and then our defense took over," head coach Jim Monos said. "Colt did some nice things. He managed the game in the second half and got us in the right play."
Joey Miller's 20-yard catch late in the first quarter put LVC up 6-0 after a missed PAT, and Mankiewicz caught his second of the year from seven yards out in the second quarter to go up 13-0.
Blaine Miller finished off a long 15-play, 91-yard drive to get the hosts on the board in the third quarter, but LVC answered on the next drive with Guiles' fifth rushing touchdown of the season from nine yards out. Miller finished it off with his second TD catch of the day to cap a 93-yard drive in the fourth.
"We're really getting the edge which is nice, but when we need to drop back we can do it," Zarilla said. "We have a lot of confidence. We're 2-0."
GAME NOTES
Lebanon Valley is 400-537-37 all-time since 1897 ... The road trip to Grove City (196 miles) was LVC's longest since a 236-mile jaunt to Washington & Lee in 1983 ... It was LVC's first turnover-free game since 2009 at Albright ... Guiles recorded his 13th career 100-yard game and second in a row ... He needs 56 yards to become LVC's third 3,000-yard rusher ... He also inches closer to Charlie Parker's rushing TD record of 35, scoring the 32nd of his career ... Guiles became the third player in program history to score 200 points. He now has 204 ... Tim Picerno had five catches for 58 yards ... Eight different Dutchmen caught a pass ... Conrad Heisey worked a quick 46 yards rushing in the fourth quarter, and Blair Ransom (32 yards) and Pete Panichi (19 yards) also shared the workload ... Grove City quarterback Clayton Hall, who burned LVC last year on the ground, was held to 101 yards passing and 18 yards rushing ... Leo Kyte saw his first backup action of the year at quarterback for LVC, completing one pass for four yards ... LVC punted just once, with Colt Zarilla dropping one inside the 20 ... Wes Rockwell and Kevin Smith each had sacks ... Kris Knutsen made his first career interception late in the fourth quarter ... Cory Homer led LVC in tackles for the second straight week with eight ... Chris Gibbs made 11 stops with a pair of pass break-ups to lead Grove City.
