Saints Spear Bison, 13-10, in Overtime
(BETHANY, W.Va.) - The Thomas More College football team defeated Bethany College, 13-10, today (Saturday, November 3, 2012) in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) game at Bison Stadium in Bethany, West Virginia.
With the win, the Saints improve to 6-3 overall and clinch the program's 17th winning season in the 23-year history of Thomas More football. The Saints also finish the PAC portion of their schedule with a conference record of 6-2. With the loss, the Bison fall to 2-7 overall and 2-5 in the PAC.
Thomas More took a 7-0 lead with 12:22 to play in the second quarter when freshman running back Scootie Middleton (New Albany, Ind./New Albany) scored on a 10-yard run and junior place kicker Tim Gormly, Jr. (Cincinnati, Ohio/McNicholas) made the point-after-attempt.
Bethany tied the game at 7-7 with 13:04 to play in the fourth quarter when Marcus D'Aguiar scored on an 18-yard pass from Matt Grimard and Justin Evans added the PAT.
The Bison had the ball first in overtime and took a 10-7 lead when Evans made a 22-yard field goal.
Thomas More won the game on its possession in the first overtime sophomore quarterback Luke Magness (Pleasureville, Ky./Henry County) scored on third and goal from the one-yard line for the 13-10 victory.
The Saints' defense held Bethany to 265 yards of total offense (104 rushing and 161 passing), while forcing four turnovers. The defense was led by junior linebacker Alex Taylor (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder), who had 15 tackles (eight solo, seven assisted), including one sack for a loss of five yards and two interceptions. Senior linebacker Nick Gramke (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder) had 11 tackles (for solo, seven assisted) and one forced fumble, senior defensive back Zach Autenrieb (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder) had 10 tackles (seven solo, three assisted) and on fumble recovery and junior defensive lineman Tyler Combs (Fort Thomas, Ky./Highlands) had 10 tackles (three solo, seven assisted), including a half sack and one tackle for a loss.
Junior running back Adam Rauch (Yorkville, Ind./East Central) led the Saints on the ground with 31 carries for 154 yards, while freshman quarterback Jensen Gebhardt (Kings Mills, Ohio/Kings) was 12-of-24 passing for 124 yards. Senior wide receiver Tony Bell (Cincinnati, Ohio/Northwest) led the team in receiving with 51-yards on two coaches.
Thomas More will close-out the 2012 season next Saturday (November 10) when it hosts across-the-river rival, the College of Mount St. Joseph in Bridge Bowl XVII. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at The Bank of Kentucky Field in Crestview Hills, Kentucky.
