Game Leaders
Team Stats
Passing Yards
Rushing Yards
Turnovers
Time of Poss.
GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Grove City College football team opened the 2024 season Saturday afternoon by blanking visiting Geneva, 41-0, in Presidents' Athletic Conference action at Robert E. Thorn Field. It is Grove City's first season-opening shutout since a 20-0 win 37 years ago over Duquesne.
The Wolverine defense limited Geneva to four first downs, 62 total yards and an 0-for-11 performance on third down. Each of Grove City's three starting linebackers, junior Ben Bladel (Coraopolis, Pa./Moon), junior Caleb Brubaker (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg) and Jack Jollie (Jeannette, Pa./Penn Trafford) all recorded sacks.
Brubaker also forced a fumble while Bladel had five tackles for loss. Junior defensive end Mason Somers (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon) recovered a fumble.
Geneva executed two offensive plays in Grove City territory, back-to-back snaps at the Grove City 49 in the first quarter.
Offensively, Grove City produced two 100-yard rushers, along with surpassing the 300-yard mark passing. Junior running back Ian Demeri (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Trafford) ran for a career-high 125 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries while senior running back Nico Flati (Aliquippa, Pa./West Allegheny) picked up 113 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries.
Senior quarterback Logan Pfeuffer (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) completed 19 of 24 passes for 258 yards and two touchdowns. Junior quarterback Ethan Wiley (Mercer, Pa./Mercer) closed out the scoring with a 61-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to sophomore wide receiver Dominic DiNinno (Apollo, Pa./Kiski Area).
Sophomore wide receiver Daniel Sullivan (Simsbury, Conn./Simsbury) caught a career-high eight passes for a career-best 162 yards. Senior wide receiver Scott Fraser (Butler, Pa./Knoch) added nine catches for 78 yards. Both Fraser and Sullivan pulled in Pfeuffer touchdown passes. Sullivan also kicked five extra points.
Demeri gave Grove City a 7-0 lead when he scored on a career-long 74-yard touchdown run with 6:53 remaining in the first quarter. Flati pushed the lead to 14-0 with a one-yard plunge 31 seconds into the second quarter. That capped an 11-play, 63-yard touchdown drive.
Sullivan's 81-yard touchdown reception extended the lead to 21-0 on Grove City's next possession. Fraser caught a three-yard touchdown pass with 1:56 left in the half, giving the Wolverines a 28-0 halftime lead.
Flati's 10-yard touchdown run with 4:51 left in the third period closed out a 12-play, 72-yard drive. In the fourth quarter, Wiley threw his 61-yard bomb to DiNinno with seven minutes left.
Brubaker led Grove City with eight tackles. Jollie finished with seven stops.
Grove City finished with 594 total offensive yards and averaged 8.2 yards per play. The Wolverines held a 37:57-22:03 edge in time of possession.
The Wolverines have the open date in the conference next week. Grove City opens its road schedule September 21 at Saint Vincent. Kickoff in Latrobe will be 1 p.m.