Gators take bite out of Tomcats

Sep. 10—GREENVILLE — Saturday afternoon marked the return of football at Alumni Stadium at Thiel College. It also was the first Presidents' Athletic Conference game for Tomcats head coach Sam Bauman and new member Allegheny College.

Both teams entered 0-1 after Thiel fell to Montclair State in Week 1 and the Gators dropped their opener to Union (New York). and it was the Gators that earned their first win of the season, topping Thiel 34-6.

"We're still young experience-wise on (offense) and it showed," Bauman said. "We'd get a big play and then nothing, nothing, and we'd go three-and-out.

"We just need to be a little more consistent. We have the talent to move the ball. It's just we have to make sure we're on all the time and we can't take plays off."

Alexander Kovalyak was the leading passer for the Tomcats (0-2, 0-1 PAC). He was 10-of-21 for 74 yards after entering in the second half. Starter Owen Trumbull went 8-of-18 for 48 yards and two interceptions.

Deon Logan was Thiel's leading rusher, running for 29 yards on 10 carries. Kovalyak added 20 yards rushing on five attempts.

Andre Rodgers caught five balls for 50 yards and Donny Pattison had four catches for 34 yards.

For the Gators (1-1, 1-0 PAC), John Ian Duron ran for 56 yards on 11 carries, and Tre Worship had 47 yards and two touchdowns on 23 touches. Former Greenville standout Levi Swartz had three carries for 5 yards on jet sweeps as a receiver.

Jack Johnson threw for 117 yards on 13-of-24 attempts with a touchdown. Austin Ferguson caught two passes for a team-high 49 yards, and Ian Durci caught three passes for 37 yards with a score. Former Grove City Eagle Trey Adams was primarily used as a blocker, and he caught a pass in the fourth quarter, but it was canceled on a blocking penalty.

The defenses for both teams stood tall in the opening minutes. The Gators and the Tomcats each failed to convert a fourth-down on their opening drives. and it was the Gators' defense that put the first points on the board.

Midway through the first quarter, Thiel sophomore quarterback Trumbull thew a ball wide of his receiver. Allegheny linebacker Hudson Alread intercepted the pass and returned it 52 yards for a 6-0 Gator lead.

Allegheny made it a 12-0 lead on a 5-yard touchdown run from Wisdom halfway through the second quarter. The Gators stretched the score to 19-0 several minutes later when Johnson found Durci on a 24-yard post route.

The Gators had the ball near midfield in the closing seconds of the first half. They got a little greedy and tried throwing on fourth down. Johnson was flushed to his right, but his throw hit Thiel linebacker Andrew Plowden in the hands before returning the interception 60 yards for the score. The Gators led 19-6 at halftime.

Thiel couldn't build on the defensive touchdown despite getting the ball to start the second half. Bauman inserted Kovalyak, who started at times last season, to start the third quarter.

Kovalyak got the Tomcats moving forward, but the drive stalled. He remained under center for the rest of the second half, except for Thiel's final play of the game.

"Today was one of those things were we needed a spark and Alex came in and brought a little spark, at least initially," Bauman said.

Worship added his second rushing touchdown, a 3-yard run, in the closing minutes of the third quarter. The Tomcats fumbled on the kickoff return, and freshman Antwan Brown found the end zone on a 2-yard run for his first college TD.

The Tomcats have now lost 39 straight games dating back to the 2017 season. Bauman knew the rebuild wasn't going to happen overnight. There needed to be small improvements from week to week, and he saw some positives along with the negatives.

"We were in a good fight early on, but we also had some weaknesses that really glared — special teams, offensively, defensively," Bauman said. "We didn't take as big of a step forward as I would have liked. I think Allegheny took a little bigger step forward today and that's why they ended up of that side of the scoreboard."

Note: The Grove City, Westminster, Slippery Rock, and YSU game stories were posted at sharonherald.com on Saturday. ... In Westminster's 42-3 win over Bethany, Titans' sophomore Brice Butler (Farrell High) picked off a pass and returned it 30 yards for a score. Westminster receiver Tylon Eilam (Sharon High) caught four passes for 49 yards, which included a 21-yard touchdown reception. ... In Grove City College's 55-17 rout over Geneva, Wolverines' junior Clayton Parrish (West Middlesex High) rushed for 49 yards and scored a touchdown.

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ALLEGHENY 6 13 8 7 34

THIEL 0 6 0 0 6

Scoring plays

A — Alread, 52 interception return (kick failed)

A — Worship, 5 run (pass failed)

A — Durci, 24 pass from Johnson (Paxton kick)

T — Plowden, 60 interception return (kick failed)

A — Wisdom, 3 run (Stelling pass from Johnson)

A — Brown, 2 run (Paxton kick)

Team stats

ALLEGHENY THIEL

16 First downs 14

126 Rushing yards 95

163 Passing yards 122

31-16-1 Att-comp-int 39-18-2

289 Total yards 217

1-0 Fumbles-lost 1-1

6-50 Penalties-yards lost 8-66

Individual stats

Rushing: ALLEGHENY — Duron 11-56, Worship 23-47, Brown 8-28, Swartz 3-5; THIEL — Logan 10-29, Kovalyak 5-20, Trumbull 2-14, Taylor 6-11.

Passing: ALLEGHENY — Johnson 24-13-1-117, Brncic 7-3-0-46; THIEL — Kovalyak 21-10-0-74, Trumbull 18-8-2-48.

Receiving: ALLEGHENY — Ferguson 2-49, Duric 3-37, Stelling 3-18, Lohr 3-8; THIEL — Rodgers 5-50, Pattison 4-34, Logan 3-17, Anderson 3-14.