Geneva Unable to Keep Pace with #17 Case Western
Beaver Falls, PA – The Geneva College Golden Tornadoes knew that they needed to play a near perfect game on Saturday night to knock of the undefeated and #17 ranked Case Western University Spartans. Unfortunately for the Golden Tornadoes, they got off to anything but a good start, and they never recovered, losing 45-7. Geneva fell to 3-4 overall, 2-3 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Case Western improved to 7-0, 6-0 in the PAC.
Things couldn't have started much worse for the Golden Tornadoes. The Spartans took the opening kickoff and drove 63 yards to take a 7-0 lead. After a three-and-out for Geneva, a failed fake punt gave Case Western the ball inside the Geneva 15 yard line, which they quickly converted into another touchdown, and just eight minutes into the game Geneva found itself down 14-0.
Unfortunately for Geneva, things only got worse. Geneva's next three possessions ended in turnovers, one of which was returned for a Case Western touchdown, and midway through the second quarter, Geneva was staring at a 28-0 deficit.
At that point Geneva mounted its best drive of the game, going 91 yards in 15 plays, capped off by a
Bryan Stafford 13 yard run, to make it a 28-7 score just before halftime. In a statistical oddity, after Geneva's long drive, it actually held a 149-112 yardage advantage, despite its big deficit, due to all the short fields Case Western started with.
Despite Geneva's impressive drive heading into the halftime break, the momentum did not carry over to the second half. Geneva failed to gain a first down on its opening drive, and Case Western took the subsequent possession down the field for another score for a 35-7 lead, ending any hope Geneva had of a comeback.
Stafford led the Geneva offense with 88 yards on 16 carries, while
Trewon Marshall was held well under his rushing average, with 53 yards on 16 carries against the best defense in the PAC. Geneva ended the game with 220 yards rushing, far below its 377 yards per game average, which was tops in the PAC.
Up next for Geneva is a road trip to Grove City College for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, Oct 28. Grove City comes into that game with an overall record of 2-5, 2-3 in the PAC. Geneva will then return home for the final time on November 4 for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff against Washington and Jefferson on Senior Day.
