BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College football knew it would have its hands full when it went up against Washington & Jefferson on Saturday night on Senior Day.  The Golden Tornadoes hung close for a half, but a big third quarter by the Presidents led W&J to a 28-3 victory.  W&J improved to 5-2 overall, 4-2 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Geneva fell to 3-4, 3-3 in the PAC.

Geneva took the opening kickoff and marched down the field on what would prove to be its best drive of the day.  However, facing a fourth-and-two at the W&J three-yard line, the Golden Tornadoes went for it, and as freshman quarterback Boston Tafelski (Brooksville, Fla./Homeschool) leaned towards the first-down line on a keeper, the ball was jarred loose and W&J recovered it in the endzone for a touchback.

Geneva's defense held W&J on its first possession, and the offense took over after a punt and drove into W&J territory, but a sack thwarted the drive and forced a Geneva punt.

W&J took over and drove inside the Geneva ten-yard line, but W&J gambled on fourth down, and the Golden Tornado defense forced a stop to keep the Presidents' off the scoreboard early in the second quarter.

Geneva's offense couldn't generate anything on its next drive, and after a punt, the Golden Tornado defense forced a fumble to get the ball back.  Geneva's offense was forced to punt again on its next drive, though, and this time W&J drove down and was able to get on the scoreboard.  The game's first points came on a W&J 13-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-goal to put the Presidents ahead 7-0.

Late in the second quarter, the Geneva defense came up with another turnover, as sophomore Dakota Allen (Plant City, Fla./Newsome) forced another fumble that was recovered by sophomore teammate Brady Corklin (Titusville, Pa./Titusville), giving Geneva one final possession in the half deep in W&J territory.  The Golden Tornadoes drove to the five-yard line and had an opportunity to try for a game-tying touchdown, but Head Coach Geno DeMarco opted to settle for a 22-yard field goal from sophomore Daniel Nordaas (Largo, Fla./Keswick Christian) with 20 seconds remaining to cut W&J's lead to 7-3 heading into halftime.

The third quarter is where things got away from Geneva.  The defense came up with another stop as senior Torrin Sallis (Moon Township, Pa./Moon Area) picked up a sack to end the President's first drive of the half, but the offense struggled to gain any traction.  Eventually the Golden Tornado defense began to wear down, and the Presidents took advantage.

The Presidents scored three touchdowns in the final eight minutes of the third quarter to blow the game open, 28-3.  The Golden Tornado offense had two three-and-outs and a turnover during that stretch, and Geneva could never figure out a way to get back into the game.  Neither team scored in the fourth quarter, finishing out the game with a final score of 28-3.

"W&J has a really good defense, especially their defensive line," said DeMarco.  "We struggled to generate much offensively after that first quarter, and eventually our defense wore down.  We have some young guys playing key positions for us right now, so they're getting a taste of what this conference has to offer, forcing them to have to learn on the job.  We know we can play with the best teams in the conference, but we can't have the mistakes offensively we had tonight."

W&J ended up totaling 512 yards of offense, many of those coming on big plays in the second half.  Geneva finished with 271 yards of total offense, including 252 yards on the ground.  Freshman Isaac Gibbs (Oldsmar, Fla./East Lake) led the offense with 112 yards rushing, while senior Nick Monteleone (East Palestine, Ohio/East Palestine) picked up some big gains on the ground, rushing for 81 yards on just eight carries.  Geneva did lose three fumbles in the game.

Allen led the team defensively with 12 tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss.  He also forced two fumbles.  Senior Tyler Cann (Lehighton, Pa./Lehighton) added 11 stops, while junior Casey Nau (Louisville, Ohio/Louisville) had nine and Sallis eight tackles.  Geneva's defense also forced three turnovers on the night.

The schedule only gets tougher from here for the Golden Tornadoes.  Geneva heads to first-place and undefeated Case Western next Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff.


Geneva College is a Christ-centered academic community that provides a comprehensive education to equip students for faithful and fruitful service to God and neighbor. Offering over 115 traditional undergraduate majors and programs, fully online Adult Degree Programs and high-demand graduate degrees, Geneva's programs are recognized for their high quality. U.S. News & World Report ranks Geneva as a Top Three Best Value Regional University with one of the top engineering programs in the nation. Adhering to the truth of Scripture, a Geneva education is grounded in God's Word as well as in a core curriculum designed to prepare students vocationally to think, write and communicate well in today's world.