CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Geneva College football team made the trip north on Saturday afternoon to take on the undefeated and first-place Case Western Reserve Spartans.  Despite falling into a big hole, the Golden Tornadoes almost dug themselves all the way out of it, but the Geneva comeback fell just short late, with Case Western holding on for a 30-23 victory.  Case Western is now 7-0 overall, 6-0 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Geneva fell to 3-5 overall, 3-4 in the PAC.

The game couldn't have started much better for the Golden Tornadoes.  Geneva received the opening kickoff, and on the second play from scrimmage freshman Isaac Gibbs (Oldsmar, Fla./East Lake) sprinted 71 yards for a touchdown to give the Golden Tornadoes a quick 7-0 lead.

Case Western immediately responded behind their 1^st Team All-PAC quarterback Drew Saxon.  Saxon engineered a 66-yard touchdown drive to even the score at 7-7.  On Geneva's following possession, the Golden Tornadoes drove inside the Spartans' 40-yard line, but Case Western picked off freshman quarterback Boston Tafelski (Brooksville, Fla./Homeschool) and returned it inside Geneva territory, ending a promising Golden Tornado drive.  On the next play from scrimmage, Saxon threw his second touchdown of the game, this one a 30-yard touchdown pass, giving Case Western a 14-7 lead.

The Geneva offense went three-and-out on its next possession, and Saxon threw his third touchdown pass early in the second quarter to push the Case Western lead to 21-7.  After another empty possession by Geneva, the Spartans added to their lead with a 35-yard field goal to make it 24-7.

Geneva's offense responded on its next drive and drove inside the Case Western 10-yard line, but a penalty pushed the offense back.  The Golden Tornadoes had to settle for a field goal attempt on the wet afternoon, and sophomore Daniel Nordaas' (Key Largo, Fla./Keswick Christian) 36-yard field goal attempt sailed wide-left.

However, sophomore Brady Corklin (Titusville, Pa./Titusville) intercepted a pass on the Spartans' next possession, giving Geneva the ball back.  Geneva drove to into Case Western territory again, but the Golden Tornadoes' fourth-down attempt came up just short.

Once again, though, Geneva's defense forced another turnover.  Senior Tyler Cann (Lehighton, Pa./Lehighton) intercepted a pass on the next possession, but after Geneva drove inside the Spartan 20-yard line, Nordaas' 36-yard field goal attempt was blocked.  A second interception by Corklin ended the half to send things to the break with Geneva trailing 24-7.

Both teams had empty possessions to begin the second half, but Case Western added another touchdown on its second drive of the half.  Corklin blocked the extra point, though, and sophomore Ryan Signorella (Brackenridge, Pa./Highlands) picked up the ball and returned the extra point for a 2-point score, making the score 30-9.

The Golden Tornadoes got their offense going on the following possession, driving 72 yards in ten plays, capped off by a four-yard touchdown run by freshman Ricky Pitrelli (Ellwood City, Pa./Ellwood City) to cut the deficit to 30-16.  Geneva's defense held on the following possession, and the Golden Tornadoes marched down the field again, this time 60 yards on a nine-play drive, and when junior Frankie Centofanti (New Middletown, Ohio/Springfield Local) ran it in from three yards out, Geneva trailed just 30-23 with 10:47 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Geneva defense came up with another stop on the next Spartans possession, but the offense was forced to punt on its drive, giving the ball back with just four minutes remaining near midfield.  But on Case Western's first play, Corklin ripped the ball away from the Spartans running back, and junior Casey Nau (Louisville, Ohio/Louisville) fell on it to give Geneva possession back at the Geneva 49-yard line.

Unfortunately, the offense couldn't pick up any yardage, and Geneva's fourth down attempt came up short, turning the ball back over to the Spartans.  However, the Golden Tornado defense forced one more stop, giving Geneva's offense one more chance with 1:39 remaining.  But on Geneva's first play, senior Luke Lloyd's (Claysville, Pa./Avella) pass was intercepted, and Case Western ran out the clock to hold on for the 30-23 victory.

"This team isn't that far away," said Head Coach Geno DeMarco.  "We have some young guys that are really maturing.  We had about a ten-minute stretch in that first half where Case Western scored three touchdowns, and that really cost us.  But Case Western is really good.  There's a reason they are undefeated, and yet our guys didn't give up and kept battling.  Our defense was really big in that second half, and they kept getting the ball back for us.  We converted on some of our chances, but we couldn't come up with the big play that we needed at the end.  But I'm really proud of the way the guys fought today."

Gibbs led the offense with 143 yards on 16 carries, scoring one touchdown.  Both Pitrelli and Tafelski finished with 59 yards on 12 carries, with Pitrelli finding the endzone once.  In total, Geneva finished with 375 yards of total offense, 326 coming on the ground.  Geneva committed three turnovers, all on interceptions.

Defensively, Geneva held Case Western to just 308 yards of total offense, its lowest yardage total of the season.  The Spartans came in averaging over 420 yards of total offense.  The defense forced four turnovers, including picking off Saxon three times.  Signorella finished with a career-high nine tackles, while sophomore Dakota Allen (Plant City, Fla./Newsome) and freshman Derrick Sneed (Macon, Ga./Rutland) each added six stops.  Corklin had a very strong day as well, finishing with five tackles while adding two interceptions, a forced fumble and the blocked extra point.  Cann had five tackles, 2.5 tackles for a loss, to go with his interception.  Nau also finished with five tackles, including a sack, along with his forced fumble late.

Geneva is off this upcoming Saturday, which the Golden Tornadoes will try to use to get some of their injured guys healthy again.  Geneva returns to action when it travels to PAC-rival Grove City on Saturday, November 9, 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.