NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – The Geneva College football team saw its season come to an end on Saturday afternoon at Westminster.  The Golden Tornadoes fell into a big hole, and their furious late comeback came up just short as the Titans held on for a 28-25 victory.  Westminster is now 7-3, 6-3 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Geneva closes its season with a 3-7 overall record, 3-6 in the PAC.

The game started well for Geneva, as senior Torrin Sallis' (Moon Township, Pa./Moon Area) sack on Westminster's opening possession forced a three-and-out.  Geneva's offense marched down the field and had a first-and-goal from the Westminster three-yard line, but the Golden Tornadoes were unable to punch it in and had to settle for a 32-yard field goal from sophomore Daniel Nordaas (Largo, Fla./Keswick Christian) after Geneva suffered a big loss on third down.

Westminster took the following possession and drove down the field, capping off its drive with an 8-yard touchdown run to take a 7-3 lead.  Geneva's offense got the ball back and drove down to the Westminster 21-yard line, but another big loss, this one coming on a third-and-two play, left the Golden Tornadoes with another missed opportunity early in the second quarter.

Sophomore Brady Corklin (Titusville, Pa./Titusville) came up with an interception on Westminster's next play to give Geneva the ball back with good field position, but the offense went backwards and had to punt the ball away.  The Titans took advantage and put together another scoring drive, pushing their lead to 14-3 midway through the second quarter.

Geneva's next possession was another missed opportunity for the Golden Tornadoes, with Geneva driving inside Westminster's 25-yard line, but the Golden Tornadoes came up empty again after a 45-yard Nordaas field goal attempt went wide left.  That's where the score stayed heading into the halftime break.

Westminster's defense came up with a big play midway through the third quarter.  The Titans picked up a fumbled Geneva pitch and returned the ball 18 yards for a touchdown to increase Westminster's lead to 21-3.  The Titans extended their lead to 28-3 early in the fourth quarter on a 16-yard touchdown pass, and Westminster looked to be in full control.

On Geneva's following possession, senior Nick Monteleone (East Palestine, Ohio/East Palestine) broke loose and ran 45 yards deep inside Westminster territory, and freshman Ricky Pitrelli (Ellwood City, Pa./Lincoln) ran it in from 16-yards out on Geneva's next play to get the Golden Tornadoes into the endzone for the first time on the day, cutting the Westminster lead to 28-10.  Geneva then recovered a fumble on the following kickoff, but the drive resulted in another missed field goal with 9:57 remaining.

Once again, though, the Geneva defense came up with another turnover as sophomore Dakota Allen (Plant City, Fla./Newsome) fell on a fumble, and this time the Golden Tornadoes took advantage with a Monteleone 11-yard touchdown run with 4:33 remaining. 

Westminster nearly ran out the clock on its next possession, but with 29 seconds remaining, junior Noah Russell (Coraopolis, Pa./Montour) blocked the Titan punt and sophomore Jacob Roser (Titusville, Pa./Maplewood) recovered it in the endzone for a touchdown.  Geneva converted its two-point attempt to pull the Golden Tornadoes to within 28-25.  However, Westminster recovered the onside kick to hold on for the victory.

Monteleone led the offense with 71 yards rushing and a touchdown as Geneva could only generate 183 yards of offense, all coming on the ground.  Westminster finished with 339 yards of offense.  Senior linebacker Tyler Cann (Lehighton, Pa./Lehighton) finished his tremendous career with a team-high 10 tackles, including three tackles for a loss.  He also forced a fumble.

"In a lot of ways, it feels like today epitomized our season," said Head Coach Geno DeMarco.  "Our kids were in almost every game, and they always battled to the end.  Unfortunately, we still haven't figure out how to consistently win games late.  Despite the loss, our senior class has had a tremendous impact on our program over the past four seasons, and we're going to really miss them.  But we have a really good nucleus returning, and we're optimistic about what lies ahead."

Geneva heads into the offseason on Monday with some holes to fill with the graduation of its big senior class, but the Golden Tornadoes return a number of young players who saw extensive action this season.


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.