BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – This was one of those nights to move on from quickly for the Geneva College football team.  On a night the Geneva Athletic Department inducted 16 members into its Hall of Fame, including five former football players, not much went right for the Golden Tornadoes in their home opener, which was also the 7th Annual Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Kickoff Classic.  Carnegie Mellon controlled the game from start to finish on its way to a 31-6 victory over Geneva.  Carnegie Mellon improved to 2-0, 1-0 in the PAC, while Geneva fell to 0-2, 0-1 in the PAC.

Things went downhill from the start for the Golden Tornadoes, as Geneva fumbled away the ball inside their own territory on the opening drive.  Geneva's defense was able to hold Carnegie Mellon to a field goal, which Geneva answered early in the second quarter on a 31-yard field goal by sophomore Daniel Nordaas (Largo, Fla./Keswick Christian). 

Carnegie Mellon took control of the game over the final ten minutes of the second quarter.  The Tartans' Chris Haas scored two touchdowns on matching 5-yard runs to give Carnegie Mellon a 17-3 lead heading into halftime, as the Geneva rushing offense struggled to find much success in the half.

Carnegie Mellon extended its lead with another touchdown on the opening drive of the second half, and Geneva never figured out a way to get its rushing attack moving against the Tartan defense.  Nordaas added another field goal later in the third quarter for Geneva's final points, while Carnegie Mellon added one more touchdown near the end of the quarter to complete the scoring, 31-6.

"We have to get better in every phase of the game," said Head Coach Geno DeMarco.  "Our guys continue to battle, and we're confident that our hard work will eventually pay off.  We lost to a very good football team, but we have to find ways to limit mistakes and begin to turn these losses into wins."

Geneva's offense managed just 179 yards overall, including 121 yards on the ground with just a 2.6 yards per attempt average.  Geneva was its own worst enemy at times as well, finishing with 10 penalties for 102 yards.  Sophomore quarterback Amos Luptak (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley) led the offense with 46 yards rushing on 27 carries, along with completing 3-of-6 passes for 58 yards.

Defensively Geneva was led by senior linebacker Tyler Cann (Lehighton, Pa./Lehighton), who finished with 14 tackles.    Senior Torrin Sallis (Moon Township, Pa./Moon) added nine tackles.  Carnegie Mellon finished the night with 314 yards of total offense, and unfortunately, the defense failed to generate a turnover for the second straight week.

Geneva will continue its three-game homestand next Saturday when it welcomes Thiel at 7:00 p.m.


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.