BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – It probably won't be a victory that Head Coach Geno DeMarco will remember as one of his best played ever, but it was a much-needed win nonetheless for the Geneva College football team.  The Golden Tornadoes overcame a rough first five minutes to score the final 45 points against Thiel on Saturday night, defeating the Tomcats, 45-10.  Geneva picked up its first win of the season to improve to 1-2, 1-1 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Thiel fell to 0-3, 0-2 in the PAC.

On a night the Geneva Athletic Department celebrated the ten-year anniversary of the 2009 NCCAA Victory Bowl Champion football team, the game itself couldn't have started out much worse for Geneva.  Thiel took the opening kickoff and marched 78 yards in just five plays to go ahead 7-0, the first points of the season for the Tomcats.  On Geneva's first play from scrimmage, the Golden Tornadoes fumbled, setting up Thiel inside the Geneva 30-yard line.  Geneva's defense held Thiel to a field goal, and less than five minutes into the game, Geneva was down 10-0.

Junior Frankie Centofanti (New Middletown, Ohio/Springfield Local) received the ensuing kickoff and returned it into Thiel territory, but on Geneva's first play of its second drive, the Golden Tornadoes fumbled again.  At that point, things finally began to turnaround for Geneva.  Geneva's defense forced Thiel to punt after a three-and-out, and this time Geneva's offense put together a scoring drive.  Sophomore quarterback Amos Luptak (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley) capped off the Geneva 70-yard drive with a one-yard plunge into the endzone, and Geneva cut the Thiel lead to 10-7 heading into the second quarter.

Four minutes into the second quarter, Luptak struck again as he kept the ball around the edge and sprinted 33 yards for a touchdown, diving just inside the pylon to give Geneva its first lead of the game, 14-10. 

On Thiel's next possession, Geneva forced its first turnover of the season as junior Casey Nau (Louisville, Ohio/Louisville) jarred the ball loose from Thiel's running back Emmanuel Ramsey, and senior Torrin Sallis (Moon Township, Pa./Moon) fell on the loose ball inside Thiel territory, setting the Golden Tornadoes up with great field position.  Unfortunately, on the next play from scrimmage, Luptak's pass into the end zone was deflected and intercepted by Thiel.

Geneva's defense stood strong on Thiel's following possession, forcing a punt, but turnover problems hit Geneva again as a fumble inside the Thiel 15-yard line ended another long Geneva drive, the fourth turnover of the half for the Golden Tornadoes.  However, Geneva's defense forced another three-and-out from the Tomcats, and this time Geneva held onto the ball and marched down the field, with Luptak rushing it in for a 3-yard touchdown with 26 seconds remaining before halftime to give Geneva a 21-10 lead going into the break.

Geneva received the opening kickoff of the second half, and the Golden Tornadoes chewed up over nine minutes of the third quarter on a 15-play, 60-yard drive that resulted in a 25-yard field goal by sophomore Daniel Nordaas (Largo, Fla./Keswick), extending Geneva's lead to 24-10. 

Geneva nailed the door shut in the fourth quarter, scoring three times to solidify the victory.  Luptak found sophomore Peyton Schell (Sharpsville, Pa./Sharpsville) for a 34-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter.  That allowed Coach DeMarco to empty his bench, and a couple freshmen took advantage.  Freshmen Isaac Gibbs (Oldsmar, Fla./East Lake) and Boston Tafelski (Brooksville, Fla./Homeschool) scored their first collegiate touchdowns later in the quarter on rushes of three yards and ten yards, respectively.  Tafelski's scamper up the middle completed the scoring, 45-10.

"This was a win we had to have, and our team came through when we needed it," said Coach DeMarco.  "A win always feels good.  That said, we made way too many mistakes.  We had too many turnovers and too many penalties, so we still have a lot to get better at.  But it's always good to be able to work on those things after a win.  The final score was nice, but we've got a lot to improve upon."

Just about everyone contributed offensively.  Eight different Golden Tornadoes carried the ball, with Luptak leading the way with 154 yards rushing and three touchdowns, along with the passing touchdown to Schell.  Senior Justin Loughrie (Wellsburg, W.Va./Brooke) added 88 yards on the ground.  As a team Geneva rushed for 408 yards on its way to 439 yards of total offense.

Defensively, after Thiel's opening drive, the Golden Tornadoes completely shut down the Tomcats' offense.  Thiel managed just 118 yards of total offense, 78 of which came on the Tomcats' opening drive.   Senior Tyler Cann (Lehighton, Pa./Lehighton) led the way with eight tackles, as well as Geneva's first interception of 2019.  The Golden Tornadoes finished with ten tackles for loss, including three sacks.

The Golden Tornadoes will work to carry this momentum into Geneva's Homecoming matchup next Saturday with Waynesburg, starting at 3:00 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.