CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Geneva College football team opened its season on Saturday with its longest road trip of the season, a trip to face a Mount St. Joseph squad that finished last season 8-2.  Despite the strong opponent, Geneva battled all game long, but the Golden Tornadoes couldn't come up with the stop it needed late, falling 41-27.  Mount St. Joseph opens its season 1-0, while Geneva now stands at 0-1.

Mount St. Joseph took the opening kickoff and marched right now the field, converting a third and goal for a seven-yard touchdown pass to go up 7-0.  The Golden Tornadoes went three-and-out on their opening possession, and a long punt return set the Lions up with great field position.  On the first play of the drive, the Lions scored on a 44-yard touchdown pass to put Geneva in a 14-0 hole just six minutes into the game.

Geneva responded on its next drive, though.  The Golden Tornadoes traveled 75 yards on 13 plays, with most of the yards coming on the legs of senior running back Justin Loughrie (Wellsburg, W.Va./Brooke) and sophomore starting quarterback Amos Luptak (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley), who was making his first appearance for Geneva.  Loughrie ran it in from seven yards out just before the end of the quarter to cut the deficit to 14-7.

On the ensuing possession, the Golden Tornado defense forced a three-and-out, and Geneva's offense drove down the field, but a 34-yard field goal attempt missed wide right.  Geneva's defense rose to the occasion again, though, forcing a Mount St. Joseph punt.  Just two plays into Geneva's next drive, Loughrie took the handoff and raced 82 yards for a touchdown, tying the score at 14-14.

The game turned, though, in the final five minutes of the half.  Mount St. Joseph scored quickly to go back up 21-14, and then Geneva's offense fumbled on its next possession, giving the Lions the ball inside the Geneva 25-yard line with less than a minute to go.  Mount St. Joseph took advantage, scoring another touchdown with just nine seconds remaining to give the Lions a 28-14 lead going into halftime.

Mount St. Joseph added to its lead midway through the third quarter with a field goal, extending its lead to 31-14.  Geneva was able to close the gap to 31-20 on the first play of the fourth quarter when Luptak ran it in from one yard out.

Another Mount St. Joseph field goal with nine minutes remaining pushed its lead to 34-20, but the Golden Tornadoes responded again with a six play, 67-yard drive, that Luptak finished with a 44-yard touchdown run, pulling Geneva to within just one score, 34-27, with seven minutes remaining.

Unfortunately, Geneva could not get the stop it needed.  Mount St. Joseph used a 61-yard pass to down inside Geneva's five-yard line to set the Lions up for one more score, pushing the lead back to 14 points, and Geneva couldn't manage a late comeback, falling 41-27.

"We played a very good football team today, and we were able to respond to some early adversity," said Head Coach Geno DeMarco.  "Those final minutes before halftime were pivotal, and in the end, we just didn't do enough to win on the road against a tough opponent.  However, we will take a lot of positives away from this and make improvements in the areas we need to."

Loughrie led the offense with 140 yards on 17 carries, including two touchdowns.  Luptak added 113 yards rushing, with two touchdowns.  Geneva's offense totaled 282 yards on the ground and 358 yards overall.  Mount St. Joseph finished with 399 yards of total offense.  Senior Tyler Cann (Leighton, Pa./Lehighton) led the defense with nine tackles, while sophomore Dakota Allen (Plant City, Fla./Newsome) added eight tackles.

Geneva opens the home portion of its schedule next Saturday when it hosts Carnegie Mellon at 7:00 p.m.  Geneva will also recognize its 2019 Hall of Fame inductees that evening.


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.