PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Fans wouldn't know how close Saturday's football game between Geneva College and Carnegie Mellon was by just looking at the final score.  The Golden Tornadoes put #20 Carnegie Mellon to the test on Saturday afternoon on the road, but the Tartans used a late burst in the fourth quarter to break open a one-score game on their way to a 41-7 victory. 

The schedule makers didn't do Geneva any favors this year, with the Golden Tornadoes the only Division III school in the nation to open with two road games against teams ranked in the top 20, after opening last week at #11 Grove City.  Geneva would prove not to be an easy opponent for the highly-regarded Tartans, though.

Carnegie Mellon was the first team to get on the board.  After forcing a Geneva punt on the opening possession, the Tartans went on a 14-play, 56-yard drive, converting two third downs and a fourth down in the process.  Joey McGinnis scored from two yards away to give Carnegie Mellon a 7-0 lead.

After each team had an empty possession, Geneva answered with a scoring drive of its own.  A pass from senior Darin Myers to sophomore Phillip Ranson for 23 yards helped spur the drive early on.  A 10-yard pass from Myers to junior Seth Tyson on 3rd-and-9 was another key play, along with a rush by Myers for 11 yards on 3rd-and-8.  Junior David Reid plunged into the end zone from one yard away on 4th-and-goal to tie the game at 7-7.  The play capped off a 16-play, 75-yard drive that ate up ten minutes of game time.

Carnegie Mellon responded on the following drive, though, and McGinnis scored again from short distance with less than a minute remaining in the second quarter to send the Tartans into halftime with a 14-7 lead.  It was a far different scenario for Carnegie Mellon, though, than their season-opener when the Tartans went into halftime with a 58-0 lead over Thiel.

Carnegie Mellon received the opening kickoff of the second half, but junior linebacker Nicholas Ciriello made an impressive leaping interception of a Ben Mills pass deep in Geneva territory to keep the Tartans off the board.

The Golden Tornadoes were forced to punt on the following drive, but the Geneva defense came up big again when sophomore Coltin Hill sacked Mills on third down to stop the Tartan drive.

Neither team could score in the third quarter, but a few minutes into the fourth quarter, Carnegie Mellon broke the tight game open.  With eleven minutes remaining, the Tartans scored three touchdowns in three minutes, with two Geneva turnovers part of the Carnegie Mellon burst, to take control of the game.  The Tartans added one more late touchdown on a long pass to run the final score up to 41-7.

Geneva's offense found it tough going against the talented Carnegie Mellon defense.  The Golden Tornadoes finished with 139 yards of offense, 68 yards on the ground, 71 yards through the air.  The Tartans finished with 368 yards of total offense, with almost half of that total coming in the final quarter.

Ciriello had a big day for the Golden Tornado defense, finishing with a career-high 13 tackles, to go with his interception.  Junior Reed Gordon and sophomore Lonnie Craft each added nine stops for Geneva, while Hill finished with eight tackles, including the sack.

The Golden Tornadoes will be glad to be able to finally play at home next weekend when they host Thiel on Saturday for a 7:00 p.m. kickoff.