BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva defense put together a great effort on Saturday night in the Golden Tornadoes' home opener against Thiel, leading Geneva to a 21-6 victory over the visiting Tomcats to secure its first win of the season.

Geneva's one defensive mistake came midway through the first quarter.  Shortly after the Golden Tornadoes fumbled inside the Thiel 10-yard line, the Tomcats scored on a 59-yard touchdown pass from Daniel Renee to Jason Stone, as Stone got behind the Geneva defense.  Sophomore Coltin Hill blocked the extra point to keep the score at 6-0.

Sophomore Landon Smith opened Geneva's following possession a 32-yard run to put the Golden Tornadoes in good field position.  The Golden Tornadoes moved the ball down to the Thiel 11-yard line where they faced 4th and 3 entering the second quarter.  Sophomore quarterback Caleb Romano, in his first career start, attempted his first career pass and hit junior Seth Tyson in the endzone for a touchdown, and freshman Evan Baker made the extra point to give Geneva a 7-6 lead.

The defense came up with its first big play of the day on Thiel's next possession when freshman Wyman Shaheen sacked Rennie and forced a fumble, which senior Alex Gonzalez recovered and returned to the Thiel 18-yard line.  Four plays later junior David Reid scored from one yard out to give Geneva a 14-6 advantage.

The Geneva defense came up with another turnover midway through the quarter with freshman defensive back Cody Patterson picked off a Rennie pass and returned it to the Thiel 17-yard line, but the Tomcat defense held Geneva on a fourth down attempt to keep the Golden Tornadoes off the board.  The game went into the break with Geneva still leading 14-6.

The Golden Tornadoes put together a great opening drive out of the break that eventually stalled at the Thiel 4-yard line, but the following field goal attempt was blocked, keeping the Tomcats within one score. 

Neither offense could get much going in the second half after that initial Geneva drive, and it was the Golden Tornado defense that kept rising up to stop the Thiel offense.  The biggest play of the second half was, with Thiel going for it on fourth down inside its own territory early in the fourth quarter, sophomore Ariel Pierre stepped in front of a Rennie pass and picked if off, returning it down the sideline for a 46-yard touchdown, increasing the Geneva lead to 21-6.

That was more than enough cushion for the Golden Tornado defense.  Graduate student Dante Caputo picked off another Rennie pass on Thiel's next possession, and the Golden Tornadoes fittingly sealed the victory when sophomore Lonnie Craft, who finished the game with three quarterback pressures, broke through the line and sacked Rennie, forcing a fumble that Shaheen would eventually recover.  It was Geneva's fifth forced turnover of the game, and Geneva took a knee to close out the 21-6 victory.

Smith led the offense with a career-high 106 yards rushing, on 16 attempts.  Reid added 78 yards on the ground, along with a touchdown, while Romano added 48 yards rushing.  As a team Geneva finished with 241 yards rushing, along with 46 yards passing. 

Thiel finished the day with 257 yards of total offense, almost all through the air as the Golden Tornadoes held the Tomcats to just 34 yards rushing.  Junior Nicholas Ciriello led the team with 12 tackles, while Hill added eight stops and senior Cameron Smith six tackles.  Freshman Wyman Shaheen was active with four tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, a recovered fumble and a quarterback hurry.

Next week football will host Case Western Reserve on Geneva's Homecoming, with the kickoff slated for 3:00 p.m.