Geneva College Athletics

BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College football team will likely look back with frustration at several mistakes and missed opportunities in its 14-13 loss to rival Westminster on Saturday night on Reeves Field.  The loss is Geneva's 13^th straight defeat at the hands of the Titans and drops the Golden Tornadoes to 3-3 overall, 2-2 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference.

Geneva got off to a great start.  The Golden Tornadoes received the opening kickoff and quickly moved down the field, with senior quarterback Caleb Romano connecting with freshman receiver Jerry Davis for 34 yards on the first play of the drive.  Four plays later, Romano hit sophomore Brady Davis for a 16-yard touchdown.  However, the extra point was blocked, which proved huge as the game moved along.

Westminster responded immediately, though, as running back Jayveer White broke through for a 59-yard run, and two plays later the Titans followed with their own touchdown.  The extra point gave Westminster a 7-6 lead less than four minutes into the game, and it appeared a shootout might be in store for the fans.

However, that was the end of the scoring for both teams in the half, despite multiple golden opportunities for the Golden Tornadoes. 

On the next possession, Geneva drove inside the Westminster 20-yard line, but the Golden Tornadoes couldn't punch it in and eventually turned it over on downs. 

Late in the second quarter, Geneva marched down the field and had a first-and-goal from the Westminster one-yard line, but after a run for a loss and then a sack, a third-down Romano pass was intercepted in the end zone, preventing the Golden Tornadoes from taking a lead into the halftime break.

The Geneva defense forced a turnover on downs on Westminster's opening possession of the second half, and the Golden Tornadoes, as they did to open the first half, moved right down the field for another score, but not without a scare.  At the end of a 13-play, 75-yard drive, freshman running back Darius Hollie fumbled as he reached for the end zone, but Brady Davis leapt on the ball for a touchdown to give Geneva the lead back, 13-7.

The second half followed a similar script as the first half, though, as Westminster immediately responded with a touchdown drive itself, giving the Titans the lead back, 14-13, with four minutes left in the third quarter.

The offense again responded with a long drive, getting a first-and-goal from the Westminster eight-yard line, but two sacks and an incompletion forced Geneva to try a 33-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter, and the kick sailed wide left.

Geneva had another good opportunity late in the quarter when the offense picked up a first down at the Westminster 28-yard line on a 14-yard pass from Romano to sophomore Damien Lacks with two minutes remaining.  However, a sack on third down knocked the Golden Tornadoes out of field goal range, and Romano's pass on fourth-and-21 fell incomplete, allowing the Titans to hold on for the 14-13 win.

Romano finished 21-of-37 for 225 yards passing, along with a touchdown and an interception.  Jerry Davis and Brady Davis each grabbed seven passes, while junior running back Liam Gibson had a solid day on the ground, rushing 20 times for 79 yards.

The offense finished with a slight advantage in yards gained, 359-338, with Geneva holding a big advantage in first downs, 28-13.  One huge difference in the game was that Westminster finished with six sacks for a loss of 41 yards, while Geneva finished with just one sack for a two-yard loss.

Defensively, sophomore linebacker Jayce Mauger led the team with eight tackles, while juniors Jaden Duckett and Noah Hutcherson each added seven stops.

The Golden Tornadoes will try to rebound next week as they head to Saint Vincent for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff.