Geneva College Athletics

BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – It's been a challenging last month for the Geneva College football team, which has been devastated by injuries throughout the year, and those trends continued on Saturday on Senior Day when Waynesburg used a big second half to leave town with a 40-14 victory over the Golden Tornadoes.  Geneva is now 3-6 on the season, with one final game left on the schedule.

The Golden Tornadoes have suffered a significant number of injuries throughout the season, particularly along the offensive line and in the receiving corps, and those trends continued on Saturday.  On the opening drive of the game, senior standout offensive lineman Roman Costanza was knocked out of the game with an injury, further depleting an already thin group.

Geneva did get on the board first, though, on its second possession.  A long pass from senior Caleb Romano to freshman Jerry Davis set the Golden Tornadoes up in Waynesburg territory, and three plays later junior Liam Gibson ran it in from nine yards out to put Geneva in front.

Waynesburg answered with its lone scoring drive on the first half on the ensuing possession to even the score at 7-7, but Romano and Davis struck again midway through the second quarter when Romano found Davis open over the middle, and Davis sped past the Yellow Jackets' defense for an 83-yard touchdown pass.

The Golden Tornadoes had a great opportunity late in the first half when freshman Aiden Manion intercepted a pass and returned it 27 yards to set up Geneva up at the Waynesburg 8-yard line.  Unfortunately, Geneva couldn't punch it in, and a field goal attempt was wide left, leaving the score at 14-7 at the break.  Davis had 139 yards on four catches through the first two quarters.

The second half was a much different story, though.  Waynesburg got its passing game going behind backup quarterback Luke Hudson, and Geneva struggled to protect Romano, making it difficult for the Golden Tornadoes to generate much offense.  To make matters worse, Davis left the game with an injury midway through the third quarter.

The Yellow Jackets took full advantage of Geneva's depleted roster, as Hudson threw four second-half touchdowns, while the Golden Tornadoes could never find an answer offensively before eventually succumbing, 40-14.

Romano led the offense with 282 yards passing, while Davis finished with 144 yards on five catches before departing the game.  Sophomore Brady Davis caught a career best eight passes, for 68 yards.  Following a familiar trend, Geneva was only outgained 315-299, despite the lopsided score, but the Golden Tornadoes missed out on several opportunities to score.  A big difference in the game was nine sacks by Waynesburg's defense, thwarting multiple Geneva scoring chances.

Junior Noah Hutcherson led the defense with 12 tackles, including 2.5 TFLs, while sophomore Christian Hunter finished with 11 stops.  Senior Coltin Hill and junior Chidima Iziogo each added seven tackles, including 1.5 TFLs.  Geneva's two freshmen starting linebackers in Manion and Landon Abercrombie, forced into action with multiple injuries to the linebacker group, played well.  Abercrombie finished with seven tackles in first first career start, while Manion totaled six tackles and the interception in also his first collegiate start.

Geneva wraps up the season at Saint Francis next Saturday, hoping to finish the season on a high note with a victory over the winless Red Wolves.  Kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m.