BETHANY, W. Va. – The Geneva College football team opened Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) play with a convincing road victory at Bethany on Saturday afternoon, 42-14, to improve to 2-1 on the season, 1-0 in PAC play.
Geneva's vaunted passing attack showed itself immediately when, just over a minute into the game, senior quarterback Caleb Romano connected with freshman Jerry Davis for a 51-yard touchdown strike. Bethany pulled even with a touchdown midway through the quarter, but the Golden Tornadoes answered back early in the second quarter on a 7-yard touchdown pass to junior Dayne Johnke.
Geneva finished off the scoring in the first half when Romano threw his third touchdown pass of the half, this one a 35-yard toss down the seam to sophomore Damien Lacks, and the Golden Tornadoes took a 21-7 lead into the halftime break after a half that was marred by turnovers and a laundry-load of penalties, mostly on the Bison.
Bethany tried to stay in the game with an early 71-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brett Phillips to Marveon Boyd in the third quarter, but Geneva dominated the rest of the contest.
Just one minute after Bethany scored, Romano hit junior Liam Gibson for a 44-yard touchdown pass, and the defense took control from there.
Early in the fourth quarter, senior Lonnie Craft sacked and stripped Phillips of the ball, and junior Ry'Shaun Johnson picked it up and rumbled 34 yards down to the one-yard line. Romano snuck it in from there to increase the Geneva lead to 35-14.
Senior Cooper Edmiston wrapped up the scoring with an 11-yard touchdown run with five minutes remaining.
Romano led the offense with 307 yards passing, throwing for four touchdowns and running for another score. Davis led the receivers with four catches for 95 yards and a touchdown. Gibson added 44 yards rushing to go with 80 yards receiving and a score. In total, eight different receivers caught at least one pass.
Johnson and sophomore Jayce Mauger led the defense with seven tackles apiece, while senior Coltin Hill, junior Noah Hutcherson and freshman Aiden Manion each finished with six tackles. The defense ended up posting 12 tackles-for-loss, led by Manion's 2.5 TFLs. Junior Cody Patterson and sophomore Demarean Frazier picked off passes, while junior Jaden Duckett broke up four passes.
The victory sets up a big early-season opportunity for the Golden Tornadoes next week as Geneva travels to W&J to take on the preseason favorite Presidents. Kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m. and will be shown on TV on KDKA+.
Through purposeful learning in a community reflecting the full spectrum of God's kingdom, a Geneva College experience inspires students to discover a faith-life calling in service to God and neighbor. Offering 195+ traditional undergraduate majors and programs, fully online Adult Degree Programs and high-demand graduate degrees, Geneva's programs are recognized for their high quality and affordability. Geneva was founded and is governed by the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA) and is a founding member of both the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) and the International Association for Christian Education (IACE).
