Box Score The Case Western Reserve University football team suffered a 34-12 loss to the Westminster College Titans in the team's home opener at DiSanto Field on Saturday night.
The loss dropped the Spartans to 2-1 on the year, including a 1-1 record in Presidents' Athletic Conference games, while Westminster improved to 1-1 overall with a 1-0 record in the league.
Senior quarterback Drew Saxton completed 30 of his 58 passing attempts (three attempts shy of the program's single game record) for 317 yards and a touchdown, but was hampered by five interceptions in the game after entering the contest without an interception thrown this year. Junior wide receiver Lucas DeCaro registered his second-straight 100-yard effort, catching eight passes for 112 yards and a touchdown, while junior wide receiver Michael Wojkowski added eight catches of his own for 88 yards. Junior running back Antonio Orsini finished the game with 18 carries for 74 yards and a score.
On the defensive side of the ball, sophomore linebacker Ryan Santoro, making the first start of his Spartan career, finished the day with a team-high 13 tackles and a quarterback hurry.
For the third-straight game, the Spartans opened the game by scoring on their first drive of the day. The Spartans converted a key third-and-nine with a 42-yard completion from Saxton to DeCaro that put the ball on the Westminster 15, and Orsini scored five plays later on a two-yard run, his third touchdown in the last two weeks. A missed extra point kept the score at 6-0.
The score remained 6-0 until the second quarter, when Westminster scored on a three-yard run by Frank Antuono with 12:17 left in the half, taking a 7-6 advantage following the point after. A blocked punt in CWRU territory led to another touchdown run by Antuono with 9:36 remaining in the half, putting the Titans in front 14-6.
CWRU added a score late in the half on an 11-yard pass from Saxton to DeCaro, cutting the lead to 14-12 following another missed extra point. However, Westminster drove 92 yards on six plays, scoring on a 26-yard catch by Denny Dennison with 1:29 left in the half, and taking a 21-12 lead into the break.
Neither team would score again until late in the fourth quarter. The Spartans were threatening to pull closer, but Brice Butler intercepted Saxton at the goal line with 7:46 to play in the game and returned it the distance to extend the Titans' lead to 27-12. Westminster's Chevy Dawson added a 47-yard touchdown catch with 1:21 to play in the game to cap off the scoring.
The Spartans will be back in action next weekend with another key matchup at home against 12th-ranked Washington & Jefferson College. The Spartans are slated for another kickoff under the lights against the Presidents, with a 7:00 p.m. start on Saturday, September 25 at DiSanto Field.
