Box Score Case Western Reserve University outgained Grove City College by 115 yards on Saturday afternoon, but three second half turnovers for the Spartans proved to be costly, as the Spartans suffered a 14-13 loss to the Wolverines at Robert E. Thorn Field in Grove City, Pennsylvania.
The loss was the first conference setback of the season for the Spartans, who fell to 3-2 overall and 2-1 in Presidents' Athletic Conference play. Grove City improved to 4-1 overall with a 2-1 conference record.
CWRU's defense held the Wolverines to just 225 yards of total offense, including just 64 passing yards. Meanwhile, the Spartan offense totaled 340 yards in the game. However, a fumble and two interceptions in the second half, along with a missed extra point in the first half, proved to be the difference-making plays in the game.
Senior quarterback Drew Saxton set the program record for career touchdown passes and became the first player in program history to surpass 10,000 career passing yards in the game. He completed 24-of-42 passes in the game for 239 yards and a touchdown. Senior running back reached 100 total yards for the second-straight game, rushing for 59 with a touchdown and catching six passes for 41 yards. Sophomore wide receiver Ethan Dahlem added six catches for 69 yards and caught a touchdown for the third-straight game.
Junior linebacker Gabe Troch led all Spartan players with 12 tackles (five solo) on Saturday, including one for a loss. Junior linebacker Sean Torres added 11 tackles (three solo), while junior linebacker Marco Toth finished the contest with eight (four solo), including one for a loss.
The Spartans and the Wolverines exchanged long scoring drives to start the game. After Grove City took a 7-0 lead on an 11-play, 75-yard drive off the opening kickoff that took just over six minutes off the clock, CWRU returned the favor. Saxton led a 12-play, 66-yard drive over the next six minutes and 44 seconds for the Spartans, capping it off with a seven-yard touchdown pass to Dahlem with 2:08 remaining in the first quarter to even the score at 7-7.
CWRU took its first lead of the game on a one-yard touchdown run by Orsini with 9:16 to play in the half, capping off another long drive. This time, CWRU used six minutes and 37 seconds to go 76 yards down the field on 14 plays before converting the touchdown to take a 13-7 lead. However, the Wolverines regained the lead, 14-13, with a 36-yard touchdown run by Clayton Parrish, and took the one-point advantage into the half.
With a driving rain falling for much of the second half, both offenses struggled to get much going over the final 30 minutes of gameplay. The Spartans managed to drive into Grove City territory twice during the second half, but both drives ended in interceptions, including one on the team's final drive of the game with 5:28 left to play.
The setback was just the Spartans' second all-time to Grove City, and their first since the 2006 campaign, prior to rejoining the PAC as a football affiliate member.
The Spartans will now turn their attention to their Homecoming Game next weekend, as CWRU will welcome St. Vincent to DiSanto Field on Saturday, October 8th for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff.
