The Case Western Reserve University football team recorded its seventh-consecutive winning season in 2022, finishing the campaign with a 6-4 overall record, including a 5-3 mark in Presidents' Athletic Conference contests to place fourth in the league standings.
The Spartans combined an offense filled with established leaders with a defense that took major steps forward during the 2022 campaign. CWRU finished among the top-five teams in the conference in total offense (388.0 yards per game), scoring offense (28.4 points per game), total defense (288.1 yards allowed per game), and scoring defense (18.5 points allowed per game). The team had five efforts of 30 or more points scored during the year and allowed 14 or fewer points on six occasions. CWRU dominated time of possession during the campaign, controlling the ball for an average of 33:35 per game, the eighth-best mark in Division III and best in the PAC. Two of the team's three PAC losses were by just one point.
Senior quarterback Drew Saxton wrapped up an outstanding career as a Spartan, finishing as the program's record holder in career completions (868), yards (10,844), and touchdowns (96). He earned All-PAC First Team honors after completing a career-high 67.1% of his passes for 1,816 yards and 13 touchdowns with just four interceptions, becoming the first player in program history to be named to the All-PAC First Team four times. He broke both the career passing yard record and matched the passing touchdown mark against Geneva on September 24.
Senior running back Antonio Orsini led the team with 799 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns and caught 22 passes for 135 yards and a score to earn a spot on the All-PAC Second Team. Sophomore Gage Duesler added to the running game with 240 yards on the ground and six touchdowns. Leading receivers for CWRU included All-PAC Honorable Mention sophomore Ethan Dahlem, who finished the year with 38 catches for 551 yards and five touchdowns, junior Riley Knurek, who caught 41 passes for 461 yards and a score, sophomore Noah Coyne, who collected 40 catches for 576 yards and six touchdowns, and senior Michael Wojkowski, who caught 20 passes for 250 yards.
The CWRU offense was also aided by a veteran offensive line, with the same five players starting each of the 10 games. The unit was led by senior left tackle Joshua Blamer, who was named to the All-PAC First Team, and junior center Jace Merritt, who earned all-conference second team acclaim. The line was rounded out by junior left guard Peter Kelly, sophomore right guard Tony Thivener, and senior right tackle Paul Bruno.
Sophomore safety Nate Cikalo, junior defensive end Kaden Tong, and junior linebacker Marco Toth were each named to the All-PAC Second Team for the Spartan defense, while senior safety D.J. Wolf was selected as an honorable mention. Tong led the Spartans' pass rush, finishing the year with 14 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks, and moved into 10th place in program history with 14.5 career sacks. Toth, who shifted from defensive back to outside linebacker prior to the start of the campaign, was third among CWRU players with 59 tackles and added 5.5 sacks, 10 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, an interception, and two blocked kicks. Cikalo, who moved from outside linebacker to safety in 2022, finished the year with 42 tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss, and an interception. Wolf added 46 tackles, including two for loss, and an interception during the year. Other key contributors on defense included junior inside linebackers Sean Torres and Gabe Troch, who each led the team with 65 tackles apiece, graduate student cornerback Colin Schuster and sophomore cornerback Dominic Sais, who each had a team-leading seven pass breakups, junior outside linebacker Ryan Cabrera, who finished the campaign with six tackles for a loss, and senior defensive end R.J. Ayers, who was third on the squad with 3.5 sacks.
On special teams, sophomore Joseph Rhodes V earned an All-PAC Honorable Mention as a punter with 38.1 yards per punt, including nine of his 36 inside the 20-yard line. He also converted five-of-eight field goal tries during the year, including a long of 31 yards, and made 25-of-26 (96%) of his extra point attempts.
After opening the season with a 54-14 loss to 10th-ranked Johns Hopkins University, the Spartans bounced back with three-straight victories to end the month of September, defeating Waynesburg University 45-31 on the road, Washington and Jefferson 14-10 at home, and Geneva 34-7 on the road. The win over Washington and Jefferson in the teams' conference opener helped the Spartans set the tone for the early portion of their conference schedule against one of the league's preseason favorites. While the game was a hard-fought defensive battle throughout, a 59-yard touchdown pass from Saxton to Dahlem with 4:21 left in the game gave the Spartans the lead and proved to be the difference-making score in the contest.
CWRU's momentum was briefly stalled with a 14-13 loss at Grove City on October 1. However, the Spartans remained in control of their own destiny to win the PAC title and rallied off three-straight wins to close out the month again, defeating Saint Vincent 45-21, Bethany 45-7, and Allegheny 54-7 to improve to 6-2 overall and to 5-1 in the league. Needing to win both of its remaining games to claim the conference championship and the bid to the NCAA playoffs, the Spartans' title hopes came to an end with a 14-13 loss to Westminster on November 5. CWRU closed out its season with a 20-7 loss at home against 19th-ranked Carnegie Mellon in the Academic Bowl.
In addition to the team's success on the field, several Spartans were recognized for their academic success as well. Cikalo, Coyne, Knurek, Merritt, Orsini, Schuster, Toth, and Wolf were each named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team. A total of 51 members of the team were named to the PAC Academic Honor Roll for having a grade point average of 3.6 or higher during the fall semester. In addition, three Spartan football players – Ayers, Knurek, and senior defensive lineman Jacob Scheponik – were inducted into the Van Horn Society for recording a cumulative grade point average of 3.8 or higher with junior or senior academic standing.
The Spartans earned the following individual awards during the 2022 season:
The following were the Spartans' team statistical leaders during the 2022 season:
