The Case Western Reserve University football team suffered its third-consecutive loss, falling 30-20 to 13th-ranked Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania on Saturday afternoon.

The loss dropped the Spartans to 6-3 overall while the Wolverines improved to 8-1.

The Wolverines reached the end zone on their first drive of the game and added a first quarter field goal to go ahead 9-0 by the end of the frame. Grove City added a touchdown in the second quarter to go ahead 16-0 by halftime and reached the end zone again with 7:03 left in the third quarter to go ahead 23-0.

CWRU began a comeback attempt behind junior quarterback Aaron Filips, who entered the game with 2:44 left in the third quarter and got the Spartans into the end zone four plays later with a five-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Noah Coyne, cutting the Wolverines' lead to 23-7 with 22 seconds remaining by the start of the fourth. On the first play of CWRU's second drive of the final period, Filips completed a 67-yard pass to junior wide receiver Dylan Cave and found him again with a five-yard touchdown pass on the next drive to trim the Grove City advantage to 23-13. However, the Wolverines all but sealed the game with an 80-yard touchdown drive on their next possession to go ahead 30-13 with 2:37 on the clock.

Filips led one final scoring drive, going 71 yards on seven plays and finding junior wide receiver Alec Angello with a 10-yard touchdown pass to pull back within 10 points, 30-20, with 58 seconds to play. CWRU attempted an onside kick but it was recovered by Grove City and the Wolverines were able to run out the clock for the win.

Filips completed 11-of-13 passes in the game for 178 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. Cave finished the game with eight receptions for 160 yards and a touchdown, while Coyne caught seven passes for 62 yards and a score.

Senior safety Nate Cikalo recorded a team-high 12 tackles, including 0.5 tackle for loss, and one pass breakup. Graduate student defensive end AJ Dudowski added 10 tackles, including a sack, 1.5 tackles for loss, and a quarterback hurry.

CWRU totaled 325 yards in the game, 304 of which were via the air.

The Spartans will aim to finish their season on a positive note when the team hosts 16th-ranked Carnegie Mellon on Saturday, November 16 at DiSanto Field in Cleveland. The game will mark the 38th playing of the Academic Bowl, while also serving as the centerpiece of Homecoming Weekend at CWRU and Senior Day for the team's graduating player.

Spartan Notes

• CWRU dropped its third-straight game to Grove City and fell to 5-4 all-time against the Wolverines.

• Cave notched his second consecutive 100-yard receiving game and his third 100-yard effort of both the season and his career.

• Coyne matched his career high with his 11th touchdown catch of the season, the ninth-most in a campaign in program history. His 29 career receiving touchdowns are the fourth-most in team history, while his 2,414 career receiving yards are the fourth-most.

• Dudowski has now recorded double-digit tackles in back-to-back games and three times this season. His 58 total tackles this year lead all CWRU players.