The Case Western Reserve University football team rang in Homecoming Weekend on campus with a resounding win, as the Spartans (4-1, 1-1 PAC) beat Saint Francis University (0-3) 52-10 at DiSanto Field in Cleveland on Saturday, in the first-ever meeting between the two teams.

Stats and Standouts

• The CWRU defense was outstanding on Saturday, allowing just 183 yards of offense (65 rushing and 118 passing), while recording a pair of interceptions and notching a season-high six sacks and 10 total tackles for loss.

• Offensively, CWRU had 307 total yards, including 127 rushing and 180 passing, and did not turn the ball over in the contest.

• Junior Jake Kavcic blocked a punt, notched a safety, averaged 39.0 yards on a pair of kick returns, and 13.3 yards on three punt returns in the game. Defensively, he had five tackles (one solo), including one for a loss, and intercepted his first pass of the campaign.

• Junior Andy Kavcic scored four touchdowns in the game, three receiving and one rushing. He carried the ball nine times for 48 yards and caught five passes for 57 yards in the game. 

• Sophomore Dominic Ghilani fell just one sack shy of the program's single-game record, finishing the contest with a career-high 3.5 sacks, all in the first half. He led the squad with six tackles (three solo).

• Senior Pierce Olsen completed 11-of-19 passes for 180 yards with four touchdowns and did not throw an interception in the victory.

• Senior Beau Wolf caught four passes for a team-high 111 yards.

First Quarter

• Jake Kavcic blocked a punt on the Red Wolves' first drive of the game, giving CWRU possession on the Saint Francis 17-yard line, and two plays later, Andy Kavcic ran for an eight-yard touchdown to put the Spartans in front 7-0.

• After a Saint Francis field goal, the Spartans extended their lead to 14-3 with a 42-yard touchdown pass from Olsen to Wolf with 3:56 on the clock.

• Sophomore Nick Delfau extended CWRU's next drive with a 26-yard run for a first down on a fake punt, and two plays later, Andy Kavcic notched his second touchdown of the game, catching a 19-yard pass from Olsen to push the Spartans' advantage to 20-3 by the end of the first frame.

• Despite having possession for under five minutes in the opening quarter, the Spartans outgained Saint Francis 125-71 in the period.

Second Quarter

• Andy Kavcic scored his third touchdown of the game with 9:22 left in the half, scoring on a six-yard pass from Olsen, as the Spartans went ahead 27-3.

• The score would hold for the remainder of the half, as the Spartans' defense held Saint Francis to just 22 yards of offense on 15 plays in the frame, and CWRU took a 24-point lead into the break.

Third Quarter

• Jake Kavcic tackled the Red Wolves' punter in the end zone with 9:34 on the clock for a safety, putting CWRU ahead 29-3. 

• The Spartans were able to score off the ensuing free kick with Andy Kavcic scoring his fourth touchdown of the game on a 27-yard pass from Olsen, as CWRU extended its lead to 35-3 with 7:00 to play in the third.

• After a Jake Kavcic interception, his first of the campaign, gave CWRU possession at the Saint Francis 23-yard line, senior Mitchell Waite ran the ball in from 12 yards out to put the Spartans in from 42-3 with 5:22 left.

• Meanwhile, the CWRU defense allowed just nine yards of offense in the period.

Fourth Quarter

• Sophomore Aaron Alexander became the third Spartan running back to notch a touchdown in the game, scoring on a four-yard run with 13:09 to play, as CWRU extended its advantage to 49-3.

• Saint Francis scored a touchdown with 7:14 left to get on the board for the first time since their second drive of the game.

• Seeing his first action of the season, first-year Liam Barger intercepted a pass with 3:32 left, and senior Colin Corum kicked a 22-yard field goal in his Spartan debut to put the finishing touches on the Spartans' victory.

Spartan Notes

• Saturday's game was the first-ever meeting between the Spartans and the Red Wolves. With Saint Francis in its first year of reclassification from Division I to Division III, the game did not count toward the conference standings.

• The Spartans have now won 16 of their last 19 Homecoming games, with 14 of the last 16 Homecoming wins being by two or more touchdowns.

• CWRU improved to 2-1 in home games this season.

• The 52 points scored by the Spartans were a season high and the most by the team since putting up 55 at Thiel last season on October 25.

• The Spartans have gone 119 consecutive games over the last 13 years without being shut out. During that time, CWRU has been held under 10 points just three times while scoring 30 or more points on 77 occasions.

• Ghilani, who was named the PAC Defensive Player of the Week last week, now has a team-high 6.0 sacks this season, 4.5 of which have happened in the last two weeks.

• Wolf notched the first effort of 100 or more receiving yards of his career on Saturday. He now has a career-high 305 receiving yards and two touchdowns this season.

• Andy Kavcic's four touchdowns, a career-high, were the most in a game this season by a Spartan and marked the fourth multiple-touchdown game of his career. He is the first Spartan to score four touchdowns in a game since Stefan Lopez accomplished the feat against Allegheny on Homecoming last season on October 11. Kavcic has 616 yards and four touchdowns on the ground this season, while catching 23 passes for 211 yards and four additional scores.

• In addition to his run on the fake punt for a first down, Delfau averaged 39.3 yards on three punts, all of which landed inside the opponents' 10-yard line.

Up Next

The Spartans will be back at DiSanto Field in Cleveland next weekend, hosting Waynesburg University for a PAC contest at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 17.