Grove City Grinds Out 14-6 Win Over Fort LeBoeuf

Tagged under: District 10, Game Photos-Videos, Gameday Hub, News, pfn

Shane Lux | September 20, 2025

Waterford – A pair of second-quarter touchdowns lifted Grove City to a 14-6 victory over homestanding Fort LeBoeuf Friday night.

For the Eagles, it marked their fourth consecutive victory since dropping a heartbreaking 36-34 contest to North East to begin the season.

“You know, two teams that are just physical out there, given everything they had on every snap. What a beautiful night,” said Grove City head coach Sam Mowrey.

“What a beautiful night for football, and that was as a coach just standing back and watching the game. That’s a classic high school football game. So fun to watch. So proud of our team, and what a great group. Fort LeBoeuf is well-coached and will always be a physical, hard-nosed team. That was the case again tonight.”

High school sports have a certain uniqueness to them, conventional wisdom says. The Eagles lost to the Grape Pickers, while the Bison had just beaten the same North East squad 32-3 six days ago. This might suggest that Grove City had little or no chance at Carm Bonito Stadium.

But that’s why they play the games, and why PaFootballNews.com decided to make the trip, because they know better.

“The story of that game was turnovers, and North East was able to convert those into some big plays,” Mowrey said. “Our boys have done a great job, and coaches have done a great job coaching up ball security and making good decisions with the football. Our special teams played clean. Whenever we had to punt, we could flip the field and give them longer fields to drive on, which allowed us to think defensively. The kids played their hearts out. Getting to the football, finishing plays, and being able to sustain that for four quarters.”

Although the Eagles were playing without two of their captains, tailback Jaxyn Wilson and lineman Logan Dice, Grove City was able to grind out the victory.

One captain they had, however, was senior two-way lineman Delathian Boanes, a first-team all-conference selection as a sophomore and junior, and will be as a senior as well.

Boanes had 1.5 sacks and was in on many tackles as the Grove City defense stood firm and turned the Bison away for much of the game.

“This is awesome,” Boanes said. “This is a very important game to us. This is a team we might see in the playoffs later. Our team has just come so far, and I’m so proud of the boys. Coach just told us (at halftime) that we haven’t won the game. It’s just like Slippery Rock. We have come back; we need to do it again. We need to play this game like we’re losing, and that’s exactly what we did.”

At no point was their defense more evident than when Fort LeBoeuf faced a 4th-and-12 at the Eagles’ 23-yard line with just over four minutes to play, trailing by eight.

Bison quarterback Dominic Walters rolled out to the far side, where he was chased down and dropped by Boanes and Luke Gamble with 4:12 to play in the game.

“We love bouncing back, and we don’t like losing,” said Boanes. “This team is just extraordinary. We love that energy. It puts us in a good place.”

The 4-yard sack all but ended the game as the Eagles’ offense, thanks to a pair of first-down rushes by freshman Gavin Purdy, ran out the remainder of the clock.

Grove City had taken a 7-0 lead midway through the second quarter when Purdy capped an 11-play 80-yard drive with a 1-yard run on fourth down.

The scoring drive came after Lucas Kantz misfired on a 30-yard field goal, following a 9-play 43-yard drive for the Bison.

The Eagles then extended their lead to 14-0 when they took over with exactly one minute remaining in the half.

They drove 52 yards in six plays as Purdy found the end zone for the second time on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Heath Hohman with 20 seconds to play.

“Just the flow of the game, the momentum, what a confidence builder for the boys, said Mowrey. “We had a bunch of different kids in that drive, making some nice plays, and the offensive line, you know, working their tail off up front, and we have some injuries and guys stepping up into new positions, or maybe first time on the field. The boys just did a great job and executed and were able to finish it out.”

Fort LeBoeuf didn’t quit, and came out determined, attempting to do what they did a week ago when they erased a 3-0 halftime deficit against North East and turned it into a rout with 32 unanswered second-half points.

Late in the third quarter, the Bison got on the scoreboard when Skyler Sadowski scored on a 1-yard run, following a 29-yard pass from Walters to Aiden Struchen.

Though Sadowski had outgained Grove City himself in the second half, as he ripped off 128 of his game-high 157 yards in the final two quarters, the Eagles’ defense stiffened when it needed to to hold on for victory.

The yardage was as even in the contest, with Fort LeBoeuf holding a 286-285 advantage.

Grove City was led by Jonah Stucchio, who gained 56 yards on 11 carries, while catching two passes for 93 yards. Gavin Purdy chipped in with a team-high 67 yards on 19 carries and added one catch for seven yards.

The Eagles now improve to 4-1 on the season and will host Oil City next Friday night.

Fort LeBoeuf will attempt to bounce back next Friday when it travels to General McLane.

Game Highlights

Grove City 14 Fort LeBoeuf 6

Score by Quarters

Grove City – 0 14 0 0 – 14

Fort LeBoeuf – 0 0 6 0 – 6

Scoring Summary

Second Quarter

GC – Gavin Purdy 1 yd run, (Lucas Kelly pat), 5:15 – 11-80

GC – Purdy 7 yd pass from Heath Hohman, (Kelly pat), 0:20 – 6-52

Third Quart

FL – Skyler Sadowski 1 yd run, (rush failed), 3:10 – 6-55

Individual Stats

Rushing: GC – Jonah Stucchio 11-56, Purdy 19-67, Charlie Miller 1-(-3), Levi Toth 1-(-1), Hohman 1-(-2), Team 1-0. Totals: 34-117. FL – Skyler Sadowski 21-157, Dominic Walters 13-4, Xavier Blose 1-2, Aiden Struchen 2-3, Brady Black 1-0, Team 1-0. Totals: 21-39.

Receiving: GC – Stucchio 2-93, Austin Gothe 2-55, Miller 2-10, Toth 1-3, Purdy 1-7. FL – Struchen 3-74, Michael Vommaro 3-40, Jonavyn Hines 1-12, Blose 1-(-6).

Passing: GC – Hohman 8-for-21, 168 yards, 1 TD. FL – Walters 8-f0r-15, 120 yards, 1 INT.

Interceptions: GC – Miller.

Follow PA Football News on Twitter @PaFootballNews