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Grove City Holds Off Carnegie Mellon In PAC Battle of Unbeatens

Tagged under: Gameday Hub, News, Non-PIAA, Pennsylvania Colleges, pfn

| October 12, 2024

Grove City – In a matchup of two of the top-ranked schools in the country, Grove City knocked off Carnegie Mellon 17-10 Saturday afternoon at Robert E. Thorn Field.

In one of the biggest games in Division III in front of a packed house on homecoming, Grove City built a 17-3 second-half lead, then held off the Tartans.

Both schools came in undefeated. Grove City at 4-0 (4-0) and Carnegie Mellon at 5-0 (5-0). The Presidents Conference powerhouses made sure the game lived up to the hype.

“We talked all week about how we just had to be patient in all phases,” said Grove City head coach Andrew DiDonato. “We knew it would be hard to run the ball against them. Defensively, we knew they had a great quarterback. We knew he would complete passes, but we needed not to panic. Stay true to who we are and what we do. Even though they made plays on both sides of the ball. I thought our guys stayed patient and made the plays when they needed to.”

The Wolverines defense got a pair of second-half interceptions from Boden Davidson and a fumble recovery for a touchdown by Ryan Montgomery to lift Grove City to victory.

“This was a great atmosphere, as the coach said; there’s no place like home,” Montgomery said. “We knew it was going to be a hard-fought game. We know if we lived out our vision and focused on being 1-0 each week, we’d get a win.”

Trailing 10-3, the Tartans drove 55 yards in eight plays before Davidson intercepted Ben Mills at the Wolvrines’ 4-yard line.

Dan Berube then launched a punt 59 yards to the Carnegie Mellon 3-yard line. On the ensuing snap, Ben Bladel forced a fumble that Montgomery recovered in the end zone. Giving Grove City a 17-3 lead with 4:20 to play in the third quarter.

“I was playing tight at the line of scrimmage, which is what we do,” said Montgomery. “I do that every time I’m not in a special teams drill. It’s incredible how what we practice ends translates to the game. It just happens that they fumble the ball; I see it and jump on it. It was just awesome.”

Undaunted, the Tartans came right back, as Ben Mills connected with Reese Kolke on a 17-yard touchdown pass following an 8-play 63-yard drive.

Mills led Carnegie Mellon, completing 29-of-46 passes for 282 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Dominic Voiland caught six passes for 109 yards.

“We talk about special teams. I think they had the country’s number one punt block unit,” said DiDonato. “There was a lot of emphasis this week on special teams. For Daniel to nail that punt and pin them at their 3-yard line, and then Ben Bladel to do what it does, forcing that fumble with the strip, is just well executed. We have an experienced team, so I’m proud of their execution in the big moments.”

The Tartans had a golden opportunity to pull even when Jackson Lajoie intercepted Logan Pfeuffer at the Wolverines’ 27-yard line.

However, on the next play, Mills went to the end zone, where Davidson got Grove City the ball right back. He made another outstanding play, intercepting his second pass of the game with nine seconds to play in the third stanza.

“He’s resilient, battling through injuries and making plays,” Montgomery said of Davidson. “He’s focusing on eliminating his challenges. That’s what we do daily and every rep in practice.”

The Wolverines looked to put the game out of reach after they went on a 15-play 70-yard drive that ate up nearly seven minutes of the game clock; however, Daniel Sullivan misfired from 27 yards out with 8:08 to play.

Carnegie Mellon drove to the Grove City 16-yard line before  Ben Bladel sacked Mills for an 11-yard loss, forcing Justin Caputo to attempt a 45-yard field goal that missed wide right.

The Tartans got one more chance to force overtime when they took over at their 26-yard line with 3:05 remaining. With a 4th-and-11, Mills’ pass to Dominic Voiland was broken up by Davidson, ending the game.

In the first quarter, Carnegie Mellon ran for 100 yards and took a 3-0 lead when Caputo kicked a 43-yard field goal following a 35-yard drive.

As the second stanza rolled around, the Wolverines’ defense tightened up, limited the Tartans to negative 13 yards, and took a 10-3 halftime lead.

“We didn’t make a lot of adjustments,” DiDonato said. “One of the things we learned in this matchup is that if we try to react, it usually hurts us. So, I didn’t want to react. We wanted to stick to our plan. We knew they were going to make plays. I give our staff credit. Our defensive coordinator didn’t change much. We stayed true to what we thought coming in.”

On the 3rd-and-goal, Logan Pfeuffer threw a 4-yard touchdown to Ryan Heckathorn, giving Grove City a lead they would never relinquish. The score capped a 10-play, 48-yard drive.

Pfeuffer completed 11-of-28 passes for 146 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Nico Flati rushed for a game-high 77 yards. Scott Fraser caught five passes for 67 yards.

Daniel Sullivan added a 25-yard field with 21 seconds left in the half.

Grove City will head to Washington County next Saturday night to take on Washington & Jefferson. The Presidents currently have a 5-1 record, with their only loss being a 30-27 overtime defeat at the hands of Carnegie Mellon.

“I told the guys that all this means is that you’re 5-0 with half your season left,” concluded DiDonato. “There’s a lot of great teams left on our schedule. We don’t have to look very far with Washington & Jefferson next week. We’re going to be in for another battle just like this one. We’ll be ready.”

The Tartans will look to bounce back when they travel to St. Vincent next Saturday afternoon.

Game Highlights:

Box Score

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