PAC Football: Carnegie Mellon Remains Fourth In Conference
By Larry Snyder
The scoreboard operator at Gesling Stadium was kept busy last week as the Carnegie Mellon University Tartans rolled up a 41-13 victory over the Saint Vincent College Bearcats.
One of the Cardinal and Gray leaders on offense was Graham Schilling, who set a program single-game receiving record. The 6-foot-3, 185-pound senior wide receiver from Export, Pennsylvania had nine receptions for 159 yards.
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Head coach Rich Lachner’s defense kept its second consecutive Presidents Athletic Conference opponent to under 300 yards of total offense. A key player on the Tartans defense is junior defensive end Brian Khoury. The 6-foot-3, 235-pound lineman contributed four sacks and six total tackles. The native of Davenport, Iowa leads the PAC with 10.5 sacks and is averaging 1.5 per contest.
Elsewhere in the Presidents Athletic Conference:
Thomas More College Saints (8-0 overall / 6-0 PAC) With their 66-14 victory over Grove City, the Blue and White remains 11th this week in the D3football.com Top 25 and American Football Coaches Association respective polls…A pair of freshman running backs led the way for head coach Regis Scafe’s offensive explosion against the Wolverines. Hjavier Pitts and Luke Zajac each contributed three touchdowns in the game…Place kicker Tommy Budke collected the PAC Special Teams Player of the Week honors. The 5-foot-10, 170-pound senior from Cincinnati, Ohio was good on all nine of his extra-point attempts and added a 46-yard field goal to the score sheet against Grove City.
Case Western Reserve University Spartans (6-1 / 6-0) The Blue, Gray, and White captured a 35-28 conference victory at home over Washington and Jefferson. Head coach Greg Debeljak’s squad moved into the No. 23 slot on the D3football.com Top 25 survey. The Spartans were among the 21 schools receiving votes in the AFCA D-3 poll…Rod Cuda was the PAC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance against the Presidents. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound sophomore quarterback completed 21-of-35 passes for 278 yards, no interceptions, and five touchdowns. The Bartlett, Illinois native also rushed for 100 yards on 27 carries…Sophomore punter Jacob Burke put up seven punts for an average of 43.6 yards against W&J. He recorded a career-long 71-yard punt in the fourth quarter.
Westminster College Titans (5-2 / 4-1) The Blue and White were on a bye last week. Over the course of seven games this season, Dominique McKinley leads the ground attack for head coach Scott Benzel’s offense with 827 yards on 133 carries and three touchdowns. The 6-foot-1, 210-pound sophomore from Greensburg, Pennsylvania is averaging 6.2 yards per carry for the Titans.
Carnegie Mellon University Tartans (4-3 / 4-2) Running back Sam Benger had his sixth 100-yard game of the season against Saint Vincent. The 5-foot-8, 185-pound sophomore from Hingham, Massachusetts had 113 yards on 37 carries and two touchdowns against the Bearcats.
Washington and Jefferson College Presidents (5-2 / 3-2) After their loss at the hands of Case Western, the Red and Black still received votes in both the D3football.com and AFCA polls. Last week, head coach Mike Sirianni’s crew was 15th in the D3football.com Top 25 and 17th in the AFCA poll…While W&J could not complete the comeback at DiSanto Field in Cleveland, sophomore wide receiver Jesse Zubik hauled in 12 passes, which tied a career high, and established a career mark with 196 yards. Junior quarterback Pete Coughlin was 28-of-37 for 377 yards, no interceptions, and two touchdowns. Last, but not least was senior running back Ryan Ruffing, who claimed 118 yards on 21 carries and two touchdowns.
Saint Vincent College Bearcats (3-4 / 2-3) Senior Devin Anderson is second on the Green and Gold defense with 45 total tackles, just two behind junior linebacker Matt McCarthy. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound defensive back is the team leader with three interceptions.
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Bethany College Bison (3-5 / 2-4) The Green and White defense could not be overcome as head coach Bill Garvey’s unit had 13 tackles for a loss and recorded eight sacks in the 41-15 victory over Geneva….Because of his contributions against Geneva, the PAC recognized Nadim Raddar as their Defensive Player of the Week. The 5-foot-11, 260-pound senior compiled five tackles for a loss which was a career best. He had a total of 12 tackles. The native of Laurel, Maryland equaled a career mark with 3.5 sacks…Another player worthy of applause was wide receiver Eric Blinn. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound senior’s 215 all-purpose yards on the day makes him just the third active Division III player to gather 5,000 career all-purpose yards with 5,143.
Waynesburg University Yellow Jackets (3-5 / 2-4) Freshman quarterback Jake Dougherty connected on 20-of-27 passes for a personal collegiate best 296 yards to go along with two interceptions, and three touchdowns in the Jackets 28-15 victory over Thiel…The Orange and Black’s Zach Machuga led the charge on defense. The junior defensive lineman had a team-high nine total tackles and four tackles for loss.
Geneva College Golden Tornadoes (2-5 / 1-4) In the loss to the Bethany, the scoreboard did not tell the entire story for head coach Geno DeMarco’s team. Sophomore quarterback Aaron Channing completed 26-of-41 for 366 yards, one interception, and two touchdowns. The 366 yards was just two shy of his career best. Meanwhile, sophomore Nick Cook did put up a career high with 12 receptions and 144 yards and the two scoring strikes.
Thiel College Tomcats (1-6 / 0-5) The Blue and Gold’s Grant Syster is averaging 18.8 yards per kickoff return, which is the sixth best average in the PAC. The freshman running back from Clymer, Pennsylvania is third on the team with 406 all-purpose yards.
Grove City College Wolverines (0-7 / 0-5) Senior inside linebacker Brandon Berringer has 52 solo tackles and a total of 79 stops to lead the Crimson and White defense. Senior nose tackle Brent Veerman is the Wolverines leader in sacks with four.
Games For Saturday, Oct. 31:
12 Noon – Washington (Mo.) at Case Western Reserve
1:00 p.m. – Saint Vincent at Westminster
1:00 p.m. – Waynesburg at Thomas More
1:30 p.m. – Grove City at Bethany
7:00 p.m. – Carnegie Mellon at Thiel
7:00 p.m. – Washington and Jefferson at Geneva
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