PAC Football: Carnegie Mellon Sets Three Records
By Larry Snyder
The Carnegie Mellon University Tartans claimed their fourth consecutive Presidents Athletic Conference victory Saturday, and their fifth conference win overall this season with their 73-19 triumph over the Thiel College Tomcats.
A trio of players for the Cardinal and Gray, sophomore running back Sam Benger, junior defensive lineman Brian Khoury, and junior placekicker Gabe Reena, each established single-season records in the match-up.
The 5-foot-8, 185-pound Benger became CMU’s single-season rushing leader when he concluded the contest with 166 yards on 24 carries and three touchdowns. The native of Hingham, Massachusetts has rushed for 1,453 yards in eight games which passed the 1,326 mark set by Travis Sivek in 2006.
Khoury takes ownership of the Tartans single-season sack record with 3.0 sacks against the Tomcats. The 6-foot-3, 235-pound defensive end from Davenport Iowa has a total of 13.5 sacks this season. His sack total breaks the benchmark of 11 sacks put up by Chris Balouirs in 1989 and Anima Nwankwo in 1998. The PAC selected him as their Defensive Player of the Week.
Renna was good on all eight of his extra-point attempts against Thiel and has 36 so far this season. The former record was 32 set by Nate Greenstein during the 2006 campaign. The Carlsbad, California native added a 21-yard field goal in the first quarter. His overall performance earned him PAC Special Teams Player of the Week honors.
The 73 points rolled up by head coach Rich Lachner’s crew was the second highest in the program’s history. The largest assault of the scoreboard was 88 points against Waynesburg back in 1915.
Time to check in around the rest of the Presidents Athletic Conference:
Thomas More College Saints (9-0 overall / 7-0 PAC) After defeating Waynesburg 42-13 at BB&T Field, head coach Regis Scafe’s crew is 12th this week in both the D3football.com Top 25 and American Football Coaches Association polls…Sophomore quarterback Brenan Kuntz completed 16 of 22 for 312 yards, one interception, and four touchdowns in guiding the Saints to victory…Senior wide receiver Goose Cohorn collected two of the touchdown strikes from Kuntz while junior fullback Colin Justice and senior wide receiver Tyler Vogelpohl had one apiece…Justice also had a five-yard touchdown pass from Cameron Lane in the fourth quarter.
Case Western Reserve University Spartans (7-1 / 6-0) Last weekend, the Blue, Gray, and White claimed their seventh consecutive victory with a 34-16 win at home over the Washington University Bears from Missouri…Head coach Greg Debeljak saw his team advance to the No. 18 spot on the D3football.com Top 25 survey. The Spartans collected 50 votes in the others receiving votes category of the AFCA D-3 poll…Sophomore cornerback Adrian Cannon tied an individual program record with three interceptions in the victory over Washington. Junior cornerback Nick Kwon, sophomore strong safety Cody Calhoun, and senior inside linebacker Aaron Weisberg had one interception apiece.
Westminster College Titans (6-2 / 5-1) The Blue and White offense erupted for 31 points in the second half last week as the Titans defeated Saint Vincent 39-14 at Burry Stadium. It was the fourth straight PAC victory for head coach Scott Benzel’s squad and Westminster’s fifth overall conference win in the 2015 campaign…Junior inside linebacker Mac Quinn led the charge on defense against the Bearcats with four solo tackles and assists on five more stops for a total of nine tackles, including two for a loss.
Carnegie Mellon University Tartans (5-3 / 5-2) Sophomore defensive back Drew Fitzmorris collected two solo tackles and assisted on four more to lead the defense with six total stops. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound safety from Omaha, Nebraska added an interception to the score sheet against Thiel…The Tartans had 621 yards of total offense against the Tomcats.
Washington and Jefferson College Presidents (6-2 / 4-2) The Red and Black got back on track as they defeated the Golden Tornadoes 34-13 last week at Geneva…Head coach Mike Sirianni’s squad obtained votes this week in both the D3football.com Top 25 and AFCA rankings in the others receiving votes category…Defensive end Justin Bauer had three solo tackles and assisted on five more for a total of eight stops, including 2.0 tackles for a loss and 1.0 sack against Geneva. The 6-foot-1, 215-pound junior has 3.5 sacks this season.
Bethany College Bison (4-5 / 3-4) The Green and White offense ran the ball effectively in their 58-26 victory over Grove City. The running back leading the way was Jalen Holmes, who rushed for a Bison and PAC single-game record 341 yards on 26 carries and four touchdowns. His 341 yards was the second-most recorded by a Division III runner this season. The New Castle, Pennsylvania native was tabbed as the PAC Offensive Player of the Week…Bethany is on a bye this week and concludes the regular season Saturday, Nov. 14 against the Bearcats at Saint Vincent.
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Saint Vincent College Bearcats (3-5 / 2-4) Senior quarterback Evan Shimensky came off the bench in relief of sophomore signal-caller Tyler Donahue in the third quarter to complete 12 of 17 passes for 83 yards, no interceptions, and two touchdowns in the 39-14 loss to Westminster…It was a rough day for the Green and Gold as they gathered a total of nine first downs against the Titans and went 1-of-14 on third down.
Waynesburg University Yellow Jackets (3-6 / 2-5) In the loss against the Saints at Thomas More, freshman linebacker John-Glen Davis contributed two sacks, while senior middle linebacker Aaron Palmer put up two solo tackles and helped on nine more stops for a game-high 11 tackles…The Orange and Black won the battle for time of possession on the score sheet 34:29 to 25:31, but could not translate that advantage on to the scoreboard.
Geneva College Golden Tornadoes (2-6 / 1-5) Defensive back Nate Cannon put up a joint 139 yards in punt and kickoff returns in the loss to W&J. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound sophomore is second on the Black and Old Gold with 414 all-purpose yards…Junior placekicker Neil Harrison connected on two field goals against the Presidents.
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Thiel College Tomcats (1-7 / 0-6) Freshman linebacker Doak Walker Jr. is seventh in the PAC, averaging 8.1 tackles per game…Freshman cornerback Richard Proper collected 248 yards on nine kickoff returns in the loss to CMU. The longest was 52 yards…Sophomore linebacker Jake Elk leads the Blue and Gold with two interceptions.
Grove City College Wolverines (0-8 / 0-6) Grove City did put up some impressive offensive numbers in the loss last Saturday to Bethany…Junior quarterback Caleb Jakiel went 29-of-55 for 428 yards, one interception, and four touchdowns in his first start of the season. The Moon Township, Pennsylvania native set the Wolverines record for the most passing yards in a single-game. His 56 yards rushing gave him 484 yards of total offense which was another team record…Three of Jakiel’s four touchdown strikes went to senior wide receiver Josh Peach. The native of Hartville, Ohio became just the fifth player in team history to catch three touchdowns in a game. He concluded his day with six receptions for 93 yards.
Games For Saturday, Nov. 7:
12 Noon – Univesity of Chicago at Carnegie Mellon
1:00 p.m. – Thomas More at Case Western Reserve
1:00 p.m. – Geneva at Saint Vincent
1:30 p.m. – Westminster at Grove City
1:30 p.m. – Thiel at Washington and Jefferson
Off – Bethany, Waynesburg