Box Score GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Grove City College football team opened its 122nd season of intercollegiate play Saturday afternoon by dropping a 31-26 decision to visiting Juniata in non-conference play at Robert E. Thorn Field.

Grove City drove to the Juniata 18 on the Wolverines' final drive of the game. However, Juniata's Joel Reighard intercepted a pass in the end zone with six seconds left to seal the victory.

Grove City (0-1) trailed 31-20 in the fourth quarter but cut the lead to five with 3:48 left when freshman quarterback Brett Laffoon (Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford) lofted a 16-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Brett Pinson (Canton, Ohio/Jackson).

The Wolverine defense then forced a three-and-out, giving the ball back to Grove City at the Wolverines' 42 with 2:06 left. Laffoon completed four of five attempts on the drive, moving Grove City to the Juniata 18 with 16 seconds left. A holding penalty pushed the ball back to the 28 and Reighard intercepted Laffoon on the next play.

Laffoon set a Grove City single-game record with 34 completions. He completed 34 of 54 attempts for 347 yards and three touchdowns. The 347-yard performance is the fourth-highest single-game passing effort in Grove City history. It is also the highest yardage total by a Grove City quarterback in his debut. 

Freshman wide receiver Nick Ponikvar (Bridgeville, Pa./South Fayette) caught 14 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown. Ponikvar's 14 catches are the second-most in one game at Grove City while his 179 yards rank fourth on the single-game list.

Pinson added seven catches for 81 yards and two touchdowns while freshman running back Wesley Schools (Sparrowbush, N.Y./Port Jervis) caught seven passes for 44 yards. Schools led Grove City on the ground with 34 rushing yards on seven attempts.

Grove City took a 6-0 lead with 1:41 left in the first quarter when Ponikvar caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from Laffoon. Two David Vidovic touchdown runs gave Juniata a 14-6 lead in the second quarter but Pinson pulled in a 33-yard touchdown catch with 7:30 left in the first half, cutting the lead to 14-13. 

Juniata quarterback Hank Coyne fired a 32-yard touchdown pass to Kirby Breault with 3:42 remaining in the half, pushing the lead back to eight. 

Five minutes into the third quarter, Laffoon scrambled nine yards into the end zone for a touchdown, bringing Grove City back to within 21-20. 

Juniata kicker Kevin Bonalle drilled a 31-yard field goal with 10:14 left in the game. Juniata took its largest lead, 31-20, when Coyne threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Aaron O'Brien with 5:19 left.

Defensively, sophomore strong safety Ethan Conto (Bruin, Pa./Karns City) intercepted a pass, forced two fumbles and added a sack for Grove City. Conto also recorded seven tackles. Sophomore inside linebacker Shawn Simmons (Harrisburg, Pa./Harrisburg) posted a game-high 15 tackles. 

Junior defensive end Jacob Armbrecht (Streetsboro, Ohio/Streetsboro) recorded a sack, 2.5 tackles for loss and eight total stops. Junior end Caleb Allen (La Grange, Ky./Oldham County) also had a sack. 

Juniata outgained Grove City, 444-410. Grove City held a 22-20 edge in first downs. Coyne completed 17 of 34 passes for 267 yards. Breault had seven receptions for 128 yards. Vidovic led Juniata with 80 rushing yards. 

Saturday's game marked the debut of first-year Grove City head coach Andrew DiDonato.

Grove City will visit Washington & Jefferson next Saturday at 2 p.m. in Washington, Pa.