GROVE CITY, Pa. -- Sophomore wide receiver
Cody Gustafson (Shippensburg, Pa./Shippensburg) caught his third touchdown pass of the game with 26 seconds left in regulation Saturday afternoon to help lift the Grove City College football team to a 30-27 victory over visiting Saint Vincent in Presidents' Athletic Conference play at Robert E. Thorn Field. It is the fourth straight win for the Wolverines (5-3, 4-3 PAC).
Gustafson tied Grove City's single-game record with three touchdown receptions. His three touchdowns Saturday give him 12 for the season, which surpasses the former single-season record of 10, set by Dave DiDonato in 2003.
His final score capped a 12-play, 59-yard scoring drive that used 6 minutes, 35 seconds. Grove City went 4 for 4 on third down during its final drive.Â
Gustafson caught eight passes for 72 yards. Junior tailback
Wesley Schools (Port Jervis, N.Y./Port Jervis) ran for 122 yards and a score on 29 carries for the Wolverines, giving him his 13th 100-yard game in the last 14 outings for Grove City.
Grove City took a 7-0 lead with 2:17 remaining in the opener quarter when freshman quarterback
Josh Ehst (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone) threw a five-yard touchdown pass to Gustafson. Freshman kicker
Nick Morrow (Moon Township, Pa./Moon) added the extra point.
Saint Vincent (1-7, 1-6) cut the lead to 7-6 on Mike Stasko's eight-yard touchdown run. Senior nose tackle
Connor Lowe (Perry, Ohio/Perry) preserved the lead by blocking the extra point, however.Â
Grove City pushed the lead to 13-6 with 3:02 remaining in the half when Ehst tossed a six-yard touchdown pass to a leaping Gustafson in the back of the end zone. Saint Vincent forged a 13-13 with seven seconds left in the half, though, as Stasko picked up a fumbled snap at the Grove City 9 and lateraled the ball to Aaron Austin, who raced into the end zone.
The Wolverines opened the second half with a 17-play, 89-yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:41. Schools scored on an eight-yard touchdown run with 7:17 left in the quarter. At the 2:24 mark of the third quarter, Morrow booted a 33-yard field goal that gave Grove City a 23-13 lead.
Saint Vincent surged ahead in the fourth quarter as Quincy Mays scored on respective touchdown runs of seven and five yards after the Bearcats unveiled a single-wing offensive attack.
Saint Vincent owned a 296-269 edge in total yardage. Grove City held a 30:21-29:39 edge in time of possession after having the ball for exactly 19 minutes in the second half. The game featured no turnovers. Each team had eight possessions.
Ehst went 13 of 19 for 119 yards. Sophomore
Cameron Drake (Monaca, Pa./Central Valley) caught three passes for 32 yards.Â
Junior defensive end
Chris Wolfe (North Haledon, N.J./Passaic County Tech) recorded a sack for the Wolverines while junior linebacker
Luke Salerno (Cowansville, Pa./Karns City) and freshman linebacker
Parker Kilgore (Glenshaw, Pa./Shaler) combined on a sack. Sophomore safety
Patrick Mark (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla./Wellington) had 10 tackles and senior linebacker
Sam Henson (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) had nine stops.
Grove City's four-game win streak is the longest in-season win streak for the Wolverines since 1999. Grove City won five straight games overlapping the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
The Wolverines will visit archrival Geneva next Saturday night at 7 p.m. in conference action.