GROVE CITY, Pa. -- A powerful running game, an opportunistic defense and critical special teams plays helped vault the Grove City College football team to a 26-15 victory Saturday night over visiting Bethany in both teams' Presidents' Athletic Conference opener before an overflow crowd at Robert E. Thorn Field.

Senior running back Wesley Schools (Port Jervis, N.Y./Port Jervis) charged through the Bethany defense for 243 yards and the game-clinching touchdown on 33 carries. Grove City finished the game with 318 total rushing yards. 

Meanwhile, the Grove City defense forced three total turnovers, including a pair of fumbles in the red zone. Grove City also recorded a safety in the fourth quarter after a punt from junior Caleb Brake (Mars, Pa./Mars) marooned Bethany at its own 1.

Grove City (2-0, 1-0) led 17-15 with three minutes remaining in the game and faced fourth-and-1 at the Bethany 45. The Wolverines punted and junior safety Patrick Mark (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla./Wellington) downed Brake's punt at the 1. On the next play, Grove City engulfed Bethany running back Raekwon Wright in the end zone for a safety.

Sophomore wide receiver Brandon Caffrey (Ashburn, Va./John Champe) returned the subsequent free kick to the Grove City 47. Schools then sealed the win with a 53-yard touchdown run with 2:23 remaining. 

Grove City trailed 6-0 in the first quarter but halved the lead with 1:02 remaining in the quarter on a 27-yard field goal from sophomore kicker Nick Morrow (Moon Township, Pa./Moon). Grove City then took the lead on its next drive as sophomore quarterback Josh Ehst (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone) scored on a one-yard sneak with 11:08 left in the half.

The Wolverines extended the lead to 17-6 on the final play of the first half as Ehst again scored on a one-yard sneak, this time on fourth-and-goal. That capped a 16-play, 86-yard drive that consumed the final 6 minutes, 38 seconds of the half. That drive began at the Grove City 14 after senior cornerback Jacob Ross (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) forced a fumble that senior safety Cameron Good (Muncy, Pa./Muncy) recovered.

Bethany drove to the Grove City 4 on its first drive of the game but senior linebacker Luke Salerno (Cowansville, Pa./Karns City) forced a fumble that the Wolverines recovered. 

Good also intercepted a pass in the fourth quarter, the first pick of his career. Mark, Salerno and Debo all had eight tackles. Debo had three tackles for loss and combined with freshman linebacker Ryan Fleming (Bridgeville, Pa./South Fayette) on a sack. Freshman linebacker Curtis Freyermuth (Meadville, Pa./Cochranton) made his first start and recorded a sack.

Ehst went 9 of 17 for 71 yards. He also ran for 75 yards on 13 attempts. Junior Cameron Drake (Monaca, Pa./Central Valley) caught eight passes for 66 yards. 

Grove City owned a 389-368 edge in total offense, along with a 30:18-29:42 time of possession advantage. Bethany went 9 for 15 on third down while Grove City converted 3 of 11 third downs.

Carlin Bason completed 13 of 24 passes for 155 yards. Wright led Bethany with 63 yards and Greg Avent had 62 rushing yards.

Grove City has now won nine straight games, dating back to last season. That is the program's longest win streak since Grove City won 15 consecutive games from 1925 to 1927. It is the longest unbeaten streak since the Wolverines went 10-0-1 over an 11-game period covering the 1947 and 1948 seasons.

The Wolverines will visit conference foe Case Western Reserve next Saturday night at 7 p.m. in Cleveland.