CLEVELAND -- The Grove City College football team's nine-game winning streak ended Saturday night as the visiting Wolverines dropped a 52-14 decision at Case Western Reserve in Presidents' Athletic Conference action at DiSanto Field. Case Western Reserve (2-0, 1-0) turned three Grove City turnovers into 17 points and also scored a touchdown after a blocked punt
Grove City pulled into a 7-7 tie with 5:35 remaining in the first quarter on a two-yard touchdown run by senior running back
Wesley Schools (Port Jervis, N.Y./Port Jervis). That capped a nine-play, 73-yard drive. On the drive, sophomore quarterback
Josh Ehst (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone) fired a 49-yard strike to junior wide receiver
Cameron Drake (Monaca, Pa./Central Valley) on third-and-11, putting the Wolverines into CWRU territory.
The Spartans took the lead for good on the first play of the second quarter, when linebacker Travis Johnston returned a Grove City fumble 38 yards for a touchdown.Â
In the third quarter, Ehst lofted a 25-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver
Cody Gustafson (Shippensburg, Pa./Shippensburg), punctuating an 11-play, 75-yard scoring drive.Â
Drake caught three passes for 106 yards. Gustafson had three receptions for 41 yards. Ehst finished 8 of 22 for 163 yards. Schools ran for 65 yards on 18 carries.Â
Senior cornerback
Jackson McFall (Oil City, Pa./Oil City) intercepted a pass for the Wolverines while junior defensive end
R.J. Debo (New Brighton, Pa./New Brighton) forced and recovered a fumble. Sophomore linebacker
Parker Kilgore (Glenshaw, Pa./Shaler) recorded a career-high 17 tackles and senior linebacker
Luke Salerno (Cowansville, Pa./Karns City) added 15 stops. Junior safety
Patrick Mark (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla./Wellington) posted nine tackles.
Grove City finished with 284 offensive yards. Case Western Reserve gained 381 yards on its 69 offensive plays. The Wolverines allowed only one play longer than 20 yards, a 35-yard pass completion from Drew Saxton to Chase Witte. Saxton completed 17 of 22 passes for 212 yards. Zach Hall ran for 66 yards on 14 carries. Case Western Reserve held a 33:53-26:07 edge in time of possession. The Spartans went 8 for 12 on third down while Grove City finished 3 of 12.
The Wolverines (2-1, 1-1) will host Washington & Jefferson (2-1, 1-1) in conference action next Saturday. Kickoff at Robert E. Thorn Field will be 1 p.m.
