GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Grove City College football team dropped a 28-24 decision Saturday afternoon to 24th-ranked Washington & Jefferson in Presidents' Athletic Conference action on Senior Day at Robert E. Thorn Field. Grove City blanked the visiting Presidents in the second half but could not complete the comeback.

Grove City (6-2, 5-2 PAC) trailed 28-17 with 7:57 left in the fourth quarter but senior Zach Trusky (Carnegie, Pa./Bishop Canevin) charged to the end zone on a 23-yard run, cutting the lead to 28-24. Trusky ran for a season-high 133 yards on 19 attempts.

The Wolverines then regained possession at their own 41 when senior defensive end R.J. Debo (New Brighton, Pa./New Brighton) intercepted a pass that had been deflected by junior linebacker Ryan Fleming (Bridgeville, Pa./South Fayette). Grove City moved into W&J territory but W&J cornerback Nick Friewald recorded an interception to end the threat.

Grove City forced a W&J punt with 42 seconds left and took over at its own 17. Following a sack on second down, W&J's Drew Ehrlich intercepted a desperation pass from senior quarterback Josh Ehst (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone) to snuff out the comeback effort with nine seconds left.

Ehst opened Grove City's scoring with 7:44 left in the first quarter as he fired a 13-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Ryan Heckathorn (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk), tying the game 7-7. 

W&J took a 14-7 lead 45 seconds into the second quarter on Joey Koroly's two-yard run. The Presidents extended the lead to 21-7 on a 19-yard touchdown run by Justin Huss. 

Grove City answered with a 10-play, 72-yard drive that Ehst capped with a 14-yard touchdown run on a quarterback draw. Senior kicker Nick Morrow (Moon Township, Pa./Moon) hit the extra point, cutting the lead to 21-14 with 8:54 left in the half. 

Huss returned the subsequent kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, however. Grove City countered with a 15-play, 58-yard drive that used nearly seven minutes. However, Grove City turned over the ball on downs at the W&J 12. W&J led 28-14 at halftime.

Morrow's 32-yard field goal midway through the third quarter trimmed the lead to 28-17.

Senior wide receiver Cody Gustafson (Newburg, Pa./Shippensburg) hauled 13 passes for 131 yards. He went over the 1,000-yard mark for the season and now has 1,046 yards. That is the No. 3 single-season total in program history. Gustafson had 1,246 yards in 2019 and 1,224 yards in 2018. His 72 catches this year are also third on the single-season list at Grove City. He caught 76 balls in 2018. Rick Sems pulled in 73 passes in the nine-game 1991 season.

Ehst completed 19 of 37 passes for 202 yards. 

Junior linebacker Curtis Freyermuth (Meadville, Pa./Cochranton) intercepted a pass for the Wolverines, who held W&J (7-1, 6-1 PAC) to five first downs in the second half. Freyermuth and senior safety Patrick Mark (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla./Wellington) both had seven tackles. Debo and freshman defensive end Bryce Spolnik (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette) shared a sack. 

Grove City held a 24-17 edge in first downs and outgained W&J, 381-330. The Wolverines also owned a 36:16-23:44 advantage in time of possession. 

W&J quarterback Colton Jones completed 24 of 36 passes for 225 yards. Koroly ran for 80 yards on 16 carries. He also caught nine passes for 50 yards.

Grove City will visit Case Western Reserve next Saturday in conference action. Kickoff in Cleveland will be 1 p.m.