GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Grove City College football team combined an explosive offense with an opportunistic defense Friday night in opening the 2021 spring season with a 37-14 home win over Saint Vincent in Presidents' Athletic Conference inter-divisional action at Robert E. Thorn Field. 

Grove City (1-0) amassed 525 total yards and averaged 9.4 yards per play. The Wolverine defense recorded three interceptions and four quarterback sacks.

Junior quarterback Josh Ehst (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone) completed 12 of 21 passes for 325 yards and four touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Cody Gustafson (Newburg, Pa./Shippensburg) caught six passes for 180 yards and three touchdowns while senior Cameron Drake (Monaca, Pa./Central Valley) pulled in five balls for 82 yards and a touchdown. 

Junior running back Zach Trusky (Carnegie, Pa./Bishop Canevin) ran for 136 yards on 20 carries in his first start. Sophomore Clayton Parrish (Mercer, Pa./West Middlesex added 56 yards and a touchdown on nine attempts.

Senior defensive end R.J. Debo (New Brighton, Pa./New Brighton) recorded two quarterback sacks and sophomore linebacker Ryan Fleming (Bridgeville, Pa./South Fayette) added 1.5 sacks. Senior safety Patrick Mark (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla./Wellington), junior linebacker Nik Grabiec (Newport, Pa./Newport) and freshman cornerback Gabe Dunlap (Harrison City, Pa./Penn Trafford) all intercepted passes.

Grove City jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter as Ehst fired a pair of long touchdown strikes to Gustafson. Ehst's 64-yard touchdown bomb to Gustafson opened the scoring with 10:44 remaining in the first quarter. The first of four extra points from junior kicker Nick Morrow (Moon Township, Pa./Moon) gave Grove City a 7-0 lead. 

Saint Vincent drove into Grove City territory on the next possession but Mark's interception at the 30 ended the drive. Two plays later, Ehst tossed a 65-yard touchdown pass to Gustafson with 4:19 left in the quarter

Grove City pushed the lead to 21-0 with 2:18 left in the half as Drake caught a 13-yard touchdown pass. Trusky had runs of 10, 13 and 14 yards on the seven-play drive while Drake caught three passes on the march. 

The Wolverines quickly extended their 21-0 halftime lead by scoring three plays into the second half. Ehst connected with freshman wide receiver Nick Gustafson (Newburg, Pa./Shippensburg) on a 63-yard strike that gave Grove City first and goal at the 3. Parrish scored on the next play.

Ehst also threw a two-yard touchdown pass to Cody Gustafson with 7:11 left in the third quarter. Morrow's 28-yard field goal with 7:10 remaining in the game closed the scoring. 

Debo posted a team-high 11 tackles. Junior cornerback Branden Caffrey (Ashburn, Va./John Champe) added nine tackles. Fleming, Grabiec and senior safety Jared Hurd (Spring Mills, Pa./Penns Valley) all had seven tackles. 

Saint Vincent finished with 336 offensive yards on 74 plays, an average of 4.5 yards per play. Quarterback Brady Walker completed 26 of 43 passes for 246 yards. Mike Stasko ran for 66 yards on 14 carries.

Grove City is a member of the PAC's North Division for this spring. Saint Vincent will compete in the South Division. Grove City opens North Division play next Thursday at Carnegie Mellon. Kickoff is 6 p.m.