GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Grove City College football team opened its Presidents' Athletic Conference schedule Saturday night by dropping a 34-14 decision to visiting Washington & Jefferson at Robert E. Thorn Field. 

Senior running back Ian Demeri (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn-Trafford) led Grove City with 142 rushing yards and a touchdown on 21 attempts. His two-yard touchdown run with 2:03 left closed the scoring. 

Grove City broke through with 4:29 remaining in the third quarter when junior wide receiver Sam Penna (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) hauled in a 50-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Sutton Ellis (Brunswick, Ga./Frederica Academy).

Penna caught three passes for 58 yards. Ellis threw for 83 yards. 

W&J outgained Grove City, 448-281. The Presidents held a 35:50-24:10 edge in time of possession. 

Senior linebacker Calbe Brubaker (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg) led Grove City with 17 tackles while senior linebacker Jack Jollie (Jeannette, Pa./Penn-Trafford) had a dozen stops. Senior linebacker Ben Bladel (Coraopolis, Pa./Moon) and senior defensive end Jordan Karczewski (Monaca, Pa./Central Valley) shared a sack.

W&J quarterback Kellen Stahl completed 28 of 41 passes for 337 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for a score. His 18-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Sharp on the first play of the second quarter gave W&J a 10-0 lead. 

Stahl later threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Macosko in the second quarter, then scored on a four-yard run. W&J led 24-0 at intermission.

Grove City (1-2, 0-1) will visit conference leader Geneva (2-2, 2-0) next Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Beaver Falls.