GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Grove City College football team earned its fourth straight win Saturday afternoon by rolling to a 52-7 triumph over visiting Hiram (4-2, 1-2) in Presidents' Athletic Conference action at Robert E. Thorn Field.
Grove City (4-2, 3-0) rolled up 31 first downs and surpassed the 200-yard mark in both rushing and passing offense. Grove City finished with 233 passing yards and 201 rushing yards in a 434-yard afternoon. Meanwhile, the Wolverines defense recorded a season-high five sacks and also contributed a score as senior safety
Dominic DiNinno (Apollo, Pa./Kiski Area) returned an interception 77 yards for a touchdown.
Senior wide receivers
Darviae Gray (Buffalo, N.Y./Amherst Central),
Seth McGroerty (Middletown, Del./Red Lion Christian) and
Luke Shuagis (Cresson, Pa./Penn Cambria) all caught touchdown passes while sophomore running back
Braxtyn Brown (Berwick, Pa./Columbia Montour Vo-Tech) ran for two scores. Senior running back
Sutton Ellis (Brunswick, Ga./Frederica Academy) also scored a rushing touchdown.
Brown gave Grove City a 7-0 lead with 9:24 left in the first quarter as he scored on a seven-yard touchdown run. The lead grew to 14-0 six minutes later as Gray hauled in a six-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback
Mike Hollomon (Princeton, N.J./The Pingry School).
DiNinno intercepted Hiram quarterback Sean Tejeda on the first play of the second quarter and returned the theft to the end zone, pushing the lead to 21-0. It is DiNinno's second interception of the season.
Sophomore kicker
Brady Lane (Jefferson, Ga./Mill Creek) capped the Wolverines' next possession, a 14-play, 81-yard drive, with a 31-yard field goal. McGroerty closed the first half by catching a four-yard scoring dart from Hollomon on the final play of the first half.
Grove City led 31-0 at halftime.
Brown scored on a nine-yard touchdown run in the third quarter while Ellis plunged in from the 2 with 14:05 left in the game. Shuagis closed the scoring with a 23-yard reception at the 4:27 mark of the fourth quarter. Sophomore quarterback
Bryce Graham (Hanover, Pa./South Western) threw the touchdown pass, his first collegiate scoring strike.
Hollomon finished 19 of 31 for 187 yards. Brown ran for 89 yards on 15 carries. Gray caught a team-leading eight passes for 93 yards while McGroerty had six receptions for 43 yards.
Defensively, senior linebacker
Brock Batche (Windber, Pa./Richland), sophomore end
Cole Savage (Greensburg, Pa./Greensburg Salem), sophomore linebacker
Nick Clemens (Moon Township, Pa./Moon) and freshman linebacker
Sean O'Connell (Northfield, Ohio/Benedictine) all had sacks. Senior end
Mason Kraeer (Washington, Pa./Trinity) and freshman linebacker
Jack Dare (Prince Frederick, Md./St. Mary's Ryken) shared a sack.
Hiram finished with 211 yards and 12 first downs. Tejeda, who entered the game as the conference's passing yardage leader, completed 10 of 26 passes for 149 yards.
DiNinno's interception return marked the second straight week in which the Wolverines have scored a defensive touchdown. Sophomore cornerback
Cameron Epps (Pittsburgh, Pa./South Allegheny) returned an interception 64 yards for a touchdown last Saturday night at Westminster.
Grove City will visit Waynesburg University next Saturday at 12 p.m. in Presidents' Athletic Conference action.
