(GROVE CITY, Pa.) - The 10th-ranked Thomas More College football team came-from-behind to defeat Grove City College, 31-9, today (Saturday, October 9, 2010) in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) game at Robert E. Thorn Field in Grove City, Pennsylvania.
With the win, the Saints improve to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the PAC and with the loss, the Wolverines fall to 2-3 overall and 1-2 in the PAC.
The game was tied 7-7 after one quarter, but then Thomas More led 14-9 at halftime and 17-9 after three quarters.
Thomas More took a 7-0 lead with 9:34 to play in the first quarter when junior wide receiver Austin Studer (Alexandria, Ky./Campbell County) scored on a 26-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Rob Kues (Fort Thomas, Ky./Newport Central Catholic) and senior place kicker Dustin Zink (Cold Spring, Ky./Newport Central Catholic) added the point-after-attempt.
Grove City came right back and tied the game at 7-7 when Zach Gross scored on a 15-yard run and Craig Bicehouse added the PAT with 5:03 to play in the first stanza.
The Wolverines then got a safety with 10:11 to play in the second quarter to take a 9-7.
Kues then connected on a 61-yard touchdown pass to freshman running back Adam Rauch (Yorkville, Ind./East Central) and Zink added the PAT to 14-9 lead with 6:08 to play in the first half.
At the 11:15 mark of the third quarter, Zink increased the Saints' lead to 17-9 when he connected on a 32-yard field goal.
Then Thomas More increased the lead to 24-9 with 13:05 to play in the fourth quarter when junior running back Kendall Owens (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) scored on a 54-yard touchdown run and Zink added the PAT.
Sophomore defensive back Zach Autenrieb (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder) then returned an interception 32 yards for a toudhdown and Zink added the PAT with 11:41 to play in the game for the final score of 31-9.
Kues led the Saints offense as he was 13-fo-21 passing for 179 yards and two touchdowns. Owens had nine carries for 75 yards and one touchdown and also had three catches for 21 yards, while Rauch finished the day with two catches for 82 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, the Saints were led by Autenrieb who had three tackles and two interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown. Senior defensive back Aaron Monk (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder) and sophomore linebacker Nick Gramke (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder) both led the team in tackles with 10 tackles each. Gramke had one tackle for a loss and Monk had a half tackle for a loss. Sophomore defensive back Antonio Booker (Louisville, Ky./Male) had nine tackles, including a half tackle for a loss and junior defensive end Jay Volker (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder) added eight tackles, including one sack and two and a half tackles for a loss.
The Saints return to action next Saturday (October 16) when they host PAC foe Saint Vincent College at 1:30 p.m. at The Bank of Kentucky Field in Crestview Hills, Kentucky.