Sophomore quarterback Tyler Donahue ran for 270 yards and passed for 165 - all in the first half - as the Bearcats cruised to a 65-14 victory over the Thiel Tomcats in Presidents' Athletic Conference play at Chuck Noll Field.
After the Bearcat defense stopped Thiel on its opening drive, Donahue wasted no time setting the tone for the afternoon, taking off on a 27-yard run on the first play from scrimmage in his first collegiate start. Two plays later, Shavonta Craft ran the final 21 yards for the score. Steven Scherer's kick made it a 7-0 game just over 2 minutes into play.
Another Thiel punt followed, and once again Donahue called his own number on first down, keeping the ball on an option play and going untouched on a 74-yard scoring dash.
The visitors drove the ball to the SVC 6-yard-line on the next drive, but the Bearcat goal line defense held on a fourth-and-three play. On a third down play from their own 7, the Bearcats caught the Tomcat defense off guard, as Donahue hit Damon Black for a long pass, and Black did the rest, evading defenders for a 93-yard touchdown that ran the lead to 21-0 at the 4:53 mark of the first quarter.
Bearcat kicker Sam Elliott then put down a perfect onside kickoff, chasing his own kick 13 yards and falling on it at the Bearcat 48. On the first play of the drive, Jhanard Dorsett ran 52 yards for another SVC touchdown, making it 28-0 with 4:42 left in the first quarter.
At the 9:20 mark of the second quarter, Saint Vincent scored again, thanks to another long Donahue run. After taking over at their own 6-yard-line following a punt, Donahue ran for 6 yards on the drive's first play, then took off on an 82-yard scamper on the next, getting dragged down at the Thiel 6. Craft took it the rest of the way to make it 35-0 after the Scherer kick.
Thiel got on the board just seconds later, as Elliott's kickoff was fielded at the 10 by Richard Proper, who took it back 90 yards for the touchdown, cutting the margin to 35-7 with 9:08 remaining in the half.
The next SVC drive stalled at the Thiel 5, so Scherer was called on for a field goal attempt, connecting from 22 yards out at the 5:48 mark to run the lead to 38-7.
Later in the quarter, after Thiel started a drive at their own 20, SVC freshman defensive lineman Cody Henry stripped quarterback Ryan Radke of the ball and recovered it at the Thiel 8, setting up a Donahue touchdown pass to Black on the next play.
Up 45-7, the Bearcats weren't finished yet for the half, as Jean Cherilus intercepted a Radke pass at the Thiel 34 and returned it to the three yard line. On the next play, Craft carried the ball into the end zone, making it 52-7. Scherer ended the scoring for the half just as time ran out, hitting a 25-yard field goal that sent the teams to the locker room with the score 55-7.
On the first play from scrimmage in the second half, with Evan Shimensky now running the offense, fullback Ryan Crawford came out of the backfield and slipped behind the defense, catching Shimensky's pass and going untouched on a 67-yard scoring play.
Scherer later added his third field goal of the afternoon, this time from 26 yards out, to make it 65-7 before the Tomcats added a late score in the fourth.
Saint Vincent's 65 point output was a new modern-era record, eclipsing the 55 points the team scored against FDU-Florham in September of 2011.
For the day, the Bearcats posted a record 609 yards of total offense, 451 on the ground and 232 through the air despite Thiel having the ball for more than 34 minutes.
Donahue carried the ball 11 times for 270 yards, a modern-era Bearcat record. Dorsett had four carries for 83 yards, while Craft had 8 carries for 46 yards and three touchdowns, which also equaled the modern record. The team's 5 rushing TDs on the day were also a record.
Through the air, Donahue was 8-for-14 for 165 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Donahue did not take a snap in the second half. Black caught three passes for 117 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while Dustin Lowman and Craft had two catches each.
Defensively, Matt McCarthy had six tackles to lead the team, while Henry, Devin Anderson and Joshua Drwal had four each. All of Drwal's tackles were on special teams. Henry, Thomas Ramirez and Nick Nitowski each recorded a sack, while Josh Shivetts and Tyler DiGrande teamed for a fourth-quarter sack as well.
Following the record-setting afternoon, the Bearcats have a bye week on October 10 before returning to action on Saturday, October 17, hosting nationally ranked Thomas More College.