(GROVE CITY, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon University football team traveled to Grove City, Pennsylvania, on Saturday and fell in double overtime to the Wolverines of Gove City College 29-26 in Presidents' Athletic Conference play. Carnegie Mellon is 4-1 overall and 3-1 in PAC play while Grove City moves to 3-2 and 2-2.
In overtime, Grove City was on offense first and Nick Morrow kicked a 29-yard field to give the Wolverines a 23-20 lead. Carnegie Mellon then tied the score with a 42-yard field goal by junior Josh Lyons (Sherman Oaks, Calif./Harvard-Westlake School), his first of his career, to send the game to a second overtime.
In double overtime, Lyons connected on a 23-yard field goal to make the score 26-23 Carnegie Mellon. Grove City then needed five plays for the game winning score, which was a 1-yard quarterback keeper by Josh Ehst that finalized the score at 29-26.
It marked the 16th overtime game the Tartans played in the program history and they are now 7-9 in those games.
The Tartans, who had 373 yards of total offense, were led on the ground by senior Chris Haas (Coronado, Calif./Coronado), as the senior carried the ball 27 times for season-high 119 yards. Junior quarterback JD Dayhuff (Westerville, Ohio/Olentangy Orange) ended the game with 166 yards and three touchdowns, two of which were thrown to sophomore Kris Hughes (Springboro, Ohio/Springboro) who finished with three catches for 36 yards. Junior Alec Oshita (Torrance, Calif./Mira Costa) led all Tartan receivers with six catches for 67 yards.
Senior Quinn Gaughan (Elmhurst, Ill./York Community) headed the defense with 12 tackles, seven solo. Senior Thomas Polutchko (Southborough, Mass./Algonquin Regional) ended the game with nine tackles, five solo. Freshman Aryan Hegde (Brambleton, Va./Rock Ridge) recorded the lone Tartans takeaway with his first career interception.
Gove City totaled 387 total yards with 216 coming on the ground. Wesley Schools carried the ball 34 times for 176 yards and a touchdown. Ehst threw for 216 yards and a score.
With 1:07 to play in the first quarter, Dayhuff connected with Hughes in the back corner of the end zone for a 22-yard touchdown reception. The point after sailed wide left in the score stood at 6-0 following the eight-play, 49 yard drive.
At the nine-minute mark of the second quarter, Grove City cut the Tartans lead in half when Morrow connected on a 23-yard field goal.
A second Morrow field goal, this time form 35 yards, with 6:28 to play in the third quarter tied the score at 6-6. Grove City took a 13-6 three minutes later when Ehst found Cameron Drake on a 71-yard touchdown catch-and-run.
On the ensuing possession, Carnegie Mellon marched 60 yards on 11 plays which resulted in a second touchdown connection by Dayhuff to Hughes. The tandem struck for a 9-yard touchdown on third down, but the extra point was blocked and the Wolverines held a 13-12 lead with 14:09 to play.
Grove City wasted little time answering the Tartans, as they put together a five-play, 65-yard drive that took 2:05 off the clock and resulted in a 4-yard touchdown run by Schools. The point after gave the home team a 20-12 advantage.
Dayhuff tossed his third touchdown of the game with 5:35 to play in the fourth quarter. The signal caller hit junior Kerry Tomasetti (Landenberg, Pa./Kennett) on a backside screen and Tomasetti scampered into the end zone for six points. The Tartans two-point conversion was successful, as Dayhuff found Highes in back corner of the end zone to knot the score at 20-20.
Carnegie Mellon will return home on October 12 to play the Yello Jackets of Waynesburg University. Kick is set for 7:00 p.m. on the turf at Gesling Stadium.