The Case Western Reserve University football team grabbed an early lead and never looked back, as the Spartans defeated the Grove City College Wolverines 35-21 on 'Senior Day' at DiSanto Field in Cleveland, Ohio on Saturday.
With one game left in the regular season, the Spartans and the Wolverines are now tied for fourth place in the Presidents' Athletic Conference with identical records of 5-3 in league play and 6-3 overall.
Senior quarterback Drew Saxton was an efficient 22-for-28 for 249 yards with three touchdowns and an interception on Saturday, including five passes for 102 yards and a touchdown to junior wide receiver Lucas DeCaro. Junior Aidan Cain registered five catches for 55 yards and two key touchdowns, while also converting a two-point try in the fourth quarter that gave CWRU a 14-point lead at the time. Junior running back Antonio Orsini notched his second 100-yard rushing game of the season, running for 124 yards and two touchdowns, including a 55-yard scamper late in the game that helped seal the win.
The Spartans' defense held Grove City, which averages 186 rushing yards per game, to just 88 in Saturday's contest. Sophomore linebacker Ryan Cabrera led the team in tackles for the second-straight week, registering 13 on the day, while first-year defensive back Dominic Sais was at the center of two turnovers in the fourth quarter, recovering a muffed punt and intercepting a ball on Grove City's final drive.
CWRU only had three offensive drives in the opening half, but ended each of the three with touchdowns. On the opening drive of the game, Saxton took advantage of a free play after a Grove City player jumped offsides, launching a 59-yard touchdown pass to DeCaro giving CWRU a 7-0 lead with 12:40 left in the opening quarter. The Spartans extended their lead to 13-0 behind a long, grinding drive that ate nearly 11 minutes off the game clock. CWRU went 80 yards over 10 plays and scored on a five-yard touchdown run by Orsini with 9:20 to play in the half. The Spartans added to their advantage with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Saxton to Cain with 1:07 left in the half, and then stopped Grove City on first-and-goal at the CWRU two-yard line as time expired to take a 20-0 lead into the break.
The Spartans' defense held Grove City to just 16 rushing yards in the opening half, while the CWRU offense converted all six of its third down attempts. Saxton finished the opening half of play 14-for-15 for 181 yards and two touchdowns.
Grove City received the ball to start the second half and got its offense on track with a touchdown, cutting the CWRU lead to 20-7 with 11:11 to play in the third quarter, and pulled back within six points after a quarterback dive into the endzone by Josh Ehst with 2:20 remaining in the third.
However, the Spartans were able to stall the Grove City momentum with a key series of plays early in the fourth quarter. The Wolverines dropped a punt that was recovered by Sais at the Grove City 14-yard line. Two plays later, Saxton found Cain with a 12-yard touchdown pass in the corner of the endzone for his second scoring grab of the day and fourth of the season. Cain also caught a pass to convert a two-point conversion, giving CWRU a 28-14 lead with 13:05 left in the game.
The Wolverines responded two minutes later, scoring on a 42-yard touchdown pass from Ehst to Scott Fraser with 11:05 left, pulling back within a touchdown, 28-21.
Grove City had a chance to even the score later in the quarter, but the Spartans' defense stopped the Wolverines drive on downs at the CWRU 25-yard line with 4:11 left to play. On the ensuing drive, on third and two, Orsini broke a series of tackles to notch a season-long 55-yard run for a touchdown, giving CWRU a 35-21 lead and putting the game out of reach for Grove City. Sais would intercept an Ehst pass on the second play of the next drive, and the Spartans would run out the clock to lock in the win.
Orsini now has 12 rushing touchdowns this season, tying him with former Spartan Rob Cuda for the fourth-most in a single season in program history. DeCaro's touchdown catch was his 10th of the year, tying him for the ninth-most ever by a CWRU player.
Prior to the start of Saturday's game, the Spartans honored the 15 graduating members of the football team, many of whom played in the final home game of their Spartans careers. The 15 players – linebacker Michael Amadio, offensive lineman Joshua Blamer, Cain, running back Donald Day III, wide receiver Donny Genetin Jr., linebacker Alex Glatz, running back Sean Goodman Jr., wide receiver Johnny Kass, defensive lineman Thomas Koss, wide receiver Mukund Mahesh, wide receiver Colt Morgan, offensive lineman Anthony Polizzi, Saxton, defensive back Colin Schuster and long snapper Jack Williams – have helped the Spartans notch a 23-7 record since the start of the 2018 season and a 34-8 mark since 2017, including two PAC Championships and two NCAA Postseason berths.
Case Western Reserve will wrap up its 2021 campaign next weekend, when the Spartans travel to Carnegie Mellon University on Saturday, November 13 for the 35th-Annual Academy Bowl. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. The Spartans will look to play spoiler, as the Tartans would clinch the PAC Championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Playoffs with a win.
CWRU Defeats Grove City 35-21 on ‘Senior Day’ at DiSanto Field
/seasons/2021/boxscores/20211106_q525.xml
2021
Grove City
21
Case Western Reserve
35
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grove City (6-3) | 0 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 21 |
| Case Western Reserve (6-3) | 7 | 13 | 0 | 15 | 35 |
Nov 06, 2021