GROVE CITY, Pa. -- Junior quarterback Logan Pfeuffer (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) ran for two scores and threw for a third touchdown while the Grove City College defense recorded a pair of takeaways Saturday night as the host Wolverines upended No. 14 Carnegie Mellon, 21-14, in Presidents' Athletic Conference action at Robert E. Thorn Field.
Sophomore cornerback Boden Davidson (Scottsdale, Ariz./Scottsdale Christian) and junior safety Shay Aitken (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette) both intercepted passes for the Wolverines (4-0, 4-0 PAC). Aitken, who made his first collegiate start, also had a sack for Grove City.
Pfeuffer completed 16 of 30 passes for 229 yards while adding 27 yards on six rushes. His two rushing touchdowns gave Grove City a 14-0 halftime lead.
Grove City opened the scoring with 4:44 left in the first half as Pfeuffer scored on a one-yard sneak. Pfeuffer started the drive with a 23-yard strike to freshman wide receiver Daniel Sullivan (Simsbury, Conn./Simsbury), then gave Grove City goal to goal with a 17-yard pass to senior wide receiver Scott Fraser (Butler, Pa./Knoch).
Davidson intercepted CMU quarterback Ben Mills on the third play of the next drive and returned the theft 32 yards to the CMU 32. Grove City turned over the ball on downs but three plays later, Aitken intercepted Mills at the Grove City 39 with 1:27 remaining in the half.
Junior wide receiver Ryan Lenhart (New Castle, Pa./Shenango) caught a 29-yard pass to put the ball in CMU territory. Later in the drive, Pfeuffer fired a 12-yard strike to senior wide receiver Ryan Heckathorn (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk) on third-and-10.
Grove City had third-and-10 at the CMU 20 with 11 seconds in the half. Pfeuffer then raced 20 yards to the end zone on a quarterback draw, doubling the lead.
Grove City began the second half by driving 75 yards to the end zone on 12 plays. Pfeuffer's three-yard touchdown pass to Fraser pushed the lead to 21-0 with 7:13 left in the third quarter. The Wolverines converted three third downs on the drive.
Fraser caught seven passes for 67 yards. Lenhart had four receptions for 59 yards while Heckathorn netted 57 yards on his three receptions.
CMU cut the lead to 21-7 with 33 seconds left in the third quarter on Joey McGinnis IV's one-yard run. In the fourth quarter, CMU drove to the Grove City 1 but graduate student linebacker Ryan Fleming (Bridgeville, Pa./South Fayette) stuffed McGinnis for no gain, preserving the 21-7 lead.
Mills fired a seven-yard touchdown pass to Kaven Wojtowich with 1:15 remaining in the game. Lenhart recovered CMU's subsequent onside kick attempt.
Junior safety Jason Muench (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) led Grove City with 10 tackles while sophomore linebacker Jack Jollie (Jeannette, Pa./Penn Trafford) recorded nine stops. Aitken had seven total tackles while Fleming had six.
Junior running back Nico Flati (Aliquippa, Pa./West Allegheny) led Grove City with 49 rushing yards. The Wolverines finished with 326 total yards and an 18-17 edge in first downs.
Mills completed 16 of 32 passes for 106 yards. Tre Vasiliadis ran for a game-high 98 yards on 21 attempts. CMU (3-1, 3-1) finished with 278 yards. Each team executed 67 offensive plays. Grove City held a 34:00-26:00 edge in time of possession.
Carnegie Mellon had won 20 straight regular season games entering Saturday night's clash. CMU's previous defeat also came at Grove City, when the Wolverines earned a 13-6 win September 18, 2021. Each of the last three fall meetings has been decided by seven points. Grove City earned a 29-26 double-overtime win over CMU in 2019.
The Wolverines are tied for first in the conference with Washington & Jefferson (4-0, 4-0 PAC). The Presidents defeated Thiel, 56-14, Saturday. Grove City will host W&J next Saturday at 2 p.m. in the annual Homecoming game at Thorn Field.
Grove City tops No. 14 CMU
/seasons/2023/boxscores/20230923_odcv.xml
2023
Carnegie Mellon
14
Grove City
21
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carnegie Mellon (3-1) | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| No. 18 Grove City (4-0) | 0 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
Sep 23, 2023