Strong Defensive Play leads Tartans to 47-7 Win at Bethany

(BETHANY, W.Va.) – The Carnegie Mellon University football team traveled to Bethany, West Virginia on Saturday afternoon to play the Bison of Bethany College. The Tartans left with a 47-7 win to improve to 3-2 and 3-1 in Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) play while the Bison are now 0-5, 0-4.

Carnegie Mellon held the Bison to 131 yards of total offense including only 22 yards rushing. The Tartans finished with 445 yards of offense, with 269 coming by way of the ground. Sophomore Tre Vasiliadis (Great Falls, Va./Langley) led the Tartans with 78 yards rushing on 12 carries and three scores, all coming in the first half. Junior Zachary Hamilton (Washington, N.J./Warren Hills Regional) ended the game with 65 yards on seven carries while freshman Jake Kelly (Los Angeles, Calif./Hun School of Princeton) rushed for 57 yards on 10 carries.

Freshman Will Squibb (Ozark, Mo./Springfield Catholic), in his first career start, passed for 132 yards on 10-of-14 and tossed a touchdown. Sophomore Alex Javier (Reading Pa./Exeter Township) and freshman Dominic Voiland (Cedarburg, Wis./Grafton) led the Tartans with three receptions each with Javier ending with 49 yards and Voiland with 31.

Defensively, the Tartans totaled 10.0 tackles for a loss of 54 yards as a team. Sophomore Robert Coury (Phillipsburg N.J./Phillipsburg) led the team in tackles with six, five solo. Sophomore Thomas Coury (Phillipsburg N.J./Phillipsburg), sophomore Zachary Van Bennekum (Valencia, Calif./West Ranch) and sophomore Zach Sabin (Saline, Mich./Saline) all ended with four tackles each.

On the first Tartan possession on the game, Vasiliadis capped off a seven-play, 61-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. The point-after made the score 7-0 with 9:18 on the clock in the first quarter.

The Tartans defense forced a second three-and-out on the Bison next possession which then resulted in Vasiliadis' second rushing score of the game. The Tartans marched 55 yards on five plays that ended on the 15-yard score for the sophomore back. The PAT sailed left of the upright to make the score 13-0.

Less than a minute later the Cardinal and Gray made the score 20-0 when sophomore Logan Young (Moon Township, Pa./Moon Area) blocked a Bethany's punt into the endzone and Thomas Coury jumped on the ball for the Tartan touchdown.

With 12 minutes to play in the half, the Tartans extend their lead to 27-0 when junior Quinn Murray (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper Saint Clair) fumbled the ball on the Bison 2-yard line and then sophomore Ethan Reifer (Ijamsville, Md./Oakdale) collected the ball in endzone.

Before the end of the half Vasiliadis made the score 33-0 with his third touchdown of the game and second 1-yard score.

A 53-yard kickoff return by sophomore Minwoo Eom (Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue) to start the second half setup Squibb's first collegiate touchdown pass. Four plays into the third quarter, the signal caller found Voiland in the back of the endzone for an 8-yard score that made the score 40-0.

Dexter Smith got the Bison on the scoreboard with none minutes to play in the third when he stepped in front of the Tartan intended receiver and intercepted the ball. Smith then returned it 87 yards for a touchdown that made the score 40-7.

A 1-yard touchdown run by junior Kadin Katsch (Pompano Beach, Fla./Pine Crest School) with 4:06 to play made the score 47-7.

Carnegie Mellon returns to the gridiron on Saturday, October 9 when the 24th-ranked Titans of Westminster College travel to Pittsburgh. Kick is slated for 7:00 p.m. on the turf at Gesling Stadium.