#20 Tartans Extend Winning Streak with 40-33 Victory Over Grove City

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon University football team, ranked 20th in the latest D3football.com poll, hosted Grove City College in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) showdown on Saturday. The Tartans extend their winning streak to 10 games with a 40-33 win over the Wolverines.

Game Information
Carnegie Mellon 40, Grove City 33
Records: Carnegie Mellon (3-0. 1-0), Grove City (2-1, 0-1)
Location: Pittsburgh, Pa. (Gesling Stadium)

How it Happened

• Freshman Joey McGinnis IV scored his first collegiate touchdown on a 1-yard run less than two minutes into play to give the Tartans an early 7-0 edge.
• Less than two minutes later the Tartans extended their lead to 10-0 following a 22-yard field goal by senior Hayden Hairston. The score was setup by a 27-yard interception return by senior Ben Coyne.
• A 39-yard field goal by Grove City's Nick Marrow at the eight-minute mark of the first quarter made the score 10-3.
• Before the end of the first frame, junior Ben Mills connected with sophomore Ben Condemi on a 3-yard strike.
• Marrow made the score 17-6 with his second field goal of the game at the 12:17 mark of the second quarter. This time the placekicker connected from 21 yards away.
• The score was pushed to 23-6 on a Mills 5-yard touchdown run with just over seven minutes to play in the half. The point-after-attempt was missed.
• In the closing minute of the half, Wolverine quarterback Logan Pfeuffer found Joey Guida on a 27-yard touchdown strike to make the score 23-13 at the break.
• Grove City was the lone team to put points on the board in the third quarter when Pfeuffer plowed in the end zone from 1-yard out to make the score 23-20, capping of a 12-play, 75-yard drive.
• The Tartans pushed their lead back to double digits at 30-20, with 9:56 to play when Mills found senior Kris Hughes on a 45-yard catch-and-run.
• Grove City answered the home score with and eight-play drive that ended with Pfeuffer hooking up with Scott Fraser on a 27-yard touchdown pass. The point-after-attempt was missed and the score stood at 30-26.
• With 2:49 to play, the home team pushed its lead to 37-26 on a Mills to junior Ethan Reifer 10-yard touchdown strike.
• On Grove City's next possession, an interception by junior Logan Young setup the Tartans final score of the day which was a 35-yard field goal by Hairston that made the score 40-26 with 52 ticks on the board.
• The Wolverines wouldn't go down with out a fight. They marched 75 yards on five plays to pull within a touchdown when Pfeuffer threw his third touchdown of the afternoon and first to Ryan Lenhart. The 20-yard pass made the score 40-33 with only two seconds left in the contest.

 Stats

• Grove City outgained the Tartans 536-311 yards of total offense.
• Carnegie Mellon forced four turnovers while Grove City had zero.
• The Tartans defense had five sacks and 11 tackles-for-a-loss.
• Mills ended the game completing 17-of-31 for 257 yards and three touchdowns.
• Hughes led all Tartan receivers with six catches for 84 yards in a touchdown.
• Both Reifer and Condemi had scores along with four catches in the win for the Tartans. Condemi ended with 66 yards and Reifer 54.
• Sophomore Mitchell Stokey had a career-high 10 tackles, four solo, while adding a tackle-for-a-loss.
• Coyne ended with a career-best nine tackles, five solo. The senior recorded his first career interception and tabbed 2.0 sacks.
• Senior Benjamin Cawyer recorded his first two career interceptions and ended the game with three tackles, including a half tackle-for-a-loss and two picks.
• Pfeuffer threw for 327 yards and three scores for the Wolverines.
• Fraser led all receivers with 10 catches for 209 yards and a touchdown.
• Grove City's Nico Flati rushed for 96 yards on 28 carries.

 Game Notes

• The Tartan extend their winning streak to 10 straight games, and now is the longest active in Division III.
• The win ends Grove City's four-game winning streak to the Tartans.
• It marked the second straight game that the defense has recorded double-digit tackles-for-a-loss.
• The Tartans have now won 22 straight games when leading after three quarters of play.
• Hughes now has 23 touchdown receptions for his career. He needs two more to move into a tie for first with John Prather (2014-2017).

Thoughts From Head Coach Ryan Larsen

• "I'm incredibly proud of how hard our guys fought to pull out a big victory in conference play versus a stout and talented Grove City team. This was a great way for us to kick off conference play, and as we all know there are no easy games in the PAC."

Up Next

•  Carnegie Mellon will travel to Thiel College on Saturday, September 24. Kisck is slated for 3:00 p.m.