Tartans End Season in ECAC Bowl; Kalkstein Sets Three Single-Season Records

(WAYNESBURG, Pa.) – Junior quarterback Rob Kalkstein (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) of the Carnegie Mellon University football team set three single-season school records, as the Tartans dropped a heartbreaker at Waynesburg University.  The Tartans fell 28-24 in the 2012 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Southwest Bowl Saturday, November 17.

Kalkstein became the Tartans' single-season passing leader as he finished the day with 188 yards on 10-of-19 passes and a pair of touchdowns.  The junior also set the Tartan single-season completion and completion percentage record, finishing with 136 completions and a percentage of .624 on the season.  He finishes the season with 2,148 yards, as he passes Thomas Hubka's record of 1,963 yards set in 1967 as well as Hubka's completions record that same season of 127 completions.  Kalkstein's .624 completion percentage tops Phil Pantalone's .623 mark set in 2009.

Senior cornerback Liam McGrath (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) also went into the Carnegie Mellon records book as he recorded his seventh interception of the season, tying the school single-season record set last season by senior cornerback Sam Thompson (Alcoa, Tenn.) and Andy Helms in 1991.

Waynesburg struck first in the contest taking a 7-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.  Carnegie Mellon knotted the score at 7-7 when Kalkstein found junior wide receiver Tim Kikta (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) for a 47-yard touchdown.  The score remained tied as the teams went into the locker room.

Carnegie Mellon grabbed its first lead of the game when freshman place kicker Connor Young (Long Valley, N.J./West Morris Central) split the uprights from 25 yards away giving Carnegie Mellon a 10-7 advantage with 10 minutes to play in the third quarter.  Waynesburg retook the lead on its next possession, as the Yellow Jackets marched 80 yards on 11 plays with the result ending in a 4-yard touchdown run by Dominic Moore.

At the start of the fourth quarter Waynesburg led 14-10, but 28 points were scored in the last 15 minutes of action.  Carnegie Mellon's senior running back Jared Delello (Whitehouse Station, N.J./Hunterdon Central) started the scoring in the last frame with a 1-yard plunge and with Young's extra point, Carnegie Mellon led 17-14.

Waynesburg wasted little time responding to the senior's score.  The Yellow Jackets needed three plays to take the lead back away from the Tartans.  Betrand Ngampa broke loose from the line for a 74-yard touchdown run.

Like the Yellow Jackets, the Tartans also wasted little time to go back on top.  Kalkstein found sophomore Timothy Swanson (Millburn, N.J.) on a 16-yard touchdown strike with 8:35 to play in the game making the score 24-21.  

On the ensuing Waynesburg possession, the home team put together a 13-play, 80-yard drive taking 5:32 off the clock as Moore scored his second rushing touchdown of the game to give the Yellow Jackets the lead for good at 28-24.

Kikta finished the game with five receptions for 154 yards and a score as he continued to add to his already record breaking single-season receiving yards mark.  The junior ends the season with 954 yards receiving. Junior running back Michael Trentalange (Huntingdon Valley, Pa./Lower Moreland) led the Tartans on the ground with a career-high 100 yards on seven carries.     

Senior linebacker Nick Karabin (Ruffs Dale, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic) and junior linebacker Akwasi Brefo (Lawrenceville, Ga./Central Gwinette) led the Tartans defense with 11 tackles each.  Brefo recorded a career-high nine solo while Karabin ends his career tied for fourth on the Tartan all-time tackle list with 214 for his career.  

The Tartans end their season with a 6-5 overall record and are now 2-1 in ECAC Bowl appearances.