Defense Lifts Tartans to a 34-7 Victory at Saint Vincent

Oct. 5 - (LATROBE, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon University football team traveled to Latrobe, Pennsylvania on Saturday, October 5 and came away with a 34-7 win thanks to two defensive touchdowns on the afternoon.  The win improves the Tartans record to 3-2 while the Bearcats are now 0-4.

The lone score of the first half came 23 minutes into the contest.  Senior quarterback Rob Kalkstein (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) capped off a 10-play, 55-yard drive with a 26-yard touchdown strike to junior wide out Tim Swanson (Millburn, N.J.) on fourth down. The converted extra point by sophomore place kicker Connor Young (Long Valley, N.J./West Morris Central) gave the Tartans a 7-0 lead with 6:53 to play in the half.

On the fifth play of the third quarter, junior linebacker Alexander D'Angelo (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/St. Edward) returned a fumble 45 yards for a Tartan touchdown.  Young's point after extended the visitor's lead to 14-0 with 13:55 showing on the clock in the third.

Senior safety Jack Butler (Kennesaw, Ga./North Cobb) put the Tartans ahead 21-0 with 3:17 to play in the third quarter.  Butler intercepted Bearcats quarterback Matt Deakins and returned it 68 yards for the score.

Carnegie Mellon executed a 17-play, 69-yard drive that took 8:26 off the clock, as freshman running back Zach Cree (Vanderbilt, Pa./Connellsville Area) ended it with a 5-yard touchdown run up the middle.  The missed point after attempt made the score 27-0 with seven minutes remaining in the contest.   

After forcing the Bearcats to punt on their next possession, Tartan backup quarterback Andrew Hearon (Tulsa, Okla./Metro Christian Academy) found sophomore wide receiver Chris Herrera (Miami, Fla./Christopher Columbus) for a 41-yard touchdown strike on third down.  The touchdown put the Tartans on top 34-0 with 4:37 to play.

Saint Vincent did not go down without a fight.  Sophomore quarterback Greg Hendershot ran it in from 1-yard out with 53 ticks left in the game for the final score of the contest.

Saint Vincent held the edge in total offense 264-262.   Sophomore running back Troy Witt (Cranberry Twp., Pa./Seneca Valley) led the Tartans with his second career 100-yard rushing game finishing with 100 yards on 18 carries for an average of 5.6 yards per rush.

Defensively, sophomore corner back Vince Demarchi (Chesterland, Ohio / West Geauga) and senior inside linebacker Eric Rolfes (Cincinnati, Ohio/Madeira) each had six stops with Demarchi having five solo and added a sack for a loss of nine yards. 

The Tartans will head to Westminster College on Saturday, October 12 to play the Titans at 1:00 p.m. in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania.