Tartans Open Home Schedule With a 42-27 Win Over Saint Vincent

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon University football team hosted the Bearcats of Saint Vincent College on Saturday and came away with a 42-27 win. Carnegie Mellon is now 2-1 overall and 1-1 in Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) play while Saint Vincent moves to 0-4 and 0-3.

Carnegie Mellon totaled 369 yards of offense to the Bearcats 401 while Saint Vincent also held the edge in time of possession 37:00 to 23:00. Turnovers were in favor of the home team 3-0. Senior quarterback Alex Cline (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Jerome) completed 15-of-27 passes for 207 yards and three touchdowns. For the second straight game, junior Willie Richter (Leander, Texas/Cedar Park) led the Tartans with 111 yards receiving on four catches and a touchdown.

Senior Rory Hubbard (Rolling Hills Estates, Calif./Palos Verdes Peninsula) ran for 81 yards and a touchdown. In all, Hubbard totaled 228 yards as he had five catches for 25 yards and recorded 122 return yards. Junior Chris Haas (Coronado, Calif./Coronado) ended the game with five carries for a career-best 40 yards and a score.

Senior Long Tran (Harrisburg, Pa./Susquehanna Township) turned in a career day with eight tackles and 3.0 sacks for a loss of 23 yards. The senior also added one quarterback hurry. Junior inside linebacker Darian Cohen (West Hills, Calif./Bishop Alemany) was the top tackler for Tartans with career-best 10 stops, five solo. Cohen also added a half sack and forced a fumble.

Following a slow start by both teams, Carnegie Mellon got on the scoreboard with five minutes to play in the first quarter. Cline connected with senior Karl Kumm (Brick, N.J./Brick Township) on a 24-yard touchdown pass to the middle of the end zone to give the Tartans a 7-0 lead.

Saint Vincent responded on its next possession. The Bearcats marched 73 yards on eight plays to knot the score at 7-7, as the first quarter came to a close. The visitor's score came on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Zavion Thompson to Keith Kalp.

At the 12:39 mark of the second quarter, Cline found freshman Kris Hughes (Springboro, Ohio/Springboro) on an 8-yard touchdown strike to make the score 14-7. The Tartans extended their lead to 21-7 when Cline threw his third touchdown pass of the first half. The signal caller hooked up with Richter on a 70-yard catch-and-run with 8:23 to play in the half.

On the ensuing possession, Saint Vincent cut the score to 21-14 following a 12-play, 71-yard drive that too six minutes off the clock. Thompson found Ariel Martinez for a 15-yard touchdown with just over two minutes to play in the half.

The Tartans lead drew to 28-14 on the opening kickoff of the second half. Hubbard fielded the kick on the Carnegie Mellon 5-yard and the sprinted down the sideline 95 yards for the touchdown. The return marked Hubbard's second of his career, as he returned one 92 yards last season against Geneva.

With a 9:43 to play in the third quarter, Saint Vincent's Cam Norris blocked a Tartan punt which was scooped up on the Tartans' 10-yard line by Cameron Mack and returned for a touchdown.

The score stood at 28-21 until Carnegie Mellon scored late in the third quarter on a six-play, 42-yard drive. This time Hubbard ran it in from 6-yards out to push the home teams lead back to 14 at 35-21. Haas closed the scoring for the Tartans with a 31-yard scamper with four minutes to play in the game.

Saint Vincent didn't go down without a fight, as the tandem of Thompson and Martinez struck again. The 3-yard touchdown pass was the last score of the game which left the scoreboard showing 42-27 Carnegie Mellon.

The Tartans will be back on the turf at Gesling Stadium on Saturday, September 29 when the Wolverines of Grove City College travel to Pittsburgh. Kick is set for 1:00 p.m.