Tartans Clipped at Home by Grove City

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon University football team hosted the Wolverines of Grove City College on Saturday in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) showdown. The Wolverines left Pittsburgh with a 31-21 victory and improved to 2-3 overall and 1-3 in PAC play. Carnegie Mellon moves to 2-2 and 1-2.

Grove City outgained the Tartans 420-345 and rushed for 308 yards. The Wolverines ground attack was led by Wesley Schools with 223 yards on 43 carries and a touchdown. Josh Ehst completed 6-of-12 for 112 yards and three touchdowns. Cody Gustafson caught five of Ehst's passes for 105 yards and all three scores.

Carnegie Mellon senior quarterback Alex Cline (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Jerome) threw for 228 yards and a touchdown. Junior Willie Richter (Leander, Texas/Cedar Park) caught a career-best nine receptions for 98 yards while classmate Jamie Greenwell (Celina, Texas/Mckinney Christian Academy) had for catches for a career-high 78 yards and a touchdown. Junior Chris Haas (Coronado, Calif./Coronado) ran for a career-best 55 yards in a touchdown on 18 carries.

Juniors Darian Cohen (West Hills, Calif./Bishop Alemany) and Parker Mellott (Ijamsville, Md./Urbana) both turned in career-bests in tackles to lead the defense. Cohen had 13, six solo, while Mellott tallied 12, four solo.

Grove City controlled the clock for 12:52 of the first quarter and jumped out to a 14-0 lead. The Wolverines took the first possession of the game and marched 65 yards on 14 plays which resulted in a 2-yard touchdown run by Schools. The drive took eight minutes off the clock. After forcing the Tartans to punt, Grove City put together a five-minute drive that resulted in a 45-yard touchdown pass from Ehst to Gustafson on the opening play of the second quarter.

Carnegie Mellon knotted the score at 14-14 before the half. The Cardinal and Gray's first score came on a 45-yard toss from Cline to Greenwell at the midway point of the second quarter. The Tartans then struck with 24 seconds left in the half when sophomore Luke Bikulege (Greer, S.C./St. Joseph's Catholic) capped off an eight-play, 45-yard drive, with a 1-yard run. The score was setup with a 32-yard punt return by Richter.

The Wolverines took a 21-14 lead with 2:06 left in the third quarter when the tandem of Ehst and Gustafson hooked up for their second touchdown on the afternoon. The signal caller founded the sophomore wide out on a corner fade from five yards out on third-and-goal.

The Tartans answered the Wolverines score on the ensuing possession. Carnegie Mellon put together a 10-play, 68-yard that took 4:04 off the clock which resulted in a 1-yard touchdown run by Haas.

With 8:46 to play in the game, Grove City's Nick Morrow connected on a 46-yard field goal to give the visitor's a 24-21 lead. The kick ended a 10-play, 40-yard drive. After holding the Tartans to a three-and-out, Grove City put together its fifth scoring drive of the day. The pair of Ehst and Gustafson struck again. The touchdown strike of 18 yards made the score 31-21 with 4:20 left on the clock.

Carnegie Mellon will be back in action on Saturday, October 6 when the Cardinal and Gray travel to Waynesburg University. The ball is set to be in the air at 1:30 p.m.