GREENVILLE, Pa. - The Westminster College football team could not sustain a halftime lead on the road Saturday at defending conference champion Thiel. The Titans lost three fumbles and could not stop the Tomcat running game, losing 45-27 in Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) action at Thiel's Alumni Stadium.
Junior wide receiver Brett Ziegler (Somerset, Pa./Somerset) scored one touchdown and posted career highs with 13 receptions for 154 yards, eclipsing his previous best of eight catches and 94 yards occurring in two separate games earlier this season.
Freshman quarterback Kevin Franz (Finleyville, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) also had a career day with a personal-best 311 yards on 28-of-44 passing and two touchdowns. Franz also rushed 13 times for 53 yards and two scores giving him 366 yards of total offense and responsibility on all four Titan touchdowns.
Westminster (2-7, 1-4 PAC) had little success stopping Thiel (5-4, 4-2 PAC) on the ground, as the Tomcats rushed for 207 of their 412 total yards. The Titans showed 375 yards (64 rushing/311 passing).
Thiel quarterback Bill Blankenship threw for 205 yards on 13-of-21 passing and three touchdowns, while running backs Steve Minton and Dan Hess accounted for 94 and 90 rushing yards on 21 and 11 totes, respectively.
The two of the pivotal factors in the game were Westminster fumbling the ball on its first play from scrimmage at its own 17 yard line when it opened the second half with a 21-17 lead, along with Thiel converting on five third-down chances to start the second half.
Thiel took a 14-0 lead earlier on a John Adams 39-yard touchdown reception on a deflected pass near the goal line in the first quarter, along with a 1-yard run by Minton early in the second quarter.
The Titans stormed back going on a 21-3 run for the remainder of the first half as Franz scored on a pair of quarterback scrambles, the first from 12 yards capping off a 3-play, 46-yard drive, and the second from 9 yards culminating a 5-play, 77-yard march.
Franz later found Ziegler for a 10-yard touchdown pass with 15 seconds remaining in the half to end an 11-play, 59-yard scoring drive.
Blankenship then capitalized on Westminster's early third-quarter fumble as Blankenship scored on the ensuing drive with a 13-yard run. Blankenship then found Mark LaScola for a pair of touchdown passes from 22 and 50 yards giving the Tomcats a commanding 38-21 lead by the end of the third quarter.
LaScola finished with eight catches for 139 yards and two scores.
Westminster was able to whittle the Tomcat lead down to 10 points when freshman tight end Gary Hutsler (Coraopolis, Pa./Cornell) pulled down a Franz pass in the end zone form 2 yards out. Hutsler's second touchdown reception of his career capped Westminster's longest drive of the game, 13 plays covering 70 yards.
Thiel, however, scored on its ensuing possession on an 8-play, 72-yard march ending with a Blankenship 1-yard run. The drive featured runs by Minton and Hess of 2, 13, 2, 19, 3, and minus-3 yards, before LaScola hauled in a Blankenship pass and took the ball to the Titan 1-yard line.
Defensively, sophomore safety Jake Wilczynski (Harbor Creek, Pa./Harbor Creek) led the Titans with his third game of the season with 10 tackles. Chris Hlinka led the Tomcat defensive charges with 12 stops.
Westminster wraps up the 2006 season at home Saturday, Nov. 11, for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff against Waynesburg.
Founded in 1852 and related to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Westminster College is ranked among national leaders in graduation rate performance, according to U.S. News Guide to America's Best Colleges, and is one of the most affordable national liberal arts colleges in Pennsylvania. Westminster is also honored as one of "The Best 361 Colleges" and "Best in the Northeast" by The Princeton Review, and was recognized by the Templeton Guide as a "Character Building College."
Nearly 1,600 students benefit from individualized attention from dedicated faculty, while choosing from 41 majors and nearly 100 organizations on the New Wilmington, Pa. campus.
