PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Westminster College football team lost, 20-14, at Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) foe Carnegie Mellon University on Saturday afternoon.
Carnegie Mellon (7-2, 6-2 PAC) secured momentum with two first quarter touchdowns to take a 14-0 lead at the end of one. In the second quarter, Westminster (6-3, 5-3 PAC) snatched momentum back when senior wide receiver
Connor Cox (Ridge, MD / Leonardtown) hauled in a four-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback
Cole Konieczka (Coraopolis, PA / Moon Area) to cut Carnegie Mellon's lead to 14-7 in the final minute of the first half.
In the third quarter, Cox reached pay dirt again when he corralled a nine-yard touchdown pass from Konieczka to knot the game up at 14-14 with 12:04 left to play in the third. Carnegie Mellon tacked on two field goals in the third and fourth quarter to extend their lead to 20-14 with 7:39 remaining. The Titans were unable to score for the rest of the contest.
Cox led all receivers with eight total receptions, totaling 48 yards and a pair of touchdowns. With that performance, Cox passed Lamont Boykins (1980-83) for the fourth-most career receiving yards in school history and is now tied for second for most receiving touchdowns in a season (11) with Kevin Gribbin (1987) and Roger Price (1970).
Titan senior wide receiver
Dwayne Brown (Richmond Height, OH / Richmond Heights) recorded five receptions for 73 yards. Senior running back
Keano Grice (Delray Beach, FL / West Boca Raton) led all ball carriers with 80 yards on 15 carries and averaged 5.1 yards per carry. Konieczka completed 23 passes on 34 attempts for 208 yards and two passing touchdowns.
Westminster sophomore safety
Bryce Thomas (Saint Mary's, GA / Camden County) tied a career-high with 12 tackles. Senior defensive end
Darius Doty (Greensburg, PA / Greensburg-Salem) also tied a career-high with nine tackles and notched a new career-best with 2.5 tackles for loss. Sophomore linebacker
Ian Barr (State College, PA / State College Area) tallied seven tackles, while junior defensive end
Frank Antuono (New Castle, PA / Neshannock) had six tackles and recorded a career-high two sacks.
Westminster will be back in action on Saturday, November, 16 when it takes on Geneva College at home on Senior Day in its regular season finale. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.