NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – While Westminster College's football team has met three nationally-ranked programs through the season's first half, the Titans will not be taking Thiel College for granted this Saturday.
The annual homecoming contest is slated for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Harold Burry Stadium/Memorial Field.
On Oct. 1, Thiel beat Bethany (27-26), breaking a 41-game, 5-season losing skid. It was the first career coaching win for new Tomcats' taskmaster Adam Bauman.
"Thiel is much improved and certainly has our attention," assessed 9th-year Westminster Head Coach Scott Benzel.
Conversely, Westminster (1-2 PAC, 2-3 overall) has suffered back-to-back setbacks to Carnegie Mellon University (10-0) and Washington & Jefferson College (17-14). CMU – with whom the Titans shared the 2021 conference crown – is ranked 18th in this week's American Football Coaches' Assn. Division III Top 25, while W&J received votes for inclusion in the poll
Thiel (1-2, 1-4) is tallying 12.2 points-per-game while yielding 29.2. The Tomcats exhibited big-play offensive capabilities in the win at Bethany, led by quarterback Owen Trumbull, running back Deon Logan and wide-out Andre Rodgers. Trumbull has completed 72 of 133 pass attempts (54.1%) for 645 yards and 2 TDs (92.3 efficiency rating); Logan has lent 187 yards rushing (4.8 per-carry) and a score, adn Rodgers has been on the receiving end of 19 passes for 254 yards (13.4 per-catch) and a touchdown.
"Offensively, they have playmakers and two solid running backs that complement each other very well," Benzel said. "Good receivers, with a very flexible tight end that lines up everywhere. And the QB is athletic and big and runs very well."
The Tomcats' defense has been led by Jaellen Rose (5.5 tackles-for-loss), Caleb Shuler (5 pass break-ups), and Chad Morningstar (2 quarterback sacks).
"Defensively, it's a confident unit that flies to the football," Benzel continued. "Good size in the box, as well as an athletic secondary. I believe they are ranked in the top three in our conference in total defense. The special teams unit has dangerous returners; however they have been somewhat inconsistent in the punting and kicking of the football."
Westminster continues to pace the PAC in scoring defense (13.2), led by an aggressive front in senior end Brayden Thimons (Natrona Heights, Pa./Highlands High) senior tackle Ty Reeder (Youngstown, Ohio/Ursuline High), and junior end Daniel Thimons (Tarentum, Pa./Highlands High) and senior linebackers Ian Barr (State College, Pa./State College High) and Nicholas Treloar (New Castle, Pa./New Castle High). Brayden Thimons, Reeder, Barr and Treloar have been credited with 7, 5, 4.5 and 3.5 TFL, respectively, and the Thimonses have evenly divided 4 sacks.
The stingy secondary has been led by sophomore safety Brice Butler (Farrell, Pa./Farrell High) and senior Luca Botti (Ellwood City, Pa./Ellwood City High), both of whom have 2 interceptions. In last week's win Butler brought back a pick for a 77-yard TD – his second in as many seasons. However, sophomore DB Kevin Wright (West Palm Beach, Fla./Seminole Ridge High) has been lost to a leg injury.
The injury bugaboo also plagued the offense. Against W&J senior signal-caller Cole Konieczka (Coraopolis, Pa./Moon Area High) sustained a season- and career-ending broken ankle.
"When you lose (number) two you lose a little bit of your heart, and I feel for him," Benzel lamented.
First-year QB Tyler McGowan (Coraopolis, Pa./Moon Area High) played well during a 2nd-half stint in which he led a 75-yard scoring drive and tossed a 7-yard TD to senior running back Ryan Gomes (Tampa, Fla./Walter L. Sickles High). McGowan collaborated three times during the drive with junior wide-out Tylon Eilam (Sharon, Pa./Sharon High), including a 20-yarder.
"We like Ty. We think Ty is gonna be one of these kids who might have a good future here," Benzel praised. "He's shown us everything, and nothing he's done has said that he can't be a winner here. The drive at the end of the (W&J) game, that's something we can build on, and, moving forward, we can look much more like that, can do that, and be much more confident about that."
Westminster has lost to a trio of teams (including 10th-ranked Delaware Valley University in the season-opener) that have posted an aggregate 17-1 won-lost ledger. But Benzel believes Thiel – a team against whom Westminster has won 5 consecutive contests by a composite 242-62 margin – is a formidable foe coming off a big win at Bethany and a bye week.
"I believe Coach Bauman and his staff are doing a nice job with their structure, and their players are playing hard for them. It's going to be a game, and we will have to play well to beat this team," Benzel concluded.
