WESTMINSTER TITANS (2-2, 3-3)

vs.

GROVE CITY WOLVERINES (4-1, 6-1)

Saturday, Oct. 22, 1 p.m.

Robert E. Thorn Field, Grove City, Pa.

QUICK FACTS

Name of School … Westminster College

City/Zip … New Wilmington, Pa. 16172

Founded … 1852

Enrollment .. 1,400

Nickname … Titans

School Colors … Blue and WHite

Affiliation … NCAA Division III

Conference … Presidents' Athletic (PAC)

President … Dr. Kathy B. Richardson

Athletic Director … Jason Lener

Athletics Department Phone … 724-946-7307

Stadium … Harold Burry Stadium/Memorial Field

Capacity/Surface … 4,500/FieldTurf

HISTORY

First Year of Football … 1891 

All-time Bowl/Playoff Record … 35-13 (.729) 

Years in postseason play … 23

Last NCAA/NAIA appearance ........... 1996 (NAIA Quarterfinals,, Lost to Findlay (Ohio), 28-9

Last postseason appearance … 2021 (ECAC Asa S. Bushnell Bowl, Lost to Hobart, 21-3)

PAC Championships … 2 (2020, 2021)

Last PAC Championship …  Won, 27-20, over Washington & Jefferson

National Championships … 1994, 1989, 1988, 1977, 1976, 1970

Head Coach … Scott Benzel (9th, 59-27, 68.6%)

Alma Mater … Mercyhurst, 1997

Office Phone … 724-946-7310

Email … benzelsr@westminster.edu

TEAM INFORMATION

Basic Offense … Multiple

Basic Defense … Multiple

Starters Returning/Lost … 16/6

Offense … 7/4

Defense … 8/1

Specialty … 1/1

2021 Overall Record … 8-3

Home/Away/Neutral … 4-2/4-1

2021 PAC Record … 8-1

Home/Away … 4-0/4-1

2021 PAC Finish … 1st (tie)

2022 SCHEDULE

9/3 … at Delaware Valley … L, 8-22

9/10 … BETHANY … W, 42-3

9/17 … ALLEGHENY* … W, 42-14

BYE

10/1 … at Carnegie Mellon* … L, 10-0

10/8 … WASHINGTON & JEFFERSON* … L, 17-14

10/15 … THIEL* (Homecoming) … W, 41-6

10/22 … at Grove City* … 1 p.m.

10/29 … at Waynesburg* … 1 p.m.

11/5 … CASE WESTERN RESERVE* … 1 p.m.

11/12 … at Geneva* … 1 p.m.

2021 RESULTS

9/4 … No. 1 MOUNT UNION, L, 7-48

9/18 … at Case Western Reserve* W, 34-12

9/25 … GROVE CITY* W, 33-32

10/2 … at Thiel* W, 49-14

10/9 … at Carnegie Mellon L, 10-34

10/16 … WAYNESBURG* W, 66-14

10/23 … at Washington & Jefferson W, 23-18

10/30 … at Bethany* W 42-6

11/6 … SAINT VINCENT* W, 41-6

11/13 … GENEVA* W, 31-6

11/20 … HOBART 

(ECAC Asa S.Bushnell Bowl) L, 3-21

*PAC Game; Home games in CAPS

COACHING STAFF

Head Coach … Scott Benzel (9th)

Record … 59-27 (68.6%)

Alma Mater … Mercyhurst, 1997

Office Phone … 724-946-731

Email … benzelsr@westminster.edu

Twitter Handle … @coachbenzel

Assistant Coaches: David Blake (Asso. HC, co-OC, QBs), Colyn Haugh (co-OC/run game coordinator, OL), Jared Heck (Special Teams,, DBs), Michael Bongivengo (pass game coordinator), David Jamieson (DL), Rashad Wheeler (DL), Pat Mineok (LBs, Special Teams), Josh Wrightson (offensive asst.), Nick Marmo (TEs), Corey Oaks (DBs), Garvey Biggers (Specialist coach, Recruiting coordinator), Jim Mohr (chaplain).

GAME NOTES

LAST WEEK

First-year starting signal-caller Tyler McGowan (West Hills, Pa./Moon Area High) tossed a trio of TDs – 2 to senior tight end Damon Maul (Portage, Pa./Cambria Heights High) and another to senior tight end Chevy Dawson (Port St. Lucie, Fla./Centennial High) – as the Titans triumphed over Thiel (41-6). Also, senior running back Ryan Gomes (Tampa, Fla./Walter L. Sickles) tallied twice and rushed for a game-high 134 yards.

For his efforts in his collegiate starting debut, McGowan was selected as PAC Rookie of the Week.

The Wolverines whipped Allegheny (44-17) led by the passing of Logan Pfeuffer (184 yards), rushing of Nico Flati (113) and receiving of Scott Fraser (105). Clayton Parrish produced 3 TDs rushing (5, 1, 5 yards), also.

THE SERIES

Westminster leads 56-36-7 (49-32-7 at home) in a rivalry that commenced Aug. 20, 1892 with a Westminster win (28-6).

The Titans triumphed last Sept. 25 in New Wilmington (33-32) – the smallest margin of victory in the series – as Cole Konieczka collaborated with Denny Dennison on a 26-yard TD toss with 1:14 remaining. Westminster was on the short end of a 20-0 margin with 12:18 remaining to intermission, but outscored Grove City, 26-12, during the 2nd half. Konieczka passed for 267 yards – including a 20-yard TD to Dawson – Gomes rushed for 87, and Tylon Eilam (Sharon, Pa./Sharon High) hauled in 126 yards receiving, including a 34-yard score. Also, Brayden Thimons plunged for a 1-yard TD. For Grove City, Parker Gilmore's 27-yard Pick-Six, Fraser's 9-yard TD catch and Parrish's 3-yard TD plunge were among the highlights. Also, Flati finished with 66 yards rushing.

Westminster has won 6 of the last 10 meetings, including 33-32 (2021), 24-7 (April 9, 2021), 49-27 (Oct. 14, 2017), 52-23 (Oct. 15, 2016), 45-7 (Nov. 7, 2015), and 41-7 (Nov. 8, 2014). GCC garnered back-to-back wins in 2019 (43-41) and 2018 (36-33).

THIS SEASON

Grove City paces the PAC in scoring offense (43.7 points/game), with wins over Juniata (63-6), Geneva (55-17), Saint Vincent (42-7), Case Western Reserve (14-13), Bethany (55-7) and Allegheny.

GCC has garnered 4 of the PAC's top 10 point outputs in games thus far this season. Grove City garners 479.4 yards-per-game (253 rushing; 226.4 passing).

The Wolverines were beaten by Carnegie Mellon (40-33) in the season's third week.

The passing of Pfeuffer (80 of 143, 55.9%, 1,500 yards, 15 TDs, 173.1 efficiency rating), receiving of Fraser (46-867, 18.8 per-catch, 8 TDs) and Ryan Heckathorn (14-252, 18.0, 2 TDs) have been keys. Grove City's ground game has been fueled by Flati (116-554, 4.8, 4 TDs), Parrish (102-496, 4.9, 8 TDs), Joey Guida (23-268, 11.7, 4 TDs) and Ian Demeri (29-167, 5.8, 4 TDs).  

Westminster continues to serve as the circuit's stingiest in points permitted (12.0), led by senior end Thimons (Natrona Heights, Pa./Highlands High), senior tackle Ty Reeder (Youngstown, Oho/Ursuline High), and senior linebackers Ian Barr (State College, Pa./State College High) Nicholas Treloar (New Castle, Pa./New Castle High), and Jarred Kohl (York, Pa./York Catholic High). Thimons, Reeder, Barr and Treloar have tallied 10.5, 6.5, 5.5 and 4 tackles-for-loss, respectively, and Thimons, Reeder and Kohl have collected 4, 2 and 2 QB sacks, respectively. Also, sophomore safety Brice Butler (Farrell, Pa./Farrell High) and senior safety Luca Botti (Ellwood City, Pa./Ellwood City High) have logged 3 and 2 interceptions, respectively, and Botti also has been credited with 3 pass break-ups.

Westminster yields onlyi 196.5 yards/game (84.7 rushing; 111.8 passing).

The Titans tally 24.5 ppg., led by Gomes (130 carries, 571 yards, 4.4 per-carry, 4 TDs), the circuit's 2nd-ranked rusher (95.2 yards/game); Eilam (18 receptions, 265 yards, 14.7 per-catch, 3 TDs), and sophomore Jalen Washington (Orlando, Fla./Dr. Phillips High), who has hauled in 15 catches for 200 yards (13.3) and 2 TDs.

Defensively, the Wolverines permit the PAC's 3rd-fewest ppg (15.3) led by Kilgore (51 tackles, including 21 solos), Ben Bladel ( 6 TFL, 2.5 sacks, 3 fumble recoveries, 3 forced fumbles), Fleming (3.5 sacks), Bryce Spolnik (2.5 sacks), Dominic Magliocco (3 pass-breakups), Nik Grabiec and Jack Steinmetz, each of whom has picked off 2 passes.

The Titans, with McGowan orchestrating the offense last week, amassed 380 total yards.

BEST OF THE BEST

While Westminster has lost 3 games, those occurred to teams with a composite 19-2 won-lost ledger, including Delaware Valley University (7-0), Carnegie Mellon University (7-0), and Washington & Jefferson College (5-2). In this week's American Football Coaches Assn. Top 25 Division III poll Del Val and CMU are ranked No. 10 and 17, respectively. CMU also has defeated Grove City and W&J.

WOLVERINES' WINNER

Grove City Head Coach Andrew DiDonato has directed a complete turnabout in the grid program's fortunes.

DiDonato returned to his alma mater as offensive coordinator in January of 2015. That season the Wolverines went 0-10 for the 2nd of 3 consecutive seasons. But after losing the first 3 games of the 2017 season (finishing 4-6), Grove City set course on a return to respectability: 8-3 in 2018, winning the program's first postseason game (ECAC James Lynah Bowl, 56-48 over Morrisville State); 9-2 in 2019 (41-38 win over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the Lynah Bowl); 2-2 during the COVID-19 pandemic-abbreviated spring 2020 season; and 8-3 in 2021 (winning the ECAC Scotty Whitelaw Bowl, 49-7 over Utica).

DiDonato (37-27 in his 7th season at the helm) was a 4-year starting signal-caller at GCC (2006-09, a span of 40 games). Before joining Grove City's staff under his mentor, Chris Smith, DiDonato coached at Peters Twp. High, the University of Buffalo, and at his alma mater, South Fayette High.