BEAVER, Pa. – A football team's mid-October won-lost record is not nearly as important as what it is come mid-November. Unless the former serves as a motivating means to an end ultimately leading to the latter.
Westminster College football team captured its 5th consecutive Presidents' Athletic Conference contest with a 49-0 win over Geneva College on Saturday afternoon.
It was the 121st all-time meeting between the neighboring programs in the 27th oldest (all divisions) college rivalry in the country.
By virtue of the victory Westminster (6-2 PAC, 7-3 overall) is in position to be awarded a berth in an Eastern College Athletic Conference postseason bowl. Selections will be announced on Monday.
"We've talked about it every week, but we've just found out ways to come out and compete – that's been our calling card," Titans' taskmaster Scott Benzel began. "When you're looking at two-and-three – and we hadn't lost two games in-a-row in a long time – it could've went one of two ways. But our guys committed to each other and committed to the process.
"It's pretty rewarding to win five in-a-row to finish out the regular season," admitted Benzel.
At Reeves Field, Billy Levak led the Titans to a total of 369 yards and 22 first downs and Ryan Gomes surpassed the 1,000-yard rushing milestone for the season.
"That was really big for us after losing our quarterback. We knew we wanted to establish the run game … and the O-line took it on their shoulders to take over every game and make it about us, and it shows – we have a thousand-yard rusher, and our O-line couldn't be happier about it," senior offensive tackle Gabriel Cleveland (Cummings, Ga./South Forsyth High) proudly related.
Levak (Macedonia, Ohio/Nordonia High), a sophomore southpaw signal-caller, became Westminster's third starting quarterback when senior Cole Konieczka (Coraopolis, Pa./Moon Area High) and backup Tyler McGowan (Coraopolis, Pa./Moon Area High) sustained season-ending injuries.
But against Geneva Levak launched a 9-for-19, 156-yard, 3-TD passing performance. He tossed first-half TDs of 15 and 23 yards to sophomore speedster Jalen Washington (Orlando, Fla./Dr. Phillips High), then collaborated on a 46-yard, third-quarter score with senior tight end Damon Maul (Portage, Pa./Cambria Heights High).
"What I've learned this year is you've gotta trust your team, trust your guys, and I've learned that this year," Benzel admitted. "They really came through in a big way for us."
Gomes (Tampa, Fla./Walter L. Sickles High) gained 103 yards on 24 totes and tallied 2-, 2- and 12-yard TD runs. Unofficially, he has rushed for 1,023 yards this season.
Washington was Levak's leading receiver, hauling in a handful of receptions for 77 yards.
Defensively, Westminster was a stone wall. The Titans yielded just 146 total yards (9 passing) and 9 first downs while coercing Geneva into 8 turnovers.
The Titans totally dominated the first half, coercing a quintet of turnovers – including 2 fumbles by quarterback Brutus Ogilvie – en route to a 35-0 margin at intermission.
Senior linebacker Ian Barr (State College, Pa./State College High) enjoyed a season's worth of success, recovering a pair of fumbles – the first of which was in the Golden Tornadoes' end zone. Westminster went up, 14-0, with 4 minutes remaining in the first frame on that score.
Paced by Barr and sophomore lineman Carter Chinn (Grove City, Pa./Grove City High), who also recovered a fumble; passes pilfered by senior Bryce Thomas (Saint Marys, Ga./Camden County High) and Brice Butler (Farrell, Pa./Farrell High), and a sack registered by senior linebacker Jarred Kohl (York, Pa./York Catholic High), Westminster limited Geneva to 58 total yards on 32 first-half snaps.
Butler's pick was his 6th of the season.
A fumble recovery by first-year linebacker Dylan Sleva (Coraopolis, Pa./Moon Area High) on the 2nd half's third play led to Gomes' third touchdown run at 11:11 of the third quarter. Approximately 3 minutes later a sack by sophomore safety Nathan Bortnick (Conneautville, Pa./Conneaut Area High) resulted in a fumble recovery by sophomore linebacker Kaalen Teixeira (Miami, Fla./Felix Varela High). That led to Levak's TD toss to Maul, who broke a tackle at the sideline, then out-raced the secondary to the end zone.
Yet another Geneva fumble was recovered by first-year linebacker Jack Bible (Aliquippa, Pa./Central Valley High), helping preserve the shutout.
Also, first-year placekicker Ben Pugh (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield High) was perfect on 7 PATs.
"This was a resounding win for us, and convinced me that these guys want to continue to play, and that's what I was looking for – for that kind of effort, and we got it," Benzel related.
Regarding the 5-game, second-half surge, Cleveland considered the 2-3 won-lost mid-season mark and admitted, "There's always a little doubt. But we knew all the hard work we put in during the offseason was going to come through and show. So we just stuck to us and did what we do best, and we prevailed."
"In the past this is a number (7 wins) that should get you in(to an ECAC bowl)," Benzel continued. "Seven-and-three, and especially who we've lost to – two teams that are ranked (undefeated Delaware Valley University and PAC champion Carnegie Mellon University), and another (Washington & Jefferson College) that is close to being ranked. So I think (the ECAC bowl committee) are worthy of the postseason, and I agree with them."
"This means everything," Cleveland admitted. "This group has won a lot and wanted to accomplish a lot. And being able to play a bowl game, just go out with class, means everything to (the seniors).
Regarding his senior class, Benzel said a postseason game would serve as a reward for a splendid season. He said D3huddle.com would report pairings on Monday.
"It would be great to get (the seniors) this chance. But we're going to approach it like we're going to go out there and win. We're not going out just to have a good time; we're looking to win a ball game. And I agree, I think this would be a reward for them," concluded Benzel.
