GREENVILLE, Pa. – The Thiel College football team jumped out to a 7-0 first-quarter lead, but the Yellow Jackets of Waynesburg University outscored the Tomcats 50-28 down the stretch, to run away with the Presidents' Athletic Conference contest by a 50-35 final on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Stadium.
Waynesburg (5-4; 2-3 PAC) finished with a 547-370 advantage in total yards to ruin Thiel's (2-7; 1-4 PAC) Senior Day and home finale.
Junior Brendan Taylor (Girard, Pa./Girard) collected a six yard pass from quarterback Willie Bova to draw first blood in the contest and give Thiel what would be its only lead of the game. The John Madeline extra point set the score at 7-0. Waynesburg scored 23 unanswered points to close out the half led by running back Justin Falcon who scored three of his four touchdowns before the intermission. Falcon accounted for 72 yards on 18 carries on the game, with two catches for 52 yards to boot.
Thiel narrowed the Yellow Jacket advantage on its opening drive of the second half, by moving the ball 32 yards on five plays on a drive set up by junior linebacker Clint Walker's second pick of the year. The scoring effort culminated with Taylor and Bova hooking up a second time, this time on a 10-yard toss.
The Tomcats scored their second third quarter touchdown in response to Falcon's fourth score of the day. Trailing 30-14, freshman running back Brice Mertiff pounded his way into the end zone from a yard out to pull Thiel to within nine points for a second time.
However, the Waynesburg offense shifted into high-gear to prevent a Tomcat comeback by scoring the contest's next four touchdowns. Quarterback Brad Dawson was the primary factor in the Jackets' strong attack, tossing for two scores and running for another. Dawson completed 26 of 44 passes for 453 yards on the day.
Thiel registered the game's final two scores on a two-yard run by Mertiff and a nifty 19-yard catch and run by senior Hiro Amano resulting from a Bova pass.
In the end it was turnovers that doomed the Tomcats – Thiel turned the ball over four times, while Walker's pick of Dawson was the only Waynesburg miscue of the day.
The Tomcats were led offensively by Taylor who recorded his second-consecutive two-touchdown game by hauling in nine passes for 112 yards. Bova finished with 26 completions on 44 attempts for 319 yards and three touchdowns, but his day was tarnished by three interceptions.
Senior defensive tackle Matt Turek turned in his finest effort to date this season with seven solo tackles including an 11-yard sack. Junior defensive tackle William Haase recorded six solo tackles, including two tackles for a loss. Haase's final tackle of the day –an eight yard sack in the fourth quarter – made him Thiel all-time leader for TFL in a season with 18.5.
Thiel closes out its 2008 season next Saturday when it visits Grove City College. The annual battle for the Mercer County Cup is slated to get underway at 1 p.m.
