GREENVILLE, Pa. (Oct. 3, 2009) – Placekicker John Madeline (Hubbard, Ohio/Hubbard) (Hubbard, Ohio/Hubbard) earned his place in Thiel College football lore on Saturday, by booting a career-long 46-yard field goal as time expired to sink Westminster, 24-21, in front of a Homecoming crowd of 1,700 at Alumni Stadium.

Not only did the kick put an exclamation point on a thrilling quarter of football, but it ensured that the standout efforts of a host of other Thiel heroes didn't go to waste.

Through three frames, the visiting Titans led Thiel, 7-0, thanks to a one-yard run by Shawn Lehocky in the second quarter.

But toward the end of the third quarter, momentum began to shift to the side of the Tomcats.

After Thiel's Clint Walker (Madison, Ohio/Madison) (Madison, Ohio/Madison) forced and recovered a Lehocky fumble, the Tomcat offense got to work at their own 43 yard line. Seven plays, 57 yards, and one spectacular, twisting, spinning Ross Gargano (Sharon, Pa./Kennedy Catholic) (Sharon, Pa./Kennedy Catholic)  run-after-catch later Thiel tied things up at 7-7.

Thiel quarterback Willie Bova (Port Allegany, Pa./Port Allegany) (Port Allegany, Pa./Port Allegany) hit Gargano twice during the drive, for a combined 26 yards, but did some heavy lifting on his own, taking off twice for 22 yards. Bova completed four of five throws during the drive.

Seven plays later, Thiel forced a turnover on the second-consecutive Westminster drive –this time via a pick by Mike Clemens (Imperial, Pa./West Allegheny) (Imperial, Pa./West Allegheny) – however the Tomcat drive ended with a punt four plays later.

On the ensuing possession, the Titans managed only nine yards on three plays before electing to punt. Freshman Garrett McElwain (McKees Rocks, PA/Montour) (McKees Rocks, pa./Montour) helped Thiel turn the punt into points. McElwain blocked the kick into the end zone where Bobby Shew (Mogadore, Ohio/Mogadore) (Mogadore, Ohio/Mogadore) jumped on the loose ball to give the 'Cats their first lead of the day.

Madeline's PAT made the score 14-7 with under seven minutes to play.

Despite being down, the Titans used their next possession to illustrate that they were by no means out. Westminster charged 52 yards in just under two minutes to even things up at 14, all.

The Titans defense appeared to take control of the game through the first few plays of Thiel's next offensive series.

After Gargaro returned the kickoff 21 yards to the Thiel 31, two penalties and a seven-yard sack gave the Tomcats a third-and-17 situation from their own 14.

That's when Willie Bova (Port Allegany, Pa./Port Allegany) uncorked Thiel's other play of the game – an 86-yard bomb to Brendan Taylor (Girard, Pa./Girard) (Girard, Pa./Girard)  to put the Tomcats up, once again, with about 90 seconds to go in the game.

Westminster tied things up at, 21-21, after a six play, 61-yard drive that ate up exactly one minute on the clock.

With overtime looming, Thiel took over at its own 32 with 18 seconds to play. Bova wasted no time, hitting Taylor for a 30-yard bomb and Gargano for a nine-yard gain to set up Madeline's game-ending boot.

In the win, Thiel racked up a season-high 332 yards of offense, with 304 of those yards coming by way of Bova's 22-of-33 passing day.

Gargano made a team-high eight grabs for 67 yards and score, while Taylor hauled in six balls for 151 yards and a TD. Freshman Tyler DeJong (Columbiana, Ohio/Columbiana) (Columbiana, Ohio/Columbiana) made five catches for 74 yards.

Walker and Shew each reached double digits in tackles, tallying 12 and 10, respectively.

Thiel (2-3, 1-1 PAC) returns to action on Saturday when it visits Bethany for a 2 p.m. conference tilt.