Box Score

WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Tomcat football squad fell by a final score of 21-7 at Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) rival Washington & Jefferson College Saturday afternoon. Despite the loss Tim Taylor (Girard, Pa./Erie Cathedral Prep) moved into first place on the school's single-season tackles for loss list as he posted a career-high 15 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss against the Presidents.

Taylor passed Will Haase (19.5, 2008) as the program's single-season tackles for loss leader with 21.5. With his 43.5 career tackles for loss Taylor moves in to a tie for third place with Chris Lorber, who totaled 43.5 from 2004-07, on the program's career list.

W&J (5-4, 4-3) had a 338-175 advantage in total yards, including a 136-40 edge in rushing yards. Tim McNerney carried the ball 26 times for 89 yards and a score to lead Presidents the rushing attack.

The Presidents totaled a 33:53-26:07 advantage in time of possession and were able to convert on 6-of-14 (.429) third-down opportunities while limiting Thiel (0-9, 0-7) to just 2-of-13 (.154) on third down plays.

Heading into the second period deadlocked at 0-0 the Presidents scored on their first play of the quarter as Matt Bliss connected with Alex Baroffio from six yards out, and following an Eric Eberle extra point, led 7-0 six seconds into the second and carried the lead into the half.

After picking up just their third third-down conversion of the contest on their opening second half possession, the Tomcats were forced to punt.

From their own 21 the Presidents put together a 13-play, 79-yard drive that took 7:09 off of the clock as McNerney scored from three-yards out to give W&J a 14-0 advantage with 6:26 to go in the third.

W&J scored on their next possession as Taylor Hockman hooked up with Baroffio on a 10-yard touchdown. The ensuing Eberle extra point gave the Presidents a 21-0 lead with 20 seconds to go in the third.

Thiel opened the fourth quarter with a 17-play, 78-yard drive that was capped by a three yard touchdown pass from Jared Soell (Oakmont, Pa./Riverview) to Nate Blazevich (Munhall, Pa./Steel Valley) with just over eight minutes to play to bring Thiel to within 14, 21-7.

Hockman, who replaced injured starter Bliss in the second, finished 13-of-18 for 94 yards and a score. Before leaving the game with an injury Bliss was 8-of-12 for 108 yards and a touchdown.

Baroffio led all receivers with seven catches for 67 yards and a touchdown. Hunter Creel finished with five catches for 42 yards while Mat Screighan reeled in four for 55 yards.

Mitch Rose totaled seven tackles to pace the Presidents defensively. Neil Sorice added six stops, including a pair of tackles for loss, while Nathan Melhorn and Jimmy Thompson each added four. B.J. Monacelli chipped in with three tackles and an interception.

Soell finished with 30 yards on 10 carries to lead the Tomcats ground game. He also attempted a career-high 45 passes in the loss, completing 16 for 135 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Blazevich finished with three catches for 21 yards and a score. De'Von Drish (Bratenahl, Ohio/Ginn Academy) added three catches while Bill Frizzi (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Catholic) and Zane Garza (Conneaut, Ohio/Conneaut) each caught a pair of passes for 25 yards.

Taylor's defensive effort led three Tomcats in double figure tackles as Julian McLean (Clairton, Pa./Clairton) and Ethan Ludwig (East Liverpool, Ohio/East Liverpool) each added 10 stops. Kris Tursky (Linesville, Pa./Linesville Conneaut Summit) finished with seven tackles, a sack and a forced fumble while Tom Thorpe (Charleroi, Pa./Charleroi) and John Amorose (New Kensington, Pa./Plum) also finished with seven tackles.

The Tomcats will close out their 2011 season on Saturday, Nov. 12 as they host PAC rival Grove City College in the 28th installment of the annual battle for the Mercer County Cup. Saturday's game will get underway at 1 p.m., with the honoring of the Tomcat seniors and their families taking place before kickoff.