Box Score

GREENVILLE, Pa. – The Saint Vincent Bearcats jumped out to a 30-0 halftime lead and cruised to a 36-14 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) victory against the Tomcats Saturday afternoon at Alumni Stadium.

Saint Vincent (2-1, 1-0) outgained Thiel (0-4, 0-2) 457-278 in total yards and finished with a 173-95 edge in rushing yards. The Bearcats also finished with an 18-13 advantage in first downs and forced a pair of Tomcat turnovers.

Aaron Smetanka completed 23-of-31 passes for 284 yards and three touchdowns to pace the Bearcat offense. Hue Ehredt rushed for 74 yards on eight carries with a first quarter28 yard touchdown and caught a 14-yard Smetanaka touchdown pass in the second quarter. Ricky Douglas caught five passes for a game-high 118 yards.

Anthony Johnson registered 10 tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss, and three pass breakups. David Ribero added eight tackles while Dan Wirkowski tallied five stops and an interception.

Andrew Smith (Williamsfield, Ohio/Pymatuning Valley) finished 15-of-26 for 183 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. Taylor Fink (Kittanning, Pa./Kittanning) ran for 70 yards and a score on 21 carries while De'Von Drish (Bratenahl, Ohio/Ginn Academy) added 34 yards on 15 attempts. Bill Frizzi (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Catholic) caught five passes for 55 yards while Zane Garza (Conneaut, Ohio/Conneaut) led all Thiel receivers with three catches for 68 yards and a touchdown.

Ethan Ludwig (East Liverpool, Ohio/East Liverpool) led the Tomcats defensively with 10 total stops. Ryan Dawes (Transfer, Pa./Reynolds) finished with nine tackles while Robert Edwards and Jason Miller (Hamilton, N.J./Hamilton) each added five. 

After forcing Thiel to punt on their opening first quarter drive, Saint Vincent quickly strung together an 11-play, 71-yard drive that was capped by a Morgan Porter 29-yard field goal with 5:45 to go in the first.

Following a post-play personal foul on a Tomcat punt the Bearcats took over on the Thiel 47 and needed just four plays for Ehredt to give the visitors a 10-0 lead with 2:40 remaining in the opening period as he was able to score from 28 yards out.

On their second drive of the second quarter Smetanka hooked up with Ehredt for a 14-yard scoring pass with just under nine minutes to play in first half to go up 17-0, and Christian Sutton's 11-yard score on a reverse with 3:42 remaining in the half gave the Bearcats a 23-0 advantage. Following a Tomcat three-and-out on the ensuing possession Saint Vincent generated a nine-play, 66-yard scoring drive that culminated with a Smetanka-to-Sutton 26-yard scoring pass with no time remaining as the Bearcats went into intermission leading 30-0. Saint Vincent managed to outgain Thiel 216-1 in the second quarter.

Saint Vincent wasted little time extending their lead in the third quarter as Smetanka connected with Cody Strelick for a three-yard score just 1:48 into the period, pushing the Bearcats out to a 36-0 lead. The scoring drive was keyed by Zach Milalko's 71-yard return on the second half opening kickoff.

Thiel's Fink notched his first collegiate touchdown on the Tomcats' ensuing drive, scoring from five yards out to cap a 12-play, 65-yard drive.

The Bearcats, electing to punt from the Tomcat 28-yard line on a fourth-and 10 play with 3:47 to go in the third, were able to down the ball at the Tomcat one-yard line, which lead to one of the most efficient Thiel drives of the season.

It appeared a Smith pass was intercepted on the opening play of the drive at the Thiel 40-yard line, but an illegal procedure penalty on the Bearcats allowed Smith and Tomcats to return to the huddle and register an 11-play, 99-yard scoring drive that ended with Smith connecting with Zane Garza (Conneaut, Ohio/Conneaut) for a 12-yard touchdown. The drive stretched into the fourth quarter and took 6:20.

Thiel returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 1 when they host Thomas More College. Kickoff at Alumni Stadium is set for 1:30 p.m.