LATROBE, Pa. – The Thiel Tomcats used two splash plays on defense Saturday to secure a 14-7 win over the Bearcats during homecoming at Saint Vincent College.
 
The Bearcats marched 61 yards down the field in six plays on the opening possession of the game and took an early 7-0 lead at Chuck Noll Field on a 37-yard pass from Matt Deakins to Ryan Crawford. Saint Vincent's offense spent a majority of the remainder of the game trying to get back on track without much success.
 
Thiel's first big splash play came with a little less than seven minutes remaining in the first half. With Saint Vincent in a third-and-6 situation from its own 34, Deakins dropped back to pass. The ball was tipped at the line by senior defensive end Tim Taylor (Girard, Pa./Erie Cathedral Prep), and senior linebacker Ethan Ludwig (East Liverpool, Ohio/East Liverpool) intercepted the ball at the 31 and took it to the house down the near side of the field. Cody McClelland (Sarver, Pa./Freeport) tacked on the extra point to tie up the contest, 7-7.
 
“I just saw Tim tip it,” Ludwig said when asked what he remembered about the pick-6 that tied the game 7-7, “I didn't know what to do. I just caught it [and] ran to the end zone.”
 
The Tomcats came up with another big play on defense with less than a minute remaining in the first half when junior defensive back Rob Edwards (Poland, Ohio/Struthers) intercepted another Deakins pass. This interception came at the Thiel 48-yard line, and Edwards picked up 29 yards on the return down to the Bearcat 23-yard line with 41 seconds left to play in the first half.
 
After the interception, quarterback Andrew Smith (Williamsfield, Ohio/Pymatuning Valley) picked up a critical first down for the Tomcats in a third-and-7 situation when he scrambled for 15 yards to the 5-yard line.
 
After Smith's first-down run the Tomcats only had enough time to run two plays, but they only needed one when Smith lobbed a 5-yard TD pass to Zane Garza (Conneaut, Ohio/Conneaut) in the back corner of the end zone on first-and-goal. McClelland knocked in the extra point to put the Tomcats on top at halftime, 14-7.
 
Smith's 5-yard touchdown pass to Garza proved to be the game-winning score for the Tomcats thanks to the team's punishing defense, which refused to allow the Bearcats to cross the 50-yard line in the second half.
 
Thiel had two good scoring drives in the second half, but was unable to add to its lead.
 
After receiving the opening kickoff in the second half, Thiel drove down to the Saint Vincent 19-yard line on a drive that was highlighted by a 20-yard catch by Berend Grube (Venetia, Pa./Peters Twp.) and a 21-yard reception by Kyle Turkalj (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield). The drive ended abruptly, however, on a fumble.
 
Later in the game Thiel absorbed nearly four minutes of clock during an 8-play march, but the drive fizzled out when Thiel couldn't convert on fourth-and-2 from the Saint Vincent 14-yard line.
 
Taylor Fink (Kittanning, Pa./Kittanning) led the Tomcat running game with 61 yards on 19 carries. Smith carried four times for 27 yards. Andy Borgen led the Bearcats on the ground with 49 yards on nine totes.
 
Smith completed 14-of-24 passes for 132 yards. He threw one touchdown pass and, for the second Saturday in a row, did not throw an interception. Deakins completed 16-of-30 passes for 161 yards. He threw a 37-yard touchdown pass on the opening drive of the game but also tossed two costly interceptions.
 
Garza, who pulled down the game-winning TD reception, was Smith's favorite target. He had five catches for 51 yards. Ricky Douglas recorded 67 receiving yards for the Bearcats on seven catches.
 
As a team, Thiel's defense came up with two critical interceptions, six tackles for loss, two sacks and five pass break ups. Linebacker Jack Sindlinger (Linesville, Pa./Linesville) led the Tomcats with 13 tackles while Ludwig had 11 stops. Senior defensive tackle Kris Tursky (Linesville, Pa./Linesville Conneaut Summit) also turned in a nice game for the Tomcats. He had 3.5 stops behind the line of scrimmage and one sack.
 
Thiel (2-4, 2-2 PAC) will travel to Crestview Hills, Ky., Saturday to take on the Thomas More Saints. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.