GROVE CITY, Pa. – The Thiel Tomcats held off a late fourth quarter comeback by the Grove City Wolverines Saturday to win the Mercer County Cup for the third consecutive year, 47-41.

Senior quarterback Ryan Radke (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster Central) factored in on six touchdowns. He went 17-of-26 passing for 317 yards and four touchdowns through the air. On the ground, he carried the ball 22 times for 131 yards and two touchdowns. With his rushing performance, Radke passed Steve Minton to become Thiel's all-time career rushing leader.

Radke's favorite target on the day was freshman receiver DeShawon Bracy (Vandergrift, Pa./Kiski Area), who caught eight passes for 218 yards and three touchdowns. It was Bracy's second 200+ yard receiving performance of the year. Junior tight end Ryan Rowland (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington) also caught a touchdown pass from Radke late in the third quarter.

Sophomore tailback Nick Barca (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) tallied 120 yards on the ground on 17 carries. Seven different receivers caught a pass from Radke, including: Bracy, Rowland, Barca, Alex Horvatits (Lancaster, N.Y./Saint Mary's ), Sam Fitzpatrick (Delray Beach, Fla./Village Academy), John Green (Pittsburgh, Pa. /West Mifflin) and Jaquan Hicks (Ware Shoals, S.C./Ware Shoals).

Hicks was a force on special teams, returning a punt 63 yards for a touchdown early in the first quarter.

Junior linebacker Jake Elk (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) and sophomore defensive end Cody Wagner (Pittsburgh, Pa./Brashear) led the Tomcats on defense. Elk tallied a game-best 13 tackles, 2.5 of which were behind the line of scrimmage. Wagner contributed 10 tackles, two of which were for a loss of yards. Elk and Wagner each recorded one sack apiece.

Also on defense for the Tomcats, Joe Serratore (Pittsburgh, Pa./South Park) had seven tackles while Tyron Bynum (McKeesport, Pa./McKeesport), Randy Groves (New Middletown, Ohio/Springfield) and Kyler Jefferson (Warren, Ohio/Warren Harding) recorded six tackles apiece.

Radke's third touchdown pass to Bracy gave the Tomcats a 47-41 lead with just over three minutes left in regulation. With the result still undecided, the Wolverines sought the game-tying touchdown on the ensuing possession.

Grove City quarterback Brett Laffoon threw a deep pass on first-and-10 from his own 20-yard line, but Lloyd Meeks (Baltimore, Md./Our Lady Of Mount Carmel) came up with an interception to seal the win for Thiel.

Under the direction of first-year head coach Dan Blume, the Tomcats finished the 2016 season with an overall record of 4-6 and 3-5 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC).