GREENVILLE, Pa. – The 16^th-ranked Case Western Reserve Spartans outscored the Thiel Tomcats 21-7 in the first quarter Saturday and never looked back en route to a 63-28 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) win.
 
The Spartans scored on the opening drive of the game when Rob Cuda tossed a 12-yard touchdown pass to Zak Hurd to cap off an 8-play drive that covered 68 yards in a little less than three minutes.
 
The Tomcats came right back with a long drive of their own and tied up the score 7-7 when Ronald Brown (Munhall, Pa./University Prep) threw a 4-yard touchdown strike to David Aumuller (Cocoa Beach, Fla./Cocoa Beach) to finish a 9-play effort over 81 yards in 3:23.
 
Case Western scored touchdowns on its next two possession to claim a 21-7 lead after 15 minutes of play. Jacob Burke scored on a 1-yard run while Zech Medved caught a 60-yard touchdown pass from Cuda.
 
Thiel got a spark on Darien Mosley (Baltimore, Md./Patapsco High School & Center for the Arts)'s 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown early in the second quarter, but Case Western Reserve led 49-14 at halftime.
 
Thiel's defense forced a fumble early in the third quarter, which Cody Wagner (Pittsburgh, Pa./Brashear) returned 60 yards to the Case Western 6-yard line. Wagner's return set up a touchdown for the Tomcats on a 5-yard halfback pass from Nick Barca (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) to Jaime Sommers (Erie, Pa./Seneca).
 
The Tomcats scored another touchdown roughly five minutes later after the defense forced another fumble. After driving down to the Case Western 2-yard line, Brown's pass on third-and-goal from 2-yard line was intercepted by Patrick Crossey, but the ball was stripped by Gary Hiner (Brookfield, Ohio/Brookfield) and recovered by Sommers in the end zone for a Thiel touchdown.
 
The Spartans finished the game with two unanswered touchdowns, one on a 30-yard run by Myles Anthony late in the third quarter and one on a 3-yard run by Zach Hall early in the fourth quarter.
 
Cuda completed 17-of-22 passes for 343 yards. He threw five touchdown passes. Burke led the Spartans with 55 yards on the ground and one score. Hurd caught seven passes, two of which were touchdown receptions, for 132 yards.
 
Barca paced the Tomcats with 95 yards rushing on 16 carries. Sommers caught three passes, one of which was a touchdown grab, for 23 yards.
 
Joe Serratore (Pittsburgh, Pa./South Park) led the Tomcats on defense with 12 tackles. Wagner recorded eight tackles, four of which were behind the line of scrimmage. Wagner also recorded two sacks and a 60-yard fumble recovery return.
 
The Tomcats will host the Carnegie Mellon Tartans Saturday at Alumni Stadium. The PAC game is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m.