Van Zanic
Director of Sports Information
(724) 847-6886
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 8, 2007
LATE RALLY FALLS SHORT AS GENEVAGIVES
8th RANKED W & J A SCARE
Beaver Falls, PA - Washington & Jefferson is the defending PAC football champions and have been ranked as high 8th in NCAA Division III pre-season polls. On Saturday night, the President′s got all they could handle in a 28-20 victory over Geneva College at Cameron Stadium in Washington, PA. Playing for the first time in 22 years, Geneva and W & J hooked up in an instant classic in what could be a sneak preview of a newly forming rivalry against two top programs. The loss dropped Geneva′s overall record to 1-1, while W & J was playing its first game of the season.
Each team traded touchdowns on their first possessions of the game. Geneva scored on a one-yard Bobby Bondi plunge to take a short-lived lead before the President′s responded with a Luke Espe four-yard touchdown reception. W & J scored 14 second quarter points on a Kevin Mathews 79 yard reception and a Tom McCafferty 11 yard grab. Prior to halftime, Geneva′s Scott Koenig cut the lead to just eight points after the extra point attempt hit the left upright.
After W & J extended the lead to 15 points on its first possession of the second half, the score remained 28-13 until late in the fourth quarter. After Geneva held the President′s on a fourth and short inside the ten yard line, the Golden Tornadoes drove down and scored on a Bondi ten yard scramble. After Geneva′s defense held, the Golden Tornadoes again drove deep into W & J territory late in the game. Geneva′s final drive stalled just inside the 20 yard line with two seconds to play in the game.
Bondi, Geneva′s senior quarterback, rushed for 100 yards on 19 carries while also throwing for 230 yards on 26-47. Brian Dvorsak led the way with 100 receiving yards on six catches, but saw a potential game tying touchdown go through his hands on Geneva′s final drive of the game. Scott Koenig and Luke Duriancik also chipped in with seven receptions each.
Bobby Swallow, the younger brother of former Geneva quarterback Ben Swallow, completed 16-25 passes for 255 yards and four touchdowns. On the ground, Mathews rushed for a game high 114 yards on 16 carries.
The two teams combined for nearly 800 yards of total offense, while Geneva did manage five more first downs than W & J.
Playing for the first time since 1985, Geneva and W & J renewed a rivalry that started back in the season of 1891. The last time Geneva defeated W & J was during the 1983 season when current Geneva head coach Geno DeMarco was playing linebacker for the Golden Tornadoes.
Geneva will continue to renew rivalries with the ultimate renewal coming next Saturday when the Golden Tornadoes travel to New Wilmington to take on Westminster College in a 1:30 pm kickoff. Geneva and Westminster will be playing for the first time since 2001.
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