November 10, 2008 - Geneva College
Geneva College Logo
View More Stories

November 10, 2008

Picture of November 10, 2008

Westminster College Titans (5-4)

vs.

Geneva College Golden Tornadoes (4-5)

Saturday, November 15, 2008

1:30 pm - Reeves Field

Momentum may be the most over used term in sports. However, if you were to ask the Golden Tornadoes football team, they will take as much momentum as they can get. They are riding a three game winning streak, including last Saturday′s upset of PAC champions and number 24 ranked Thomas More by the tune of 17-13. While the Golden Tornadoes have had a steady climb up the win column, Westminster has had a roller coaster ride all season. Last week they were on top of the hill after a 21-14 victory over Grove City. The Titans are 0-4 on the road which is where they will close out the regular season. Going into today′s game things certainly look to be in Geneva′s favor. In rivalry games, however, you can throw out the records and trends.

Although it was enough to get past Thomas More, the Golden Tornadoes will probably like to put more than 17 points on the board this week. Geneva would certainly like to repeat the 235 yards it gained on the ground last week. Leading the way was sophomore running back Gerard Muschette with 98 yards and he was followed closely by junior running back Matt Dean, who rushed for 84 yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore David Girardi continued his smart play at quarterback by once again

throwing no interceptions against Thomas More. Girardi has not thrown a pick during the Golden Tornadoes′ three game winning streak. Senior reciever Luke Duriancik continues to pace the passing game with 26 receptions. Defensively, Westminster expects good play from senior linebacker Jordan Blinn, who leads the team with 78 tackles. The Titans have also gotten solid performances from senior defensive endAndrew Robison. Robison leads the team with eight sacks and 15 tackles for a loss.

Westminster′s offense is a balanced attack. The passing game is led by junior quarterback Kevin Franz. Franz is second in the PAC with 2214 passing yards but he has also thrown 13 interceptions this season. The Titans have a talented receieving duo in the form of junior reciever Jon Gubish and junior receiver Chad Rosatelli. Gubish leads the team with 54 catches but Rosatelli is right behind him with 52 catches and seven touchdowns on the season. Westminster′s rushing attack does not have a duo or a trio, it simply has an uno. Junior running back Nick McKoloshy leads the Titans with 804 yards on the ground and no other Westminister player has over 50 rushing yards on the season. McKoloshy had a 132 yard performance last week against Grove City. New week, same leader for the Geneva defense as senior linebacker Zach Feltrop continues to lead the team with 82 tackles, which is good enough for fourth in the PAC. The surpise was that Feltrop was not one of the top three tacklers for the Golden Tornadoes against Thomas More. That honor belonged to senior defensive back Derek McElhaney, sophomore linebacker Javon Moody and sophomore defensive tackle Adam Rose. Each player led the Geneva defense with eight tackles last Saturday. The Golden Tornado defense also forced Thomas More to commit four turnovers, including interceptions from seniors Derek McElhaney and Greg Pfeiffer.

Last season Geneva got the upper hand on Westminster by winning 37-14 at New Wilmington. The victory came despite the the Golden Tornaodes being outgained by the Titans by the count of 309-174 but the Geneva defense came up with five Westminster turnovers to help the winning cause. Westminster quarterback Kevn Franz did throw for 302 yards in a losing effort.

The Golden Tornado and Titan series dates way back to 1891. Geneva is 41-61-8 in the all time series. Golden Tornado head coach Geno Demarco has a 5-2 record against the Titans during his 16 year coaching career.

Nov 10, 2008