Geneva College (1-1)
vs.
Thomas More College (1-0)
September 18, 2010
Reeves Field - 1:30 pm
It doesn′t get any easier for the Golden Tornadoes this week as the two-time defending PAC champion Thomas More Saints come calling to Reeves Field. Geneva dropped its home opener a week ago to Albright College by the score of 54-27. The Golden Tornadoes will welcome their second consecutive NCAA play-off qualifier to their home turf with the arrival of Thomas More. The Saints opened their 2010 campaign in impressive fashion with a 56-12 win over Hanover. Thomas More finished the 2009 season with an overall record of 11-1 including a perfect 6-0 mark with the Presidents′ Athletic Conference. The season ended with a second round play-off loss to Johns Hopkins by the score of 31-29. As for Geneva, the defense will have to plug some holes that have been exposed during the first two weeks of the season. The Golden Tornadoes have surrendered 81 combined points in the first two weeks and will get another stiff test against a Thomas More offense that put up 383 yards on the ground and scored on eight rushing touchdowns in week one.
Geneva has played well against the Saints in the first three meetings of the series. Last year, a late Thomas More touchdown stretched the final score to 21-12, but the Golden Tornadoes held a late third quarter lead before the Saints took charge of the game. Geneva defeated Thomas More in the first two meetings between the schools including a 17-13 victory over the PAC champs in 2008. That win turned out to be a crushing blow to Thomas More as it most likely cost the Saints a first-round play-off game that they would eventually lose.
In last year′s game, Gerard Muschette was held to a season low 56 yards and Geneva as a team rushed for only 72 yards on 39 carries. Gone from last year′s Thomas More offensive powerhouse are leading rushers Trevor Stellman and Cordario Collier. Ironically, both players are now members of the Thomas More coaching staff. Filling in nicely in week one for Thomas More was Dominique Haydon with a career afternoon that included 110 yards and five touchdowns in the win over Hanover. Geneva certainly has a rushing threat of its own with the likes of Gerard Muschette. The senior tailback found the end zone two more times last week and has already crossed the goal line five times in 2010. He also moved into fourth place on Geneva′s all-time rushing list with 2551 career yards. Next up on the career list is Josh Mullen with 3359 yards.
Geneva saw its seven game winning streak come to an end last Saturday night with the loss to Albright. The Golden Tornadoes had gone through the entire 2009 home schedule without dropping a game. The bad news for Geneva is that the last time they lost at home prior to last Saturday was against Waynesburg in 2008. That was also the last time the Golden Tornadoes dropped back to back home games having fallen to Washington & Jefferson two weeks earlier. Head coach Geno DeMarco and the Golden Tornadoes hope to buck that trend with a victory over Thomas More. Geneva was the last team to defeat Thomas More in the regular season with the victory against the Saints the last time these two teams hooked up at Reeves Field.
NOTES: The last time Geneva played an afternoon home game in September was back in 2004 when they defeated Saint Francis, IL by the score of 13-9. Because of travel considerations, Thomas More is only permitted to play on Saturday afternoons when it is on the road. The Golden Tornadoes will hit the road themselves after this weekend with back to back road games against Bethany (Sept. 25) and Saint Vincent (Oct. 2). Geneva returns to Reeves Field for a homecoming match-up against Waynesburg on October 9th with the kickoff scheduled for 4 pm. Thomas More will return to Kentucky for its home opener next Saturday with its annual showdown against Washington & Jefferson.
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