September 11, 2010 - Geneva College
Geneva College Logo
View More Stories

September 11, 2010

Picture of September 11, 2010

Beaver Falls, PA - It has been a long time since the Geneva College football team has lost a game at Reeves Field. In fact, the Golden Tornadoes had won seven straight on the home turf including a perfect 5-0 record a year ago. That streak ended abruptly on Saturday night in a 54-27 loss to Albright College in the 2010 home opener. Facing off against the Lions for the first time since 1938, Geneva watched the 2009 sweet sixteen opponent score 37 of the game′s final 45 points to pull away for a lopsided victory.

The game opened like a see saw affair with Albright taking the opening kickoff and driving 62 yards on six plays to open a 7-0 lead. Geneva came right back after AJ Delmonico′s 51 yard kick off return set the offense up at the Albright 35 yard line. Eight plays later, David Girardi found Alex Mack in the corner of the end zone for a nine yard touchdown connection. After Albright regained the lead, Corey O′Patchen raced 71 yards on a Girardi toss to get within a point after a missed extra point.

Gerard Muschette′s one yard run at the 9:22 mark of the second quarter gave Geneva its first and only lead of the game at 20-17. It was at that point, Albright exploded for back to back touchdowns. The first coming on a half back pass to Scott Pillar and the second coming 12 seconds later when Josh Hare scooped up a Delmonico fumble on the ensuing kickoff and raced 33 yards. "The fumble on the kickoff was a huge turning point," said head coach Geno DeMarco. "For a while it looked like an AFL game with both teams scoring, but they took advantage of some mistakes and we were unable to get defensive stops. They got better after last week and we didn′t. We still have a lot of work to do."

Muschette turned in 135 yards on 24 carries and moved into fourth place on Geneva′s all-time rushing list in the process. He also scored a pair of touchdowns giving him five in the first two games of the season. Girardi threw for 266 yards on 22-33 passing and a pair of touchdowns.

Geneva′s defense allowed the Lions to gain 507 yards of total offense and have now yielded 81 points combined in the first two games of the year. Marcus Costanza and Chance Kelosky each finished the game with a team best seven tackles but it was far from enough for the Geneva defense.

It doesn′t get any easier for the Golden Tornadoes next Saturday as they welcome two-time defending PAC champion Thomas More to Reeves Field for a 1:30 pm kickoff.

Geneva College is a comprehensive Christian college of the arts, sciences and professional studies. Founded in the tradition of the Reformed Christian faith, Geneva prepares students to serve Christ in all areas of society: work, family and the church. Geneva College′s philosophy of education is based on the Foundational Concepts of Christian Higher Education. Geneva is a founding member of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU).

Sep 11, 2010