Published: Sunday, October 1, 2006
Grove City winner by one point
The Wolverines' 21-20 victory snapped a 10-game losing streak to the Titans.
By BILL ALBRIGHT
GROVE CITY — Grove City's wait is finally over.
The Wolverines ended a 10-game losing streak against Westminster College Saturday, defeating the Titans, 21-20, in a Presidents' Athletic Conference game at Robert E. Thorn Field.
"I thought we had a good game plan coming in, but that went out the window early," said GCC coach Chris Smith. "All of a sudden Scott Fichter wasn't playing, [Matt] Weaver wasn't on the field and [running back] Matt Weil was on the bench.
"We felt we could run our offense against them, but they were tougher up front than I had anticipated. We went back to playing [Andrew] DiDonato ball by throwing those short passes and things worked out for us."
Opening kickoff
The Titans (1-3, 1-2 PAC) took the opening kickoff and drove 92 yards on eight plays, with quarterback Kevin Franz hooking up with Brett Ziegler for a 26-yard scoring pass.
Grove City (1-3, 1-1) answered with touchdowns late in the second period and early in the fourth quarter to take a 14-7 lead before Westminster tied the score at 14-all with seven minutes remaining to set up a frantic final three minutes.
First, Franz was sacked by GCC defensive tackle Justin Fowler and when he lost the ball, Wolverines linebacker Bill Waugh pounced on the loose ball at the 6.
Three plays following the turnover, GCC quarterback Andrew DiDonato called his own number from 2 yards out for the go-ahead touchdown and Greg Collins' PAT made it 21-14.
DiDonato completed 10-of-22 passes for 100 yards and two scores, and added another 34 yards on the ground.
Weaver rushed five times for 28 yards, caught six passes for another 75 yards and a score before capping his performance with a punt return for 22 yards and three kickoff returns for another 49 yards.
Runs to green
"I take my opportunities as they come to me," said Weaver. "I feel real confident with the guys who are in front of me and when I get the ball, I just run to green. I got hit on the side of the head in the first half and felt a little nauseous, but I was able to come back in the second half."
After GCC's score, the Titans marched down the field in the final two minutes and scored on a Franz-to-Brian Becker 5-yard pass with 24 seconds remaining.
However, the extra point kick was wide to the right.
Franz completed 28-of-36 for 295 yards and all three Titan TDs.
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