BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – For most of Saturday the day could not have gone much better Geneva College and the Golden Tornado football team. Geneva spent part of the day inducting its third Hall of Fame class. That celebration lead into the Geneva football game against Grove City in which for the first three quarters, Geneva, and specifically senior running back Trewon Marshall (Leetsdale, Pa./Quaker Valley), ran all over the visiting Wolverines as Marshall broke the Geneva all-time rushing record with a career-high 285 yards. However, fourth quarter failures proved costly as Geneva lost in heartbreaking fashion, 35-27, to Grove City. Grove City improved to 6-3 overall, 5-3 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Geneva fell to 2-6, 2-5 in the PAC.
The first quarter could not have started any better for the Golden Tornadoes. Geneva surprised Grove City by inserting Marshall into the quarterback spot and running the wildcat formation, and the visiting Wolverines had no answers for Marshall as he scored three first quarter touchdowns on runs of four yards, 60 yards, and 45 yards to give Geneva a 20-0 lead heading into the second quarter.
Grove City, who came into the game riding a four-game winning streak, responded in the second quarter with a touchdown, and then a Geneva interception late in the quarter set Grove City up to score a second touchdown with less than 30 seconds remaining to cut Geneva's lead at halftime to 20-14.
Another Marshall touchdown early in the third quarter put Geneva up 27-14, and that's where things stayed heading into the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for the Golden Tornadoes, as has been the case too often this season, Geneva was unable to make enough plays down the stretch to hold on for the victory.
Grove City scored early in the fourth quarter on a 67-yard touchdown catch by Cody Gustafson to cut the deficit to 27-21. The game turned, though, on Geneva's next drive. Geneva drove inside the Grove City 20-yard line, and the Golden Tornadoes lined up for a field goal that would have made it a two-score game with less than seven minutes to go. However, the snap sailed over the holder's head resulting in a 20-yard loss, giving Grove City good field position down just six points, and the Wolverines took advantage.
Grove City went on a 12-play drive capped off by a 4-yard rushing touchdown by Wesley Schools with 2:40 remaining to give the Wolverines their first lead of the night, 28-27. Geneva failed to pick up a first down on its next possession, and Head Coach Geno DeMarco decided to punt the ball back to Grove City with Geneva still possessing all three of its timeouts. However, on Grove City's first play, Schools went 55 yards for a touchdown to give Grove City a 35-27 lead with 2:13 remaining.
Geneva still had a chance, though, down just one score, and the Golden Tornadoes managed to drive it down to the Grove City 19-yard line with a minute remaining, but the Wolverines stopped Marshall one yard short on a fourth-down rush, and the Wolverines closed out the comeback victory.
"We put together a good game plan," Coach DeMarco said. "I felt as though we executed well, but we just didn't finish what we started. We need to play a complete game if we expect to win games in this conference.
"I can't say enough about Trewon, though. He is a special young man that has worked extremely hard. He deserves all the accolades. He is now among the best of all-time."
Marshall's 285 yards were the second highest single-game rushing total in Geneva history. He passed Gerard Muschette's all-time rushing record with a run at the end of the third quarter, and his career total now stands at 3,917 yards with two games left in the season. Geneva rushed for 365 yards on the evening, and outgained Grove City 434 yards to 400 yards. Junior Tyler Cann (Lehighton, Pa./Lehighton) led the defense with 12 tackles, which sophomore Casey Nau (Louisville, Ohio/Louisville) added 11 stops.
Geneva finishes up the home portion of its schedule this coming Saturday when it hosts Westminster at 1:00 p.m. for Senior Day. Geneva will then finish its regular season with a road game against Carnegie Mellon on Saturday, November 17, at 1:00 p.m.