Thiel grabs Mercer Cup by defeating Grove City

By BILL ALBRIGHT
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
GROVE CITY, Pa. -- Thiel College owns bragging rights to the Mercer County Cup for the next year, thanks to the Tomcats' 24-9 victory over Grove City on Saturday at Robert E. Thorn Field.
Thiel (4-2, 2-1 Presidents Athletic Conference) coach Jack Leipheimer wasn't thrilled with the number of mistakes his team made, though, especially in the first half.
"We were happy with the 14-3 lead at the time, but dog gone it, you have to learn to not have those mistakes and be able to finish the drives," said Leipheimer. "I don't know how many times we shot ourselves in the foot when we should have been able to put another 14 points on the board."
Deciding factor
Grove City (3-3, 1-1) coach Chris Smith also felt the mistakes by his team were a big factor.
"It just seemed offensively that we would get something going and then end the drive with an interception or a fumble," he said. "We also had a lot of penalties that cost us."
Matt Campbell gave the Wolverines a 3-0 lead with a 33-yard field goal less than four minutes into the game, but the Tomcats answered with a pair of scores. Dane Haskins hauled in an 8-yard pass from quarterback Darrell Satterfield before Stephen Minton ripped into the end zone from 12 yards out five minutes later. Minton finished with 135 yards and one score on 29 carries.
Former Farrell High standout Kennard Davis of Thiel came up with his fifth interception of the season.
"We worked on it all week that when they motion down, I cover the flats," said Davis. "I saw the running back go out into the flat, and although the quarterback wasn't really looking at him, I just made sure I stayed a little deeper [than normal] just in case the wide receiver pulled up, which he did."
Another Farrell product, Brandon Chambers, got behind the Wolverines' secondary to haul in a 50-yard scoring pass from Satterfield, increasing Thiel's lead to 21-3.
"We watched a lot of game film on them, but I really have the confidence that no [defensive back] can stop me," said Chambers.
Grove City scored its only touchdown of the game midway through the final period when Adam Wargo hauled in an 8-yard pass from quarterback Bradford Clark. Six minutes later, Thiel's Paul Stibich kicked a 34-yard field goal.