Thiel stays unbeaten, stiffs Grove City, 30-0

The Tomcats were successful by ground and air.
By BILL ALBRIGHT
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
GREENVILLE, Pa. -- The Mercer County Cup will remain in the possession of the Thiel College football team for at least one more year.
The Tomcats (5-0, 3-0) took care of that matter Saturday by tossing a 30-0 shutout against the Grove City Wolverines.
Thiel coach Jack Leipheimer's game plan was a simple one -- give the ball to tailback Steve Minton and see what happens.
"The guys did an excellent job of executing it," Leipheimer said. "We wanted to run the football well and control the line of scrimmage on the defensive side to stop their run and we were able to do both."
Top rusher
Minton rushed 27 times for 152 yards and three touchdowns.
With his first score, the Seneca Valley grad established a single-season touchdown mark with 12.
"It was just a big win for us because we thought they would be one of the hardest teams to beat after coming off a big win over W & amp;J, but we pulled it together," Minton said. "They couldn't stop us. I think the final score shows that.
"Right now, I am running behind the best offensive line in the conference," Minton said. "They did their job by opening up the holes and I just read the blocks and did mine. When they block like they did today, they make my job a whole lot easier."
While Minton paced the Tomcats' offense overland, quarterback Darrel Satterfield and Brandon Chambers took care of matter through the airways.
Satterfield completed 18 of 28 attempts for 212 yards and one score, while Chambers hauled in eight passes for 149 yards and one score.
Keep the Cup
"We just wanted to come out and keep the Mercer County Cup," Chambers said. "We put up 30 points, the defense came up with another shutout."
Chambers' touchdown reception was one for the books as he went high in the air, got his hands on the ball, wrestled it away from Grove City cornerback Chris Schwamburger and raced into the end zone to complete the 62-yard scoring play.
"We do jump ball drills in practice and the coach always tells us that if the ball is in the air, it is our ball," Chambers said. "Sat trusted me and put it up there, I went up and got it and I was fast enough to get away from everybody else."
Offensively, Thiel featured a balanced attach that showed 198 yards rushing to go along with 242 through the airlanes.
"The run sets it all up and we have a great offensive line that is doing a great job," Leipheimer said. "When we can run the football like we did today, that sets up the play-action passing game and for us, that is the name of the game."
Time favors Tomcats
Normally a ball-control offense, Grove City (2-4, 1-2) got a taste of its own medicine as the Tomcats showed an advantage in time of possession better than 13 minutes.
"They did a good job of [controlling the ball] and that is what we had anticipated doing," GCC coach Chris Smith said.
The Wolverines were held to 28 yards rushing on 25 attempts to go along with 118 yards through the air.
"My father taught me a long time ago that if your opponent doesn't score, you don't lose," Leipheimer said. "Anytime you shut out anybody, that is a good job."