Grove City wins second straight, dominates visiting Geneva, 38-13

By Bill Albright

The Golden Tornadoes dropped to 1-4.

GROVE CITY, Pa. — Complete domination describes how Grove City overwhelmed Geneva in Saturday’s 38-13 victory at Robert E. Thorn Field.

Playing one of their best overall games in recent years, the Wolverines got the job done by playing to near perfection.

“We played an outstanding football game against a good opponent,” Grove City coach Chris Smith said. “I think from the second half against [Washington & Jefferson] until now I am seeing a team that is maturing all the time.

“We aren’t there yet, but it is getting better and better all the time and that is what we saw today offensively, defensively and on special teams,” Smith said.

“Right now, I am smiling, but I am sure that when we watch the films we will find some things that weren’t as good as I thought they were,” Smith said. “But let me tell you, it was a great day for us.”

Two weeks ago in a 31-17 win over Thiel, the Golden Tornadoes (1-4) showed signs of getting things together. However in Saturday’s loss, those signs weren’t to be found.

“I think it is going to be one of those years,” Geneva coach Geno DeMarco said. “We had holding penalties and other 15-yard penalties that just took away from any continuity we might have had on drives.

“With our group being young, our problem is that we cannot afford to do that. There isn’t a whole lot of margin of error for us.”

The Wolverines put the handwriting on the wall from the opening kickoff. They put together drives of 57 yards on 15 plays and 73 yards on 11 plays that resulted in a pair of scores and a quick 14-0 lead.

“We came out and they just kicked us on the teeth,” DeMarco said. “You have to call it what it is. We just made too many mistakes and didn’t play good football.”

Grove City used a record-breaking effort by Stephen Mercer for a 21-0 lead. Hauling in a Geneva punt on his own 17, Mercer swerved and juked his way down the field for an 83-yard punt return for a score. Mercer’s effort was the longest punt return in Grove City history.

“The way it turned out, I think it was the game-changer,” Mercer said. “I just looked for and found a crease and when I got through it [the crease], I had a convoy to the end zone.”

Following a 34-yard TD connection between quarterback Andrew DiDonato and Clayton Hall to push the GCC lead to 28-0, the Golden Tornadoes scored their first points of the game when A.J. Delmonico returned the ensuing kickoff 88 yards to the house.

“This win is huge for us,” said DiDonato who completed 18 of 31 tosses. “Being 4-2 and over .500, we feel confident with two wins in a row and it was just a total team effort in all three areas of the game. Everyone is supporting everyone else and right now, it is a family-type unit.”