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Geneva scores first win, 31-17
The Golden Tornadoes handed the winless Tomcats their fourth straight defeat.
GREENVILLE — When Thiel and Geneva faced each other Saturday at Alumni Stadium, one thing was guaranteed.
With a tie no longer a possibility in football, one of the two teams would pick up its first win of the 2008 campaign.
When the issue was finally decided, it was Geneva who tasted victory for the first time this season as the Golden Tornadoes downed the Tomcats, 31-17.
“I have to give them [Thiel] a lot of credit because I think they are pretty good at what they do,” Geneva (1-2) head coach Geno DeMarco said. “Their quarterback is much improved and they have a lot of speed to the outside, but we are fortunate because we have a whole backfield of running backs.”
Thiel (0-4) coach Jack Leipheimer feels his club improved from last week.
“The kids have to stay the course, the coaches have to stay the course and if we all do that, we will be OK,” Leipheimer said. “Eventually we will get off this [losing streak] if we continue to do what we are doing and just get a little better each time.”
After a scoreless first quarter, the Tornadoes took a 14-0 lead on a 1-yard run by quarterback David Girardi and a 1-yard plunge by tailback Gerard Muschett.
The Tomcats cut the Geneva lead to 14-10 at halftime on a 30-yard field goal by John Madeline (Hubbard High) and Stephen Roberto’s block of a Geneva punt that was returned 32 yards for a score by Bryan Villegas.
The Golden Tornadoes scored 10 more points in the third period on a 34-yard Nick DiPetro field and a Matt Dean 2-yard run, the first of two touchdowns by Dean.
The Tomcats clawed their way back to a 7-point deficit when Jeremiah Wagner hauled in a 9-yard scoring pass from quarterback Willie Bova.
Then Demarco turned to his New Castle area (Neshannock High) duo of Dean and Matt Barge to control the ball and keep the Tomcats from getting any closer.
“We have four good running backs, but those two kids from Neshannock complement each other real well,” DeMarco said. “We didn’t do a whole lot, but that was due to Thiel forcing us to do what we had to do. We came in just deciding to run the ball and for us today, it was just an old-fashioned throwback game.”
Muschett led all rushers in the game with 126 yards, Barge was close behind with 72.
“The yards were real tough to come by today, but we know how to deal with that because everybody knows that is what we are going to do,” Barge said. “Our line just played real well, gave us some good holes and all of the backs ran real hard.
“As for the first win, it really feels great.”
Although Dean only showed 34 yards on nine carries, two of his efforts were huge in the fourth period to allow Geneva to be able to control the ball.
With the Golden Tornadoes facing fourth-and-1 at the Thiel 35, Dean ripped off a 9-yard run for a first down. Five plays later, Dean capped the scoring drive from one yard out for his second TD of the game.
“We just had it in our minds that we had to come out, play hard and win the game,” Dean said. “We felt we couldn’t walk out of here [Alumni Stadium] with anything less [than a win]. We played with that attitude the whole game and that was a big factor in our being able to win the game.”