Grove City tops Waynesburg University, 21-14
WAYNESBURG — Grove City spoiled Waynesburg University’s Homecoming party with a 21-14 Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) victory on Saturday at John F. Wiley Stadium.
The Wolverines (2-1, 2-3) took a 21-14 lead in the third quarter when quarterback Randall Labrie scored on a one-yard sneak at 2:26 to cap a 19-play, 86-yard drive that took 9:24 off the clock.
The Yellow Jackets (0-3, 0-5) took the ensuing drive to Grove City’s 23 but the visitors held on fourth down to take over possession.
The Wolverines drove deep in Waynesburg territory but the Yellow Jackets’ Deondre’ Marable intercepted Labrie at the three with 7:15 remaining.
Yellow Jackets quarterback Tyler Perone was intercepted by Grove City’s Kyle Beyer at 6:25. Waynesburg had another opportunity to tie the game but Perone threw his second interception. Perone was 16 of 34 for 173 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions.
“You have to give them credit,” Waynesburg coach Chris Smithley said. “That’s a better Grove City team over there and coach is doing a great job. The one throw over the middle was too late. He should have never thrown it, and I got to do a better job of coaching him and getting him to make better decisions when we are in a game like that.”
The Yellow Jackets had the ball with 48 seconds remaining and no timeouts but Perone was intercepted.
Grove City opened the scoring at 5:15 of the first when Cody Gustafson pulled in an 18-yard reception from Labrie and a 7-0 lead after the first of three PATs by Mitch Causer.
The Yellow Jackets tied the game at 14:53 of the second when Austin Wilson caught a seven-yard pass from Perone. Garret Guthrie connected on the first of two PATs.
Wesley Schools’ three-yard touchdown run put the Wolverines ahead, 14-7, at 9:42 of the second. Schools had a game-high 163 yards on 33 carries. Labrie had 76 yards on 10 attempts.
“I think it just comes down to our guys tackling better,” Smithley said. “There were a lot of times where we had good position on guys but just didn’t get them down on the ground.”
Waynesburg tied the game just before halftime on Chad Walker’s three-yard touchdown reception from Perone with 20 seconds remaining.
Uniontown graduate Tristan Sandrosky had 12 tackles (7 unassisted, 5 assisted), including half a tackle for loss, for the Yellow Jackets. Teammate John-Glen Davis, who is a Waynesburg Central graduate, had 12 stops (6 unassisted, 6 assisted). West Greene graduate Will VanNorman played on defense for the Jackets and made several tackles.
“Those guys all do a great job,” Smithley said. “John-Glen is lightning on the field, flies around, makes a ton of plays and has a lot of heart. Van Norman is a guy that lost a bunch of weight coming into this season and he is in the trenches grinding, and a kid that works his butt off and doesn’t say anything.
“Tristan is our guy that has more experience here than any of our guys, and Tristan is a guy that is a great leader. We do a team vote for captains and Tristan is really high up there. He is just a great kid and he’s the same. Those guys are all the same. They keep their heads down and work their butts off.”
Local College Sum
Grove City 7 7 7 0 — 21
Waynesburg University 0 14 0 0 — 14
First Quarter
GC: Cody Gustafson 18 pass from Randall Labrie (Mitch Causer kick), 5:15
Second Quarter
WAY: Austin Wilson 7 pass from Tyler Perone (Garret Guthrie kick), 14:53
GC: Wesley Schools 3 run (Causer kick), 9:42
WAY: Chad Walker 3 pass from Perone (Guthrie kick), :20
Third Quarter
GC: Labrie 1 run (Causer kick), 2:26
Records: Grove City (2-1, 2-3), Waynesburg (0-3, 0-5).