Carnegie Mellon Football Pulls Off Victory Against Grove City

Sept. 10 - (GROVE CITY, Pa.) The Carnegie Mellon football team rallied from a 13-0 deficit to defeat the Grove City Wolverines on Saturday, September 10 in Grove City, 20-16. The Tartans continued their winning streak, improving to 2-0, while the Wolverines fell to 0-2.

Carnegie Mellon fumbled on its first possession setting up Grove City’s first points of the afternoon. The Wolverines controlled the first half holding the Tartans to just 11 yards on the ground and 70 total for the half. However, Carnegie Mellon regained momentum after halftime and erased Grove City’s lead gained by quarterback Bradford Clark’s first half touchdown run, and two first half field goals, kicked by Brandon McCall.

Carnegie Mellon was lead offensively by sophomore Travis Sivek (Traverse City, MI/St. Francis) who rushed for 103 yards and two touchdowns in the second half alone. Sivek finished the afternoon with 125 yards on the ground. Sivek’s second score came with 4:45 left in the game and put the Tartans up for good at 17-16. Junior quarterback Kevin Mulkern (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) completed five of ten attempts for 88 yards and rushed for 26 yards. However, the total yardage of each team closely rivaled the other¬ as the Tartans finished with 249 yards to the Wolverines 218.

Kicker Nathaniel Greenstein (Dobbs Ferry, NY/Dobbs Ferry) gave the Tartans breathing room with 2:36 left on the clock hitting an 18-yard field goal, giving the Carnegie Mellon a four-point lead. Greenstein also successfully completed a 24-yard field goal at the end of the second quarter with no time left on the clock.

Aside from offensive success in which the Tartans converted three of four fourth-downs, Carnegie Mellon was also strong as a defensive unit, lead by junior defensive back Aaron Lewis (Englewood, OH/Northmont) and senior linebacker Jamie Ploetzner (Rathdrum, ID/Lakeland) who totaled nine and eight tackles, respectively. Ploetzner sealed the victory for the Tartans, as he sacked Clark on a fourth and five turning the ball over to the Tartans with 1:43 left in the game.

At 1:00 p.m. Saturday, September 17, the Tartans will face off on their home field, Gesling Stadium, against Johns Hopkins University.