Carnegie Mellon Holds Lead in 20-10 Victory

Oct. 14 - (CLEVELAND, Ohio) – The Tartans of Carnegie Mellon opened the game with a long scoring drive setting the tone on offense and outlasted Case Western 20-10 in a penalty and turnover prone game. Carnegie Mellon moves to 6-0 on the season and 1-0 in University Athletic Association claiming the Academic Bowl trophy for the second straight year. Case Western falls to 3-3 and 0-1 for the season.

Carnegie Mellon started the game with the ball on their own 12-yard line and drove the full length of the field draining nine minutes off the clock with 19 plays, including three third down conversions and a red zone fourth down conversion. Junior full back Travis Sivek (Traverse City, Mich./St. Francis) scored on a one-yard run after earning 37 yards on the drive including a long run of 15 yards. Junior running back Robert Gimson (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla./The Benjamin School) and sophomore tight end Derek Wisnieski (Indiana, Pa.) also were a part of long plays, as Gimson ran for 13 yards on a third and five play and Wisnieski caught a pass for 14 yards.

Case Western's offense wasn't to be out done on their opening drive as they answered with an 11-play, 62-yard scoring drive ending with a field goal by Brian Calderone two minutes into the second quarter.

The Tartans second drive of the game caught Case Western by surprise as senior quarterback Kevin Mulkern (Springfield, Pa.) found senior wideout Mark Davis (Loveland, Ohio) down the center of the field. Davis beat Bobby Bott and Chris Kerr with a catch over his shoulder and then out ran them to the corner of the end zone for the score. A blocked extra-point by Tom Brew left the score at 13-3 in favor of the Tartans.

"The offensive line was pushing them all over the field with our running game, and the safeties were up so we could utilize the long pass and it was the right time and the perfect ball by Kevin [Mulkern]," commented Davis.

With a minute left in the half, senior linebacker James Rogers (Battle Ground, Wash./Skyview) got to the quarterback for the second time in two drives and this time caused a fumble and recovered the ball giving the visitors a chance to add to the lead. With under 20 seconds to go, the Tartans lined up for a field goal attempt from the Case Western nine, but attempted a run reverse that was stopped short of the goal at the one-yard line to end the half.

"I thought John [Cakert] gave it a great effort and the kids who made the stop at the one made a great play. Credit us for the effort and attempt and credit their guys for making the play," said Head Coach Rich Lackner.

Rogers came up with his second fumble recovery of the day on the Spartans first drive of the second half. The final result was another one-yard touchdown run by Sivek after Gimson took a 32-yard run to the Case Western half-yard line. Sivek who finished with 103 yards on the day, gave the Tartans a 20-3 advantage.

Senior Joe Brenner caught a 42-yard reception from freshman quarterback Dan Whalen with about six minutes to play to cut the Tartan lead to 20-10 and end the scoring.

Junior nose guard Mike Reggie (Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles Prep) had two sacks on the day, with one coming on fourth and goal from the five-yard line with under four minutes to play in the third quarter. Junior Jonathan Bodnar (Cheswick, Pa./Deer Lakes) and senior Jonathan Menhart (Rices Landing, Pa./Carmichaels) each had an interception in the fourth quarter for the Tartans, with Bodnar returning his for 60 yards.

"I knew we needed a big play and something to stop their momentum and that sack just stole their thunder," explained Reggie. "I think it set the tone for the rest of the game. We had a few mistakes later on, but didn’t let them capitalize."

Case Western's John Tiemeier gave the Spartans offense the opportunities in the fourth quarter with a blocked punt and an interception in the end zone, but both ensuing possessions resulted in Carnegie Mellon interceptions.

Mulkern and Davis followed Sivek with over 100 yards of offense as Mulkern completed five of 11 passes for 102 yards and Davis caught three passes for 123 yards. Gimson was close behind with 93 yards rushing on the day.

Senior defensive back Aaron Lewis (Englewood, Ohio/Northmont) led the team with 12 total tackles, including five solo stops and his third forced fumble of the year. Reggie totaled eight tackles from the line, including two for a loss of 13 yards and two sacks, also for a loss of 13 yards.

Whalen and Angelo Mirando both threw for over 100 yards for Case Western totaling 208 yards for the day. Brenner finished with 133 yards receiving on the day, as the ground game totaled 87 yards.

On the down side, Carnegie Mellon committed five penalties for a total of 62 yards and Case Western had seven penalties for 79 yards.

The Tartans return home next week to face last year's UAA Champion, the University of Chicago, in a 12 p.m. contest at Gesling Stadium.