Tartans Overpower Westminster in Home Debut

Stats

Sept. 16 - (PITTSBURGH – Pa) A powerful rushing attack and a smothering defense again carried Carnegie Mellon to victory as the Tartans improved to 3-0 with a 33-6 win over the Westminster Titans Saturday afternoon in football action at Gesling Stadium.

The Tartans began their home opener with a bang. On the fourth play of the game, senior quarterback Kevin Mulkern (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) completed a long pass to sophomore tight end Derek Wisnieski (Indiana, Pa./Indiana) but Westminster stripped Wisnieski of the football as he was streaking towards the end zone, resulting in a touchback.

The Tartan defense immediately responded to the sudden-change situation and limited Westminster to a three-and-out. After both teams traded short possessions, the Tartans took over on downs and with 6:32 remaining in the first and drove down to the Titans one-yard line. But on a fourth-and-goal from the one, junior running back Travis Sivek (Traverse City, Mich./St. Francis) was stopped at the goal line to give the ball back to the Titans.

However, the turnover on downs yielded points for the Tartans just two plays later. As the second quarter began with a second-and-ten from the Titan one-yard line, senior linebacker Jaime Ploetzner (Rathdrum, Idaho/Lakeland) tackled Westminster running back Nick McKolosky in the end zone for two points and a Carnegie Mellon safety.

Following the free kick after the safety, the Tartans increased their lead to 9-0 with a five-play, 41-yard touchdown drive. Mulkern capped the drive, when rolling to his right, found senior wide receiver Jonathon Kline (Greensburg, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic) in the back of the end zone for a 13-yard completion.

The scoring frenzy continued when two plays after the Tartans kicked off, senior defensive back Aaron Lewis (Englewood, Ohio/Northmont)stepped in front of Westminster quarterback Brett Myers's fourth pass of the day and returned the interception 20 yards for the Tartans' second touchdown in barely over a minute. Lewis's 11th career interception and first career touchdown gave the Tartans their first interception of the season and a 16-0 lead.

"The defense we were in allowed me to cheat a little and break on the ball," said Lewis, who recorded six tackles and a pass break-up in addition to the score. "The ball was thrown low and it kind of popped up a little bit and it wasn't that far to run so I got in there before they could catch up to me. But we were in the perfect situation, it was well covered and one of those opportunities where if it pops up you gotta make a play."

Carnegie Mellon's defense continued to make plays, by following their touchdown with another three-and-out to give the ball back to the offense. A three-minute drive ended following a fumble but the defense got the ball back for the offense when sophomore defensive lineman Steve Curran (Somers Point, N.J./Mainland Regional) stripped the ball from Westminster running back Jason Nagy, then senior defensive back Nathaniel Scarmazzi (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon McMillan) jumped on the ball. The turnover led to 36-yard field goal by senior kicker Nathaniel Greenstein (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y./Dobbs Ferry) and a 19-point Tartan lead.

The swarming Carnegie Mellon defense racked up their third three-and-out after Greenstein's field goal to give the Tartans another chance to score before halftime. With the clock winding down to under a minute left, Mulkern found Wisnieski streaking across the middle of the field and the tight end strolled into the left corner of the end zone for six more points and a 26-0 halftime lead. The score marked the first time in Mulkern's career that the senior tossed multiple touchdown passes in one game.

"Everything starts up front," said Mulkern who in addition to rushing for 25 yards and a touchdown on five carries, completed seven of 11 passes for 130 yards. "Those guys have done a great job of pass protecting all year and it has really opened up our passing game."

The second-half began with Carnegie Mellon forcing the Titans to their fifth punt, giving the Tartans another chance to add to their lead. Using nine rushing plays during a 13-play drive that covered 81 yards, the offense pushed the lead to 33-0 when Mulkern ran untouched into the left corner of the end zone. Mulkern’s third score on the day capped a six-minute scoring drive, their longest on the day.

Westminster would get on the board with five minutes left in the fourth quarter with a Kevin Franz rushing touchdown. But the Tartans ate up the final minutes on the clock to limit the Titans to just one score and 180 yards of total offense during the 33-6 victory.

For the second consecutive week, the Tartans managed over 300 yards on the ground while putting up over a hundred yards through the air. Robert Gimson's (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla./The Benjamin School) 111 yards on 13 carries gave the Tartans' offensive line their fourth 100-yard running back performance of the young season.

"It's exciting, not only to have 300 yards rushing but to have a passing attack," said senior guard J.P. White (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon). "I think we have much more of a balanced attack. We knew going in against Grove City that we would have to throw the ball more and I think we just followed that scheme into this week and everybody's happy with the results."

The Tartans will put their perfect record on the line next week with a home match up against Franklin and Marshall at 1 p.m.

"What I told the kids was, it has been a good while since we've been 3-0," Head Coach Rich Lackner said. "It's good to be 3-0. The kids are playing their hearts out right now and they're giving us great effort both in practice and on the field on Saturday afternoons. I’m very pleased with the effort of this football team."