Football Falls 24-21 to Allegheny

Sept. 22 - (PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon University football team hosted Allegheny College Saturday, September 22, at Gesling Stadium. Five turnovers by the Tartans, four fumbles, dropped their record to 2-2 with a 24-21 loss. The Gators improve to 2-1 with the victory.

Carnegie Mellon wasted little time, as they marched 80 yards on 13 plays capped off by senior fullback Travis Sivek’s (Traverse City, Mich./St. Francis) one-yard touchdown run giving the Tartans a 7-0 lead with 9:36 left in the first.

The Gators answered the Tartans after a 46-yard kickoff return by senior Jim Lieb setting Allegheny up at the Carnegie Mellon 45. Six plays later senior running back Devin Raynor took it in from one-yard, knotting the score at 7-7. The Gators drive took 1:32 off the clock.

The score remained tied at seven until 3:47 left in the half. Gator sophomore quarterback T.J. Salopek found senior wide out James Jones in the back of the end zone from 20 yards away giving Allegheny there first lead of the evening, 14-7.

Like the Gators in the first quarter, the Tartans answered Allegheny’s score on the ensuing possession. The Tartans strung a ten-play 77-yard drive ending on a 22-yard strike from junior quarterback Doug Facemyer (Eastlake, Ohio Eastlake North) to sophomore wide receiver Brendan Howe (Grosse Pointe, Mich./Grosse Point South ) with ten seconds left in the half making the score 14-14 at the half. For Howe, it marked his first career touchdown reception.

Five and a half minutes into the second half Salopek threw his second touchdown pass, this time to sophomore Jake Vite from five yards extending the Gator lead back to seven 21-14. The touchdown was set-up by senior Nick Jones’ 39-yard interception return down to the Tartan 21.

Allegheny once again capitalized on yet another Tartan turnover. Junior Craig Lawrence recovered a fumble at 2:48 in the third quarter on the Tartans 17-yard line. Lawrence’s recovery set-up a 31-yard field goal by senior place kicker Josh Whiteside extending the Blue and Gold’s lead, 24-14 with 1:57 in the third quarter.

Carnegie Mellon pulled within three, 24-21, on Facemyer’s second touchdown pass on the evening. This time he found senior running back Robert Gimson (Palm Beach Gardens., Fla./The Benjamin School) from two yards away with 1:02 to play, but the Tartans failed to recover the onside kick.

The Tartans out gained the Gators 407-305 in total offense including 254 yards on the ground. Facemyer finished the evening 12 of 23 for a career-high 153 yards and two touchdowns. Howe was on the end of seven Facemyer completions for 96 yards and one score all setting career-highs.

Allegheny was headed by Salopek, who had a career-high 196 yards and two touchdown passes on 17 of 30 attempts. Senior Jim Lieb had seven receptions for 100 yards to lead the Gator wide outs.

Senior corner Jon Scholl (Coraopolis, Pa./Pittsburgh Central Catholic) led the Tartans defense for the third time this season recording 13 tackles. The Gators Andy Toner led all players with a career-high 20 tackles.

In the loss, senior punter Matt Adams (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Scioto) set a school record with a 70-yard punt in the first half. He finished the game with four punts for an average of 48.5 yards landing two inside the 20.

The Tartans will be idle next week before heading to Randolph-Macon Saturday, October 6 for a 1:00 p.m. kick.