Case Western Reserve University senior quarterback Drew Saxton ran for three touchdowns, and sophomore running back Gage Duesler added two rushing touchdowns of his own, as the Spartans' offense paced the team to a 45-31 win against Waynesburg University in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania on Saturday afternoon.
The win, which did not count towards the Presidents' Athletic Conference standings, raised the Spartans' record to 1-1 overall on the season, while Waynesburg dropped to 1-1 following the setback.
Saxton put together a strong bounce-back performance for the Spartans, completing 21-of-27 passes for 189 yards while rushing for an additional 25 yards and three touchdowns. Senior running back Antonio Orsini led the team with 83 rushing yards, and junior wide receiver Riley Knurek broke out for nine receptions and 93 yards, both team highs on Saturday. Junior defensive end Kaden Tong turned in a monster defensive effort for the Spartans, finishing the game with nine total tackles (six solo), including a pair of sacks and 5.5 tackles for a loss, while senior safety D.J. Wolf led all CWRU players with 12 tackles in the game.
CWRU wasted little time getting on the board, scoring touchdowns on its first two drives of the game. After an illegal block on Waynesburg added to a 46-yard return on the opening kickoff by sophomore Ethan Dahlem, the Spartans needed just four plays to go 31 yards into the endzone, taking a 7-0 lead with 13:28 left in the period on a five-yard run by Duesler. Later in the first, Saxton capped off a 16-play, 75-yard drive with a two-yard scoring run, extending CWRU's lead to 14-0 by the end of the opening quarter.
Duesler reached the endzone for a second time, scoring on a 13-yard run with 1:05 left in the half to put CWRU in front 21-3, but the Yellow Jackets had a quick answer, scoring on an 80-yard drive at the end of the half to cut the Spartans' advantage to 21-10 heading into the break. Waynesburg then opened the second half with a scoring drive, pulling back within four, 21-17, with 12:40 left in the third.
CWRU built its lead back to 14 by the end of the quarter, however, with Saxton adding a one-yard touchdown run with 7:58 to go, and first-year Ben Barney converting a 25-yard field goal, the first of his career, with 53 seconds left in the period. After a Waynesburg touchdown trimmed the Spartans' lead back to within a score, sophomore quarterback Ian Kipp answered with a 70-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Noah Coyne to keep the Spartans' lead at 14, 38-24.
Kipp finished the game with the one touchdown pass for 70 yards, to go along with seven carries for 46 yards.
The Yellow Jackets would not go away, scoring again with 5:50 left to get back within a touchdown, 38-31. However, the Spartans were able to take five minutes and 31 seconds off the clock with a 10-play, 41-yard drive, capped off by a one-yard touchdown run by Saxton to secure the win.
As a team, the Spartans finished the game with 470 yards of total offense, including 211 rushing and 259 passing.
Case Western Reserve will return home next weekend for its first PAC game of the season. The Spartans will host Washington and Jefferson College on Saturday, September 17 under the lights at DiSanto Field, with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
Spartans’ Offense Breaks Out for 45-31 Win at Waynesburg
/seasons/2022/boxscores/20220910_xsap.xml
2022
Case Western Reserve
45
Waynesburg
31
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case Western Reserve (1-1) | 14 | 7 | 10 | 14 | 45 |
| Waynesburg (1-1) | 0 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 31 |
Sep 10, 2022