Case Western Reserve University senior quarterback Alex Fromberg accounted for five touchdowns and the Spartans' defense held Saint Vincent College to 97 total yards in a 49-0 shutout win over the Bearcats on Saturday night at DiSanto Field in Cleveland.
The Spartans improved to 5-0 at the halfway point of the season with the win while Saint Vincent dropped to 1-5 with the loss. CWRU also moved into a tie for first place in the PAC with Grove City following the win.
It was a dominating performance all-around for the Spartans, who amassed 529 yards of offense while holding the Bearcats to under 100 for the game. The shutout was the team's first of the season and their first since a 35-0 win over Waynesburg during the seventh week of the 2023 campaign.
Fromberg completed 22-of-28 pass attempts for 281 total yards with four touchdowns while running for an additional 12 yards, including one score. Seven different receivers registered at least 30 receiving yards, led by senior Noah Coyne who caught six passes for 61 yards and two touchdowns, and junior wide receiver Alex Angello who registered five catches for 60 yards. First-year running back Andy Kavcic made the first start of his career on Saturday and led the squad with 60 rushing yards, including one score.
Defensively, the Spartans were in the Saint Vincent backfield throughout the night, totaling nine tackles for loss and three sacks. Junior linebacker Henry Busch led the way with six tackles (two solo), two tackles for loss, and one sack. Graduate student defensive end Kaden Tong added 1.5 sacks and graduate student linebacker Gabe Troch finished the contest with five tackles (four solo) and two tackles for loss.
The Spartans received the ball to start the game and went 67 yards on nine plays, taking a 7-0 lead on a three-yard touchdown run by Kavcic with 9:50 left in the quarter. After forcing a three-and-out on Saint Vincent's first drive of the game, CWRU added to its lead with a trick play with 6:37 on the clock. Sophomore quarterback Aaron Filips took the snap and pitched the ball to Fromberg, who then threw to Filips for a 40-yard touchdown, putting CWRU ahead 14-0.
In the second quarter, Fromberg found Coyne in the back of the end zone with a nine-yard pass to give CWRU a 21-0 lead with 14:51 left and ran the ball in from a yard out to cap off an 11-play, 77-yard drive with 4:23 left in the half and give the Spartans a 28-0 advantage. An eight-yard pass from Fromberg to Coyne with 1:21 on the clock gave the Spartans a 35-0 lead heading into halftime.
CWRU increased its advantage in the second half with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Fromberg to senior wide receiver Ethan Dahlem with 3:34 left in the third quarter and a 59-yard pass from Filips to sophomore wide receiver Jake Otto with 13:22 left in the fourth to set the score at 49-0. It was the first career touchdown for Otto.
Filips completed two of three passes in the game for 72 yards and a touchdown while running for an additional 21 yards, along with the 40-yard touchdown catch.
The Spartans will be back at DiSanto Field next weekend, hosting Thiel College at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 19 in Cleveland.
Spartan Notes
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The Spartans are off to their first 5-0 start since the 2019 campaign. It is the 10th time in program history that the team has won each of its first five games.
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CWRU matched its season high with 529 total yards for the second straight week. The 97 total yards allowed are the fewest by the Spartans' defense since at least the 2003 season.
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CWRU improved to 9-2 all-time against Saint Vincent, including an 8-2 mark since rejoining the PAC as a football affiliate member in 2014. The Spartans have now won three straight games against the Bearcats and are 6-0 all-time against Saint Vincent at home.
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Saturday was also the second straight year that the Spartans have shutout Saint Vincent after a 19-0 win last year. CWRU's defense has shut out the Bearcats over the last nine quarters, dating back to the 2022 campaign.
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With his 1.5 sacks against Saint Vincent, Tong now has 28.5 for his career, tying him with former Spartan Rich Zdrojewski for the fourth-most in a career in program history. He is now six sacks shy of the program's career record of 34.5 sacks, set by Cameron Brown.
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CWRU has now scored over 40 points in each of its five games this season, marking the first time the Spartans have scored 40 or more points in five-straight games since the final five contests of the 2017 season.