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WASHINGTON D.C. - A pair of one-yard rushing touchdowns late in the fourth quarter helped the Lycoming College football team comeback for its first Landmark Conference win, 28-25, over Catholic University, at Cardinal Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Down 17-14, the Warriors (1-5 overall 1-1 Landmark) forced a punt with 11:35 left that was downed at their own 44-yard line. A pair of first down completions, the second on 4-and-5 at the Catholic 40 for a six-yard gain to junior Jacob Shermeyer got the ball past midfield before junior quarterback Will Fish found senior Brandon Timothy for a 16-yard completion to get the ball in the redzone. Freshman running back Quasim Benson took it from there, busting into the end zone four plays later from a yard out, giving Lycoming a 21-17 lead with 6:15 left.
A high snap stalled Catholic's ensuing drive with a 27-yard loss and on 4-and-30, a muffed snap on a punt led to sophomore Ryan Pentz, a Central Mountain graduate, falling on the ball at the one-yard line. On the next play, freshman Terrence Oliver found the end zone to make it 28-17.
The Cardinals (2-5 overall, 0-3 Landmark) cut the lead to three with a 35-yard touchdown pass to Preston Jeffrey with 1:34 left, but junior Joey Rivituso fell on the ensuing onside kick. Catholic got the ball back with 1:05 left, but sophomore Jordan Rhinehart intercepted a pass on the sideline after first-year David Schley nearly posted a sack and rushed the throw.
The Warriors rushed 45 times for 243 yards in the contest, with Benson finishing with 127 yards and a score on 21 carries and Oliver rushing 16 times for 107 yards and a score. It was the first time the Warriors had two 100-yard rushers in the same game since Jacob Fimbres and Keith Batkowski each did it against Widener in 2018.
Timothy caught four passes for 111 yards and a score and junior Billy Coppock added five catches for 84 yards and a score. Fish was 13-of-32 for 216 yards and two touchdowns.
Rhinehart finished with eight tackles and the interception and Pentz added six stops, a fumble recovery and a breakup. Senior Austin Rowley had six stops and three breakups and junior Matt Trolinger also had six stops.
After Catholic scored on a 13-play, 91-yard drive, the Warriors answered on just the third play of the ensuing drive, with Fish finding Timothy for a 71-yard strike over the middle to tie the game. After a Catholic field goal, the Warriors took the lead with a four-play, 69-yard drive, scoring on a 40-yard connection from Fish to Coppock with 45 seconds left in the first half, helping Lycoming take a 14-10 lead into the break.
Catholic scored on a 56-yard drive in the third quarter to take a 17-14 lead and set up the Warrior comeback.
Nico Casares finished 45-of-67 for 399 yards and three touchdowns, as Catholic threw for 445 yards and ran for just 17 in the game. Jeffrey caught nine passes for 159 yards and a score and Anthony Giordano had 11 receptions for 94 yards. John Mayes caught seven passes for 82 yards and a touchdown.
Luke Brautigan had 10 tackles and Carson Henry had nine tackles, two for loss for the Cardinals.
The Warriors are back on the field on Saturday, Oct. 21, when they head to Keystone College for a 1 p.m. Landmark Conference matchup.
Lycoming 0 14 0 14 — 28
Catholic 0 10 7 8 — 25
Second quarter
C-John Maynes 9 pass from Nico Casares (Andrew Petrino kick), 8:57
L-Brandon Timothy 71 pass from Will Fish (Ian Plankenhorn kick), 8:11
C-Andrew Petrino 19 field goal, 1:19
L-Billy Coppock 40 pass from Fish (Plankenhorn kick), 0:45.
Third quarter
C-S. Cornacchione 1 pass from Casares (Petrino kick), 11:50.
Fourth quarter
L-Quasim Benson 1 run (Plankenhorn kick), 6:15.
L-Terrence Oliver 1 run (Plankenhorn kick), 4:03.
C-Preston Jeffrey 35 pass from Casares (Jeffrey pass), 1:34.
TEAM STATISTICS
L C
First downs 20 23
Rushes-yds 45-208 14-17
C-A-I 13-32-1 52-78-1
Passing yards 216 445
Total yards 424 462
Fumbles-lost 4-1 5-1
Penalties-yards 6-61 10-86
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–Lycoming, Quasim Benson 21-127 TD; Terrence Oliver 16-107 TD; Jacob Shermeyer 1-4; TEAM 2-(minus 4); Will Fish 5-(minus 26). Catholic, Zach Williams 7-19; Cade Chrebet 2-7; Nico Casares 2-3; Madden Lowe 2-0; Connor Gill 1-(minus 12).
PASSING–Lycoming, Will Fish 13-32-1 216 2 TD. Catholic, Nico Casares 45-67-1 399 3 TD; Madden Lowe 7-11-0 46.
RECEIVING–Lycoming, Brandon Timothy 4-111 TD; Billy Coppock 5-84 TD; Ross Eyer 1-11; Jacob Shermeyer 2-11; Quasim Benson 1-(minus 1). Catholic, Preston Jeffrey 9-159 TD; Anthony Giordano 11-94; John Maynes 7-82 TD; Sam Cornacchione 7-36 TD; Zach Williams 5-31; Nathan Miscichowski 1-28; Andrew Tabor 6-27; Malachi Hansen 2-9; Ryan Smyth 1-8; Coby Oxendine 3-(minus 2).