Box Score

OBERLIN, Ohio – Allegheny capped another strong season with a 17-14 victory at Oberlin in Savage Stadium on Saturday. The final score wasn't indicative of the Gators' complete-team effort, which held a 17-0 lead with less than three minutes remaining in regulation.

Colin Hartford set the tone for the Gators (7-3, 4-2 NCAC) with his second interception of the year on Oberlin's (4-6, 3-3) third play from scrimmage. Taking over at the Oberlin 30, senior T.J. Salopek threw three straight completions, including two to Matt Griffith, to set up Allegheny with a first-and-goal at the one. Oberlin showed some early resolve of its own by stopping the Gators three straight times on the door step. Taking the easy points, junior kicker Ryan Zipf connected on a 21-yarder to give Allegheny a 3-0 lead. The kick served as Zipf's 12th field goal of the season, which tied a single-season program record.

Although Allegheny had drives of nine and 12 plays, it wasn't until midway through the second quarter that the Blue and Gold would add to its lead. Assembling the longest drive of the day for either team, the Gators covered 80 yards on 13 plays that ultimately ended with a four-yard touchdown run by rookie Sean Acosta. Salopek was 6-of-7 on the series with completions to six different receivers. More importantly, the Gators chewed up nearly seven minutes of clock to leave Oberlin with no time to orchestrate a final drive before the halftime break.

Less than five minutes into the second half, Allegheny stretched its lead to 17-0 as Rob Carlisle hauled in an eight-yard touchdown pass. Carlisle enjoyed a monster game in his final afternoon donning the Blue and Gold with eight catches for a career-high 105 yards. Three of Carlisle's catches were on the scoring drive while Terry Hartford also helped the offense's quick march down the field with a 23-yard catch.

Following its last score, Allegheny turned to its defense which delivered another outstanding effort. The Gators had eight tackles for loss in the tilt and recorded five sacks in a game for the first time since Nov. 14, 2009 against Ohio Wesleyan. Paced by Hartford, Allegheny also totaled a season-best nine pass-breakups. Oberlin's ground game was held completely ineffective on the day, netting just 26 yards. In the last two games of the season, Allegheny held the opposition to 46 yards rushing on 47 attempts, while the Yeomen became the fifth team this year to be held under 38 yards.

Unfortunately for the Gators, a lapse in the final frame prevented the defense from preserving the shutout. Taking over with 2:41 on the clock, Oberlin quarterback Joey Zebelian was sensational against Allegheny's soft coverage. Zebelian completed four consecutive passes including a 21-yard touchdown toss to Robin Witjes with 89 seconds left in the game. On the ensuing kickoff, the Yeomen's onside attempt worked to perfection and once again the Oberlin offense made it count. With exactly one minute showing on the board, Zebelian threw a 28-yard strike to Adam Niec to account for the final score. Allegheny recovered Oberlin's next onside attempt to seal the win.

Playing in his final college game, Salopek finished 25-of-43 for 283 yards and a touchdown. Although Carlisle was his top target, Salopek delivered completions to 10 different receivers. He closes his career as the Gators' all-time leader in total offense (6,541), passing yards (7,897), completions (718) and attempts (1,135).

Notes: Shane Heschke, Zach Bell, and Bill Devlin each had seven tackles to lead Allegheny…Sean Acosta led the Gator ground game with 36 yards on six carries…Allegheny reached at least seven wins for the 13th time since 1990…the Gators have had just one losing season since 1985.