Photo Gallery

MEADVILLE, Pa. – Behind a dominant second half, visiting DePauw topped the Gators 59-7 in North Coast Athletic Conference action at Frank B. Fuhrer Field.

After the Tigers (5-2, 4-2 NCAC) took a 17-7 lead into intermission in a rather evenly-played first half, they scored touchdowns on their first six possessions of the second half to hand Allegheny (1-6, 1-5 NCAC) its fifth straight loss.

The two teams traded punts on the first two possessions of the game, before DePauw embarked on a 10-play, 47-yard drive, capped off with a four-yard touchdown pass from Matt Hunt to Tyler Leising, to take a 7-0 lead with 4:02 left in the first quarter.

On the Gators' ensuing possession, they looked as if they were relegated to go thee-and-out for the third time in the quarter, but used some trickery on fourth-and-four, as Andrew Niklaus took a direct snap on the fake punt and scampered 13 yards for the first down.   The hosts eventually advanced inside the DePauw 30, but were forced to punt to open the second quarter after a 10-yard sack on third down.

The Tigers countered with another lengthy drive, as Jack Gruber closed out a nine-play, 78-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown plunge to put the visitors in front 14-0.

The Gators then responded with their best drive of the afternoon.  Quarterback Jon Nigro opened the possession by completing four passes for 48 yards, highlighted by a 34-yard pass to Nick Matic, followed by an eight-yard toss to Tyler Smith, to set up first down at the DePauw 15.  Smith's third catch of the possession then resulted in a 10-yard gain to the Tiger four, before Nigro and Niklaus hooked up for a four-yard touchdown pass to pull the Gators to within seven with 7:21 left in the second quarter.

The teams again traded punts, before DePauw's final possession of the half ended with a 34-yard field goal by Marko Adams at the gun to give the Tigers a 17-7 halftime lead.

The third quarter belonged to DePauw, as the hosts scored on all three of their possessions to take a commanding 38-7 lead into the fourth.  Over the third quarter, the Tigers held the ball for 12:12, and out-gained the Gators 186-16.

DePauw continued to surge in the fourth quarter, as over the first six minutes of the final stanza, the Tigers ran for 145 yards and scored three touchdowns to open up a 59-7 lead with 8:40 remaining.

Allegheny looked to end the game on a high note on its penultimate possession of the game, as quarterback Tyler McLaughlin completed four passes for 31 yards, including an 11-yard completion to Chris Bourne and a 13-yard grab to Tyler Noebe to advance to midfield, but it would end in the Gators' ninth punt of the afternoon.

Nigro, who began the game by completing 14 of his first 16 passes, ended the day going 16-for-24 for 134 yards, while McLaughlin completed six of 12 attempts for 45 yards.  Smith hauled in a game-high six catches for 31 yards, while Niklaus and Matic each gained 39 receiving yards, on five and two catches, respectively.

DePauw, which amassed 565 yards of total offense, was led by the duo of running back Jack Gruber and quarterback Matt Hunt.  Gruber ran for 99 yards and three touchdowns, while Hunt completed 16 of 21 passes for 153 yards and two scores, while also gaining 99 yards on the ground.

Defensively, Ryan Sherry tallied a team-leading 12 tackles for the Gators,  and teamed up with Tyler Clark for the team's lone sack of the day.  Teammate Nick Murgo made 11 tackles, eclipsing double-digits for the sixth time in seven games, while Raysean Glenn had 10 stops.

The Gators will look to end its losing skid on Sat. Nov. 1, when they kick off a two-game road swing at NCAC foe Kenyon College in a 12 p.m. kickoff.