MEADVILLE, Pa. - Visiting Ohio Wesleyan scored 20 unanswered points, including 17 in the fourth quarter, to come back and top the Gators 36-19 in North Coast Athletic Conference action at Frank B. Fuhrer Field.

Allegheny (1-3, 1-2 NCAC) led for the first 40 minutes, before the Battling Bishops (3-1, 2-1 NCAC) took control down the stretch, capping off the victory with a pair of touchdowns over the final 11 minutes of regulation.

The Gators owned the better of play in the first half, and got off to a fast start.  On just the third play of the game, Allegheny freshman defensive back Travis Thomas abruptly ended Ohio Wesleyan's opening drive, picking off a Dominic Orsini pass and returning it eight yards to the Allegheny 37.  On the second play of the ensuing drive, Gator quarterback Jon Nigro found Lucas Morton for a 39-yard pass down the sideline to set up first down on the OWU 14.  Junior Nick Deichler then took care of the rest, closing out the drive with a two-yard touchdown plunge to put the hosts in front 7-0 with 11:45 left in the first quarter.

After the Battling Bishops' Tim Shadoan returned the ensuing kickoff 43 yards to midfield, the visitors went to the ground, with five straight rushes bringing the ball inside the Allegheny 10.  The Gator defense would stand its ground, and on fourth-and-goal from just inside the two yard line, senior Ryan Sherry would stand up OWU running back Kevin Herman just shy of the goal line.

Starting in the shadows of their own goal posts, the Gators would gain some ground, eventually advancing to their own 40 before being forced to punt.  On the opening play of the next drive, Orsini rambled 56 yards on a keeper down the sideline to set up first down at the Gator 14.  The Allegheny defense would again stand its ground, with OWU forced to settle for a 25-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 7-3 with 2:38 left in the quarter.

Allegheny would look to quickly counter, with Tyler Smith making a circus grab in traffic over the middle for a 42-yard gain to the OWU 36 to end the quarter.  The Gators would eventually march to the OWU 10, but a 10-yard sack would quash the touchdown hopes.  Allegheny was able to put points on the board, however, as sophomore Ben Ziolkowski nailed a career-long 38-yard field goal with 12:08 left in the half to up the lead to 10-3.

After the teams would trade punts over the next two possessions, the Battling Bishops forced a Gator fumble at the Allegheny 38 and took advantage of the short field.  After a 27-yard pass to Shadoan, Orsini closed out the drive with a nine-yard scamper into the end zone.  The extra point kick was blocked by Tyler Clark, allowing the Gators to hold a 10-9 lead with 8:44 remaining in the first half.

Thanks to freshman Jake Wilson, the Gators would then quickly add to their lead.  After gaining 19 yards on three carries to open the next drive, Wilson would haul in a pass from Nigro and scamper 40 yards into the end zone for his first career touchdown.  The extra point was blocked, and the Gators held a 16-9 lead with 5:43 to go in the second quarter.

Ohio Wesleyan answered right back to tie it up, embarking on a nine-play, 66-yard drive that was capped off with two-yard touchdown run by Dante McGee with 2:20 remaining, but the back-and-forth theme would continue as the half drew to a close.  A 55-yard pass from Nigro to Morton would give the Gators first down at the OWU 17, before Wilson would run for 10 yards over the next three carries to set up first-and-goal.  The drive would stall, with a pass in the corner of the end zone going just beyond the fingertips of Nick Matic, but Ziolkowski would come on to hit his second field goal of the game, this one from 24-yards out, to give the Gators a 19-16 lead at the intermission.

Allegheny was forced to punt on its opening drive of the third quarter, and the snap was mishandled, setting up prime field position for Ohio Wesleyan, as the Bishops would take over at the Gator 38. Aided by an OWU holding penalty, the Gator defense would stand its ground yet again, holding the Bishops to a 34-yard field goal attempt that was missed, keeping the score at 19-16.

The Gators were forced to punt on their next possession, and the Battling Bishops again received great field position, taking over at the Gator 24.  A pair of Orsini pass completions set up first-and-goal at the eight, but Allegheny's defense surrendered just one yard over the next three plays to bring out the OWU field goal unit yet again.  This time, the 26-yard attempt from Miles MacKenzie was good, and the game was tied at 19 with 4:58 to go in the third quarter.

After the Gators' next drive again resulted in a punt, the Battling Bishops would end the quarter driving, eventually advancing inside the Allegheny five for another first-and-goal.  As had been the case all afternoon, Allegheny's defense made another big stop, including a second down gang tackle by Freddy Ruiz and Pat Jones that resulted in a two-yard loss.  The third down pass attempt into the end zone was incomplete, but the visitors would gain their first lead of the day on a 24-yard field goal from MacKenzie with just under 14 minutes left in regulation to make the score 22-19. 

Momentum would stay with OWU for the remainder of the game.  On the Gators' ensuing possession, a Nigro pass was intercepted by Zane Kieffer and returned to the Allegheny 27.  Five plays later, the Bishops made the Gators pay for the miscue, as Erik Wall made a leaping grab in the end zone to go up 29-19 with 11:09 remaining.  

The Gators looked to answer, advancing the ball inside the OWU 25 yardline on a 36-yard pass from Nigro to Smith, who made a diving grab through two defenders.  However, the drive would abruptly end two plays later with a Gator fumble, and OWU again turned a turnover into points, as Calvin Cagney closed out the day's scoring with a 19-yard touchdown run with 5:42 left in regulation to put the visitors up 36-19.

Despite the loss, the Gators gained 429 yards of total offense, led by Nigro's 17-for-25 performance through the air for 313 yards.  Andrew Niklaus hauled in a team-best seven catches for 50 yards, while Smith made four catches for a team-leading 100 yards, and Morton two grabs for 94 yards.  Deichler gained 68 yards on 19 carries, with Wilson running 12 times for 48 yards.  Defensively, eight different Gators were credited with at least seven tackles, led by 12 from Nick Murgo and 10 by Sherry.

Orsini led the way for the Battling Bishops, as the quarterback completed 21 passes for 211 yards, while running for a game-high 152 yards on 16 tries.  Cagney made 10 catches for 84 yards, while teammate Chris Mondon had 10 tackles, and Dominic Wilson seven, incuding two for loss and a sack.

The Gators will now look to snap their two-game losing skid next Saturday, Oct. 11, when they travel to NCAC foe Wooster for a 1 p.m. kickoff.

Notes:  At halftime, the 1974 Allegheny football team was honored for its 40th anniversary.  The Gators finished 7-1 that season, winning the Presidents' Athletic Conference while finishing in the top-10 nationally in both total offense and total defense.  Seventeen members of the team were present...  Nigro became the first Gator quarterback to throw for 300+ yards since Jordan Fowler threw for 312 against Denison on Oct. 15, 2011... After making seven receptions, Niklaus now has 109 for his career, good for fifth all-time in program history.