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Allegheny College Athletics

The Official Athletics Site Of The Allegheny Gators
Allegheny College football vs. Thiel College, 10-28-23. Photo by Ed Mailliard.
Ed Mailliard
14
Allegheny ALL 3-7 , 3-7
42
Winner CWRU CWR 7-2 , 7-2
Allegheny ALL
3-7 , 3-7
14
Final
42
CWRU CWR
7-2 , 7-2
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
ALL Allegheny 0 7 0 7 14
CWR CWRU 14 14 14 0 42

Game Recap: Football |

Football Ends 2023 Season With Road Loss at Case Western Reserve

CLEVELAND -- The Allegheny College football team closed the 2023 campaign with a 42-14 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) loss on the road against Case Western Reserve University at DiSanto Field in Cleveland.

The Gators (3-7, 3-7 PAC) concluded their second season back in the PAC with an identical record. However, Allegheny showed many signs of improvement under the watchful eye of first-year head coach Braden Layer. Meanwhile, the Spartans (7-2, 7-2 PAC), who have already secured their eighth consecutive winning season under 20-year head coach Greg Debeljak, will end their regular season next weekend at Carnegie Mellon University.

Allegheny did its best to hang with Case Western Reserve in the first half. Leading by two scores, the Spartans were eyeing a third touchdown on their first possession of the second quarter. CWRU advanced all the way to the Allegheny one-yard line, but the Gator defense produced back-to-back stops on third and fourth down. Defensive end Isaiah Romain (Newark, N.J./Great Oaks Charter School) helped stretch the third-down rush toward the boundary before shedding his blocker and making the stop. Against the jumbo formation on fourth down, Chase Smith (Euclid, Ohio/Euclid) and Malcolm Denomme (Edgewood, N.M./Moriarty) denied the running back up the middle.

Stuck deep in their own territory after the goal-line stand, the Gator offensive put together not only one of the highlights of the afternoon but one of the biggest plays of the entire season. On a 3rd-and-five from the Allegheny five-yard line, Declan O'Brien (Irwin, Pa./Norwin) beat one-on-one coverage along the right sideline, and Jack Johnson (Hingham, Mass./Hingham/Milford Academy) made a perfect throw to hit O'Brien in stride on the go route. The senior wide receiver then won the footrace to the end zone for a 95-yard touchdown. Johnson and O'Brien tied a school record for the longest touchdown pass and catch, set during the 1990 national championship season by quarterback Jeff Filkovski and receiver Julio Locayo against Earlham College.
 
O'Brien's second touchdown catch of the contest was much shorter. Following a 33-yard reception on a fourth-down play by Austin Williams (Warsaw, N.Y./Warsaw Central), Johnson found an uncovered O'Brien out of the backfield for an easy two-yard completion.

Inside the Box Score
  • Allegheny produced 268 yards of total offense, with 250 yards coming from the passing game.
  • Johnson completed 65.6% (21-of-32) of his passes for 244 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
  • O'Brien led all receivers with eight catches and paced Allegheny with 131 yards and two touchdowns.
  • The longest play of the season was Johnson's 95-yard touchdown pass to O'Brien in the second quarter.
  • Williams had five receptions for 58 yards with a long of 33 yards.
  • Case Western Reserve quarterback Alex Fromberg led the Spartans to a game-high 548 yards of offense.
  • Fromberg threw for 349 yards with four touchdowns and led all CWRU rushers with 10 attempts.
  • Noah Coyne had four catches for 138 yards and two touchdowns.
  • Linebacker Travis Dear (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) and defensive back Ja'Karri Young (Euclid, Ohio/Euclid) each had a team-leading nine tackles.
  • Dear also recovered a fumble for the second game in a row.
  • Denomme finished with eight tackles and one tackle for a loss.
  • Romain had five tackles, four solo, and Allegheny's only sack.
  • First-year corner David Williams (Boca Raton, Fla./Boca Raton) made four solo stops and forced one fumble.

News and Notes
  • Allegheny ended the 2023 season with a 3-7 overall record.
  • In 10 games as the starting quarterback, Johnson amassed 2,398 passing yards and 15 touchdowns, both of which are the second-best totals of his career.
  • O'Brien's record-breaking season ends with Allegheny single-season records for receptions (91) and receiving yards (1,228), in addition to a career-high 10 touchdown catches.
  • The 95-yard touchdown pass from Johnson to O'Brien is tied for the longest in team history and is only one of three touchdown passes to exceed 90 yards.
  • Romain's sack was his fourth of the year, tied with Josh Salisbury (Edinboro, Pa./General McLane) for the most on the team.
  • Allegheny's leading tackler, Denomme, logged a single-season career-high 65 tackles in his junior season.
  • Nigel Williams (Buffalo, N.Y./Cardinal O'Hara) and Azary Matsuda (Roseville, Calif./Granite Bay) both surpassed 50 tackles on the season as well.


 
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