MEADVILLE, Pa. -- It was a tale of two halves for the Allegheny College football team on a cold and rainy Saturday at Frank B. Fuhrer '48, but the Gators prevailed and beat Hiram College, 35-13.
For the second week in a row, the Gators (8-1, 6-1 PAC) needed some second-half magic to turn a gloomy start into a resounding win. Trailing 13-7 at the half with just 63 yards of offense to their name, the Gators sprung to life in the second half and outscored the Terriers (4-5, 1-5 PAC) 28-0.
Across the last two quarters, junior quarterback
Carson Colucci (Brewster, Ohio/Fairless) guided the Allegheny offense to touchdowns on four of their five drives, with the only exception being a fumble on the doorstep of the goal line just yards from a fifth touchdown. In the third quarter, Colucci threw touchdown passes to
Nick Burkey (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg) and
Remington Rossow (West Palm Beach, Fla./Forest Hill). He began the fourth with another connection with Rossow in the end zone, before freshman running back
Brady Vrcic (Pittsburgh, Pa./Serra Catholic) rumbled for a 13-yard carry to seal the win.
In contrast, Hiram lost the ball on downs three times, fumbled once, and punted once en route to a scoreless second half. Quarter Sean Tejada showed off his arm by putting up 363 yards despite the poor weather conditions, but Allegheny's bend-but-don't-break defense held the Terriers off the scoreboard in the last 30 minutes.
Inside the Box Score
- Allegheny threw for 162 yards and ran for a game-leading 143 yards.
- On the other hand, Hiram threw for 363 yards but was held to 65 yards on the ground.
- The Terriers finished with more total yards, but were 3-for-14 (21.4%) on third down and 3-for-9 (33.3%) on fourth down.
- Colucci was 11-of-25 with 162 passing yards and three touchdowns; he also rushed for a team-high 93 yards.
- Rossow had three receptions for 63 yards and two scores, while Burkey had three catches for 52 yards and one touchdown.
- Vrcic paced Allegheny's running backs with 47 yards on eight carries, including a 13-yard touchdown run.
- Hiram's Tejada was 28-of-43 for 363 yards and two touchdowns.
- His favorite target, wide receiver Devin Tufts, had seven catches for 156 yards and both touchdown receptions.
- Allegheny's first touchdown was scored by Micah Smith (Greensboro, N.C./Northern Guilford) on a kick return; after fumbling the return, he collected the ball at the four-yard line and raced 96 yards to the end zone.
- Linebacker Coltin Colucci (Brewster, Ohio/Fairless) and corner AJ Montgomery (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk) both had a team-high eight tackles.
- Colucci and Montgomery also combined to force a turnover in the third quarter, as the former caused the fumble and the latter jumped on the loose ball.
- Defensive end Robbie Janis (Fombell, Pa./Riverside) logged seven tackles with a sack and two QB hurries.
- Linebacker CJ Gissentaner (Woodmere, Ohio/Orange) made six tackles, including two for a loss.
- Kicker Myles Knox (Pinnacle, N.C./West Stokes) was perfect on five extra-point attempts.
News and Notes
- The Gators improved to 8-1 overall and 6-1 against Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) opponents.
- Allegheny's 8-1 record is its best through nine games since 1997.
- The Gators have won six consecutive games against Hiram dating back to 2017.
- Carson Colucci is up to 19 passing touchdowns on the season, the most by an Allegheny quarterback since Jack Johnson '24 had 22 in the fall of 2021.
- Vrcic ran for his first collegiate touchdown in his third game of the season.
Up Next
Allegheny's regular-season finale against Case Western Reserve University is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 14, at 1 p.m. at Frank B. Fuhrer '48 Field.
