GROVE CITY COLLEGE 2017 FOOTBALL GAME NOTES Contact: R.A. Briggs, Sports Info. Dir. Phone (724) 458-3365 [email protected] YouTube: GroveCityWolverines Website: athletics.gcc.edu Twitter: @gcc_wolverines Facebook: facebook.com/GroveCity Instagram: gcc_wolverines GAME 1 THIS WEEK’S GAME OPENING DAY Grove City visits Juniata in Saturday’s games marks the Grove City the 2017 season opener Saturday 123rd opener in Grove City College at afternoon. It is the fourth straight football history. All-time, Grove City season that Grove City and Juniata owns a 52-61-9 Opening Day mark. Juniata have met in Week One. This is the 12th straight season Saturday, September 2, 2017 Grove City and Juniata have that Grove City has faced a Pennsyl- 12:00 p.m. EDT agreed to continue their season- vania school in the opener. Grove Chuck Knox Stadium opening series in 2018 and 2019. City opened with Dickinson from (3,000/FieldTurf) The sites for those games have not 2007 to 2009. The Wolverines met Huntingdon, Pa. been determined. Carnegie Mellon in 2006’s opener. RADIO 2017 Grove City Schedule and Statistical Leaders Station: WSAJ-FM 91.1 (Grove City) Overall: 0-0 Presidents’: 0-7 Home: 0-0 Away: 0-0 Air-Time: 11:15 a.m. pregame, fea- SCHEDULE RETURNING STATISTICAL LEADERS turing the “Andrew DiDonato Show” SEPTEMBER RUSHING Internet: Live Audio available at 2 at Juniata 12:00 Wesley Schools 217 att, 903 yds, 7 TD PASSING athletics.gcc.edu. 9 WASH. & JEFF. 1:30 Brett Laffoon 158-293-1694, 10 TD, 14 INT 16 at Case West. Reserve* 7:00 RECEIVING COACHES 23 SAINT VINCENT* 7:00 Nick Ponikvar 58 rec, 756 yds, 7 TD Grove City -- Andrew DiDonato 30 at Waynesburg* 1:30 Gabe Greco 37 rec, 377 yds, 3 TD Alma Mater: Grove City ‘10 OCTOBER Wesley Schools 24 rec, 128 yds, 0 TD At Grove City: 0-10 7 THOMAS MORE* 2:00 SCORING Overall Record: Same 14 at Westminster* 1:00 Nick Ponikvar 7 TD, 42 points vs. Juniata: 0-1 28 GENEVA* 1:30 Wesley Schools 7 TD, 42 points TACKLES NOVEMBER Deion Minor 33 solo, 30 asst, 63 total DiDonato is in his second season as 4 BETHANY* 1:30 Grove City head coach. He served as Ethan Conto 43 solo, 18 asst, 61 total 11 at Thiel* (Mer. Co. Cup) 1:00 Andrew Seifert 47 solo, 12 asst, 59 total the Wolverines’ offensive coordinator in 2015. DiDonato started 40 games 2017 Juniata Schedule and Statistical Leaders at quarterback for Grove City from Overall: 0-0 Centennial: 0-0 Home: 0-0 Away: 0-0 2006 to 2009. SCHEDULE RETURNING STATISTICAL LEADERS SEPTEMBER RUSHING Juniata -- Tim Launtz 2 GROVE CITY 12:00 Matt Lehr 109 att, 555 yds, 6 TD Alma Mater: Juniata ‘80 9 at Frank. & Marshall* 1:00 Calvin Bembry 37 att, 142 yds, 0 TD At Juniata: 23-38 PASSING 16 at Ursinus* 12:00 Overall Record: Same A. Montgomery 8-12-101, 2 TD, 1 INT 23 MUHLENBERG* 12:00 vs. Grove City: 3-0 RECEIVING 30 at McDaniel* 1:00 Jake Notestine 24 rec, 257 yds, 1 TD Launtz is in his eighth season as Ju- OCTOBER A.J. Brocato 21 rec, 293 yds, 2 TD niata head coach. He led Juniata to the 7 GETTYSBURG* 1:00 SCORING 2013 ECAC Southwest Bowl and a 7-4 21 MORAVIAN* 12:00 Matt Lehr 6 TD, 36 points overall record that season. 28 at Dickinson* 1:00 A.J. Brocato 2 TD, 12 points TACKLES NOVEMBER Mitchell Shober 57 solo, 21 asst, 78 total 4 at Johns Hopkins* 12:00 Joel Reighard 37 solo, 15 asst, 52 total 11 SUSQUEHANNA* 1:00 John M. Maclay 38 solo, 13 asst, 51 total Grove City at Juniata • September 2, 2017 • Page 2 GROVE CITY COLLEGE LAST GAME LAST MEETING QUICK FACTS Grove City closed the 2016 season Quarterback Brett Laffoon set a Location: Grove City, Pa. 16127 with a 47-41 setback against visiting Grove City single-game record with Founded: 1876 Thiel in the 33rd Mercer County Cup 34 completions as he went 34 of 54 Enrollment: 2,500 game November 12 at Robert E. Thorn for 347 yards and three touchdowns President: Paul McNulty, J.D. ‘80 Field. but Grove City dropped a 31-26 Athletic Director: Todd Gibson ‘02 Grove City rallied from a 27-point decision to visiting Juniata at Robert Compliance: Mike Dreves ‘97 deficit to forge a 41-41 tie in the E. Thorn Field in Grove City’s 122nd Head Trainer: Rick Hawke fourth quarter by scoring three touch- all-time season opener September 3, Equipment Manager: Larry Freeman downs in an eight-minute span. 2016. Equipment Manager: Jim Richardson Quarterback Brett Laffoon threw Fellow freshman Nick Ponikvar Nickname: Wolverines touchdown passes to Gabe Greco and caught 14 passes for 179 yards and Colors: Crimson and White Brett Pinson in the fi nal period while a score while senior Brett Pinson Home Field: Thorn Field (3,500) also scoring on a six-yard touchdown grabbed seven receptions for 81 yards Surface: FieldTurf run. and two touchdowns. Conference: Presidents’ Athletic Laffoon threw for a season- and Safety Ethan Conto paced the Football Phone: 724-458-2145 career-high 350 yards and three Grove City defense with a sack, an Press Box Phone: 724-458-2150 touchdowns. Greco set career highs interception and two forced fumbles. in both catches (11) and yards (130) Defensive ends Caleb Allen and PROGRAM HISTORY while Nick Ponikvar had nine recep- Jacob Armbrecht each recorded quar- First Year: 1892 tions for 123 yards. terback sacks. All-Time Record: 473-503-60 Defensively, Cobie Pratt inter- Score By Quarter League Titles: 1997, 1998 cepted a pass and defensive end Jacob Armbrecht recorded 1.5 quar- Juniata 0 21 0 10 31 Grove City 6 7 7 6 26 terback sacks. ASSISTANT COACHES Scoring Summary Derrick Baney (Geneva ‘14) -- 3rd year Score By Quarter G-Ponikvar 30 pass from Laffoon Offensive Line/Recruiting Coord. (kick failed) Dr. Jim Chinn (Ohio State ‘83) -- 15th year Thiel 21 13 7 6 47 Grove City 0 13 7 21 41 J-Vidovic 4 run (Bonalle kick) Wide Receivers/Special Teams J-Vidovic 8 run (Bonalle kick) Trent Laune (Concordia ‘07) -- 1st year Scoring Summary G-Pinson 33 pass from Laffoon Defensive Coordinator T-Bracy 40 pass from Radke (Rosales kick) (Carlucci kick) Luke O’Hara (Grove City ‘11) -- 3rd year T-Hicks 63 punt return (Rosales kick) J-Breault 32 pass from Coyne Secondary/Video Coordinator T-Bracy 22 pass from Radke (Rosales kick) (Bonalle kick) Dan Pesta (Grove City ‘11) -- 4th year T-Radke 13 run (kick blocked) G-Laffoon 9 run (Carlucci kick) Defensive Line G-Laffoon 1 run (Causer kick) J-FG Bonalle 31 Mitch Zajicek (Grove City ‘17) -- 1st year T-Radke 7 run (Rosales kick) J-O’Brien 10 pass from Coyne Running Backs/Asst. Strength & Cond. G-Ponikvar 5 pass from Laffoon (Bonalle kick) (kick blocked) G-Pinson 16 pass from Laffoon (pass On The Sideline: Baney, DiDonato, G-Schools 2 run (Causer kick) failed) Laune, Pesta, Zajicek T-Rowland 17 pass from Radke (Rosales kick) Grove City Individual Leaders In The Press Box: Chinn, O’Hara G-Greco 6 pass from Laffoon (Causer kick) Rushing: Schools 7-34, Schauer 8-19 G-Laffoon 6 run (Causer kick) Passing: Laffoon 34-54-2-347 GROVE CITY CAPTAINS G-Pinson 24 pass from Laffoon Receiving: Ponikvar 14-179, Pinson 7-81 7-Kyle Beyer (Causer kick) Tackles: Simmons 15, Armbrecht 8 T-Bracy 46 pass from Radke (Rosales kick) Perry, Ohio/Perry Juniata Individual Leaders Grove City Individual Leaders Rushing: Vidovic 21-80, Bembry 16-65 30-Deion Minor Rushing: Laffoon 20-50, Schools 21-46 Sykesville, Md./Century Passing: Coyne 17-34-1-267 Passing: Laffoon 29-51-1-350 Receiving: Breault 7-128, O’Brien 4-30 74-Daniel Sedjo Receiving: Greco 11-130, Ponikvar 9-123 Tackles: Diviney 13, Shober 11 Tackles: Seifert 12 West Chicago, Ill./Wheaton Academy 99-Jacob Armbrecht Thiel Individual Leaders Rushing: Radke 22-131, Barca 17-120 Streetsboro, Ohio/Streetsboro Passing: Radke 17-26-2-317 Receiving: Bracy 8-218 Tackles: Elk 13, Wagner 10 Grove City at Juniata • September 2, 2017 • Page 3 LET’S GET IT STARTED DEAN’S LIST Twenty-seven members of the 2017 Grove City Nineteen Grove City College football players have squad have started at least one game during their earned placement on the Dean’s List during their ca- career: reers at Grove City. Dean’s List laurels are awarded to students who Name (Current Pos.) Career Games Started achieve a 3.40 GPA or higher during the semester. Kyle Beyer (FS) 28 Andrew Seifert (SS) 28 (26 SS, 2 FS) Name Major Jacob Armbrecht (DE) 21 Caleb Allen Exercise Science Deion Minor (OLB) 17 Tyler Beal Mechanical Engineering Daniel Sedjo (C) 12 (8 C, 3 RG, 1 LG) Kyle Beyer Elementary Education Dalton Callihan (OT) 10 Dalton Callihan Electrical Engineering Ethan Conto (SS) 10 (6 CB, 2 SS, 2 SLB) Ethan Conto Biology Matt Villers (OG) 10 Ethan Fry Economics Gabe Greco (WR) 9 (5 WR, 4 QB) Cameron Good Mechanical Engineering Brett Laffoon (QB) 9 Gabe Greco Mathematics Nick Ponikvar (WR) 9 Tyler Gustafson Political Science Quinton Reed (DT) 9 Sam Henson Biochemistry Wesley Schools (RB) 9 Rob Kunst Finance Salvatore Spinosa (OT) 8 (5 RT, 3 RG) Brett Laffoon Mechanical Engineering Andrew Schauer (RB) 7 Cullen Lloyd Mechanical Engineering Cobie Pratt (CB) 6 Josh McElrone Exercise Science Daniel Jackson (WR) 4 (4 CB) Deion Minor Business Management Rob Kunst (TE) 4 Nathan Nativio Electrical Engineering Josh McElrone (ILB) 4 Quinton Reed Electrical Engineering Geoff Matthews (C) 3 Jacob Schiela Mechanical Engineering Sam Mikolay (OG) 3 Kelsey Tischler Comm.