PRINCE ATHLETIC COMPLEX – Despite a pair of special teams' touchdowns, including a 100-yard kickoff return by
Jett Genovese, University of Rochester football dropped its season opener under the lights of Fauver Stadium to the Case Western Reserve University Spartans, 38-20, on Friday evening.
Genovese's 100-yard kickoff return was the highlight of the first half for the Yellowjackets, who headed into the locker room down 24-6. Genovese's return is tied for the second-longest kickoff return in program history, matching Andy Fornarola's 100-yard return at Hobart on Oct. 7, 1978.
After the 'Jackets opened offensively with a three-and-out, CWRU drove into Rochester territory, but a defensive stand on third-and-three and then again on fourth-and-two forced a turnover on downs.
URochester took over on its own 46-yard line and made its way into Spartan territory, but a mishandled snap on fourth-and-two gave CWRU the ball on the edge of the red zone. Three players later, Aaron Filips found Jake Otto for an 11-yard touchdown to give the Spartans a 7-0 lead.
And after another three-and-out by the Yellowjackets, the Spartans quickly made it 14-0 on Filips's 35-yard touchdown pass to Will Stacks.
Just seconds later, though, Genovese's kickoff return would put the Yellowjackets on the scoreboard, cutting the Spartans' lead to 14-6 after Rochester missed the two-point conversion attempt following a penalty on the extra point.
Case Western Reserve looked to answer right back, though, moving into Rochester territory with a 12-play, 67-yard drive. But on first-and-goal from the five,
A.J. Bicksler sacked Filips for a loss of 12, and on the very next play,
Nathan Lehigh forced a fumble, stripping Beau Wolf to keep CWRU off the scoreboard.
Rochester took things the other way, covering 35 yards over the next eight plays, but Tyler Fikis intercepted
Shawn Bellenger's pass intended for
James Floto, sputtering the drive.
Filips quickly moved CWRU into Rochester territory with successive completions to Wolf for 16 yards and Andy Kavcic for 11, before finding Sergio Beltran for a 24-yard touchdown, extending Case Western Reserve's lead to 21-6.
The Spartans would tack on a field goal at the buzzer to take a 24-6 lead at the halftime break, and got the ball to start the second half after winning the coin toss and deferring their choice to the second.
The Yellowjacket defense forced a three-and-out, though, stopping Kavcic on first-and-15 after an illegal formation penalty, and keeping Beltran short of the sticks on third down. However, a strip sack gave the ball right back to the Spartans, who promptly turned it over themselves on Lehigh's second forced turnover of the day.
Lehigh picked Filips' pass over the middle in the end zone, giving the Spartans another empty trip into the red zone and Rochester the ball back, still trailing 24-6.
Five plays later, though, Rochester was forced to punt, and
Kyle Brainard and URochester's special teams pinned the Spartans deep in their own territory after a muffed punt by Wolf.
Despite the poor starting field position, Filips marched the Spartans down the field with an 11-play, 98-yard touchdown drive, finding Kavcic for a 35-yard touchdown to cap off the six-minute drive and give the Spartans a 31-6 advantage.
On Case Western Reserve's ensuing drive, Rochester's defense forced a three-and-out, and punting from their own 17-yard line,
Drew Strollo came through with a block, which
Braydon Felsinger took in for a score.
Felsinger's special teams' touchdown, the 'Jackets' second of the day, cut the Spartans' lead to 31-13, but again, Filips and the CWRU offense had an answer. The Spartans responded with a nine-play, 51-yard scoring drive, this time capped off by a six-yard rushing touchdown by Beltran, to go up 38-13 with just over eight minutes left in the fourth.
The 'Jackets' offense finally got going on their ensuing drive, as Bellenger found
John Kielar for a gain of 12 on first-and-10, and then rushed himself for 19 yards to move Rochester near midfield. A play later, Bellenger hit
Justin Rizzo-Troxell for a 45-yard gain, and then two plays later, took it in himself for a three-yard touchdown to cut CWRU's lead to 38-20.
However, the Spartans would run out the clock on their next drive, preventing Rochester from getting any closer as they finished off the 38-20 victory.
With the loss, Rochester opens the year at 0-1, while Case Western Reserve now stands at 1-0.
Offensively, Bellenger completed 13-of-21 attempts for 130 yards, while
Cole Raux led Rochester on the ground with 12 carries for 41 yards. Through the air, Rizzo-Troxell caught two receptions for a team-high 61 yards, while
T.J. Shifflet had three catches for 29 yards.
Defensively,
Jack Diggins had a team-high 14 tackles and added one tackle for a loss, while Lehigh had nine tackles, a forced fumble, an interception and a 0.5 tackle for a loss.
For CWRU, Filips went 34-for-43 for 356 yards and four touchdowns, while Kavcic had 19 rushes for 72 yards and added eight receptions for 89 yards and a score.
The Yellowjackets will continue non-conference play when they host SUNY Morrisville on Saturday, Sept. 12 at 12:00 p.m. at Edwin Fauver Stadium.
