INDIANA, Pa. – The Indiana (Pa.) football team forced four turnovers and rushed for 203 yards en route to a 35-7 victory against Gannon Saturday afternoon in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division action at George P. Miller Stadium.

Gannon found itself only down 14-0 at halftime despite committing three of those turnovers in the first 30 minutes. The first one proved costly as IUP recovered a fumble on Gannon's opening drive at the Golden Knights' 41-yard line.

Pat Smith immediately completed a pass to Jovan Rowan for 37 yards, before Harvie Tuck accounted for the final four yards of a touchdown drive with a pair of two-yard runs.

A second turnover indirectly led to another IUP touchdown. On the ensuing kickoff, the Golden Knights fumbled on their own 22-yard line. The Gannon defense made a goal line stand, stopping Tuck on a fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line.

However, the field position eventually forced Gannon to punt from its end zone and Indiana (Pa.) regained possession at the Golden Knight 20-yard line following a 12-yard punt. Four plays later, Smith scored on a seven-yard run to take a 14-0 lead with 5:21 left in the first quarter.

Things started to settle down at that point as neither team was able to put points on the board for the remainder of the first half. Gannon's best scoring chance came late in the second quarter. The Golden Knights orchestrated a monster drive that included 14 plays and drove 60 yards in six minutes and seven seconds. The march included an even mix of seven rushing plays and seven passing plays. Unfortunately, the 14th play resulted in the team's third turnover of the half. Daniel Tapscott (Beltsville, Md./DeMatha Catholic) dropped back to pass and fumbled when he was sacked from the blind side at the IUP 27-yard line with 25 seconds left in the quarter.

Indiana (Pa.) managed the only score of a fast-moving third quarter that involved only two Gannon offensive possessions, producing a touchdown on a 33-yard run by Tuck with five seconds left in the frame. The five-play, 50-yard drive was aided by the bounce of a ball. On third-and-20 from the IUP 40-yard line, Smith scrambled for a long gain. The quarterback was short of the first down when he was hit by Chris Cook (Cleveland, Ohio/Shaw) and fumbled. Ben Simmen then recovered the loose ball five yards down field and picked up the first down.

Gannon broke the shutout during its first possession of the fourth quarter. The Golden Knights had another 14-play drive, but this one ended with Tapscott tossing a seven-yard touchdown pass to Lawrence Coleman (Warren, Ohio/Warren G. Harding) at the 6:05 mark. The drive ate up 68 yards in five minutes and 21 seconds. Tapscott was 6-of-11 for 51 yards during the scoring drive. Jansen Jones (Rochester, N.Y./Penfield) accumulated 15 rushing yards on three carries.

The momentum was short lived. With IUP leading 21-7 and the fans thinking the Crimson Hawks would start running clock, Smith dropped back on the first play of IUP's next possession and hooked up with Rowan for a 59-yard touchdown pass. The call gave the home team a 28-7 lead with 5:49 remaining and basically sealed the deal. IUP later added a 73-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Pat Brewer at the 2:02 mark to complete the scoring.

IUP held advantages in total yards (428-254), rushing yards (203-66), passing yards (225-188), first downs (16-15) and time of possession (30:36-29:24).

Jones and Alex Papson (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) headlined the ground attack with 39 and 34 yards, respectively. Tapscott finished 21-of-38 for 188 yards and one touchdown. Coleman hauled in a season-high seven aerials for 61 yards and a score.

Cook led all tacklers with 11 stops, tying a career-high he set on two other occasions. Randy Colling (Arcade, N.Y./Pioneer) reached double digits in tackles for the second consecutive game and third time this season with 10 stops.

Kevin Borton (Orange, Calif./El Modena) and Jon Petrigac (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) added seven tackles each. Errick Clark Jr. (Melbourne, Fla./Melbourne) recorded his first career interception in the second quarter.

Gannon dropped to 3-5 overall and 2-3 in the PSAC West with Saturday's setback. Indiana (Pa.) improved to 5-2 overall and 4-1 in conference play with its fourth consecutive victory. The Golden Knights conclude a brief two-game road swing Saturday, October 29 at Clarion. Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m.

For a complete box score from Saturday's Gannon-Indiana (Pa.) football game, please click here.