Tre McNeill
21
Gannon GAN 3-3 , 1-2
25
Winner Seton Hill SHU 1-4 , 1-2
Gannon GAN
3-3 , 1-2
21
Final
25
Seton Hill SHU
1-4 , 1-2
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
GAN Gannon 7 0 7 7 21
SHU Seton Hill 0 14 0 11 25

Game Recap: Football | | David Rung, Director of Athletics Media Relations

Late Rally Pushes Seton Hill Past Golden Knights

THE RUNDOWN
  • Final Score: Seton Hill 25, Gannon 21
  • Records: Gannon (2-4, 1-2 PSAC West) | Seton Hill (1-4, 1-2 PSAC West)
  • Location: Offutt Field — Greensburg, Pa.

GAMEDAY MEDIA CENTER
KEY SEQUENCE
  • The Gannon defense got a big stop to get the ball back with less than a minute to play up 21-17, but Seton Hill pushed the Golden Knights back for a safety to get back within a field goal. The Griffins moved down the field quickly, and pushed ahead with a 17-yard touchdown with 17 seconds left on the clock.

HOW IT HAPPENED
  • Two tough stops by the Golden Knight defense got the ball to the offense at its own 23 less than five minutes into the game. Gannon then embarked on an 11-play, 77-yard drive that took up nearly six minutes, with a 34-yard completion to Sam East (Jackson Township, N.J./Saint John Vianney) on third down keeping it alive before a 14-yard toss from Jimmy Keefe (Middleburg Heights, Ohio/St. Edward) to Joey Cox (Costa Mesa, Calif./Calvary Chapel) opened the scoring.
  • A Jacob Petit (Green, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban) sack stuffed the next Seton Hill drive, but field position helped the Griffins get even. The Knights went three and out, and the Griffins followed with a short 33-yard drive to pull even at 7-7 with 10:12 left before the half.
  • A 12-play drive for Gannon stalled inside the Seton Hill 30 on the next possession, and the hosts answered with three chunk plays. Passes of 17, 15 and 21 yards helped cover 75 yards, with the latter netting a touchdown with less than a minute to go before the break to make it 14-7.
  • Halftime adjustments worked for the Knights, who came out strong in the second half. Keefe went 4-for-5 through the air and added 14 yards rushing on that opening drive, with the final 27 yards covered by a toss to Bransen Stanley (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston) to tie it up at 14-all.
  • The two defenses stepped up through the rest of the third quarter, including the Gannon defense grabbing a fumble — forced by Keith Thompson (Woodbridge, Va./Woodbridge) and recovered by Tre McNeill (Philadelphia, Pa./La Salle College HS) — in Seton Hill territory. A missed 31-yard field goal kept it tied though.
  • Seton Hill covered 75 yards in response, but the Golden Knight defense stood tall in the shadow of its own end zone, stuffing the Griffins three straight plays from its own 2 to force a short field goal that put SHU up 17-14 with 8:09 left to play.
  • A Keefe run for 11 yards was followed up by a dart to Cox for 16 yards to get it up near midfield on the ensuing drive, and a late hit moved the ball to the Seton Hill 17. Keefe found Johnny Free for the score on the next play to push the Knights ahead 21-17.
  • Seton Hill got the ball to the Gannon 10 with just over a minute to play, but Jacob Yost (Springfield, Ohio/Springfield) finished off a wild 13-yard loss, and after a holding penalty, the defense held up just enough to stop a fourth-down attempt by the Griffins at the 3-yard line. The Knights were stuck deep in their own zone though, and suffered the safety on the second play of its next drive as the hosts started their comeback.
     
GAME NOTES
  • The fumble in the third quarter ran Gannon's streak to seven straight with a forced turnover, including all six games this season.
  • A 34-yard strike to Freeman on a hail mary attempt on the final play of the game put Keefe at an even 300 yards passing for the day. It was his third 300-yard game of his career.
  • Keefe also bumped into the top four in program history in touchdown passes, now with 27.
  • Cox moved into the top 10 all-time in Gannon history with 80 career catches.
  • McNeill was all over the field from his safety position, recording a career-high 15 tackles, including 11 solo.  It's the most since Anthony Howard (Temple Hills, Md./Bishop O'Connell) and James Simms (Laurel, Md./Reservoir) each had 15 against Southern Connecticut to open the 2017 season, and no Gannon defender has had more since Mike Zanders posted 18 against Slippery Rock in 2016.
 
UP NEXT
  • Gannon is back home for a contest against California next week.
  • Live video, live stats and live audio will be available for the noon kickoff at McConnell Family Stadium.
  • The Vulcans sit at 4-2 and 2-1 in PSAC West play after a 35-20 victory on homecoming against Clarion Saturday.
  • Cal U holds a 9-2 lead in the all-time series, but Gannon picked up its first on-field victory against the Vulcans with a 29-15 road victory last season.
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