(Photo courtesy of Grove City Athletics)

Grove City concludes the season 9-2 overall, matching the single-season program record for wins in one season. The Wolverines have won back-to-back James Lynah Bowls and own seven consecutive overall victories.

Junior wide receiver Cody Gustafson (Shippensburg, Pa./Shippensburg) earned the game’s Most Valuable Player award after hauling in 13 catches for a Grove City single-game record 239 yards and three touchdowns.

Gustafson’s final touchdown gave Grove City a 41-38 lead with 57 seconds left in regulation as he caught a 28-yard strike from sophomore quarterback Josh Ehst (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone). That capped an 11-play, 75-yard drive.

Rensselaer drove 54 yards in 10 plays over the final 50 seconds of the game, reaching the Grove City 8. The Engineers, an NCAA Division III Tournament quarterfinalist in 2018, attempted a 25-yard field goal on the final play of the game but the kick drifted wide.

Ehst completed 17 of 28 passes for 315 yards and three touchdowns. Senior running back Wesley Schools (Port Jervis, N.Y./Port Jervis) ran for 165 yards and two scores on 35 carries. Junior wide receiver Cameron Drake (Monaca, Pa./Central Valley) added four receptions for 76 yards.

Schools opened the scoring at the 7:52 mark of the first quarter when he scored on a 19-yard run. R.P.I. tied the game, 7-7, on its first possession as quarterback George Marinopolous tossed a five-yard touchdown pass to Peter Lombardi.

Grove City scored on its second possession as well as Gustafson caught a 29-yard touchdown pass from Ehst on the final play of the first quarter, giving Grove City a 13-7 lead. The lead then grew to 20-7 with six minutes left in the first half when Schools scored from three yards out.

R.P.I. cut the lead to 20-10 with 35 seconds left in the half on Sanjay Krishnan’s 24-yard field goal. The Engineers then scored on the opening drive of the second half as Dylan Burnett scored on a five-yard run 74 seconds into the third quarter.

Grove City appeared to break open the game with back-to-back touchdowns later in the third. Ehst scored on a one-yard sneak with 10:38 left in the period. A running into the punter penalty kept alive Grove City’s next drive. Three plays after the penalty, Ehst threw a 65-yard touchdown pass to a streaking Gustafson on third-and-10, putting Grove City up 34-17.

Burnett scored a pair of short touchdown runs to cut Grove City’s lead to 34-31 with 9:52 left in regulation. Marinopolous gave R.P.I. its first lead with 5:30 remaining as he threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Marc Meislahn.

Grove City outgained Rensselaer, 480-434. Each team had 24 first downs. R.P.I. had 82 offensive plays while the Wolverines executed 69 plays. Grove City went 9 of 14 on third down and 2 for 2 on fourth down. R.P.I. went 6 for 15 on third down but converted all six of its fourth down opportunities. Each team had nine possessions in the game.

Marinopoulous completed 31 of 49 passes for 299 yards. Vinnie McDonald had 10 catches for 108 yards. Burnett led the Engineers with 13 carries for 55 yards.

Sophomore linebacker Parker Kilgore (Glenshaw, Pa./Shaler) led the Grove City defense with 19 tackles. Senior linebacker Luke Salerno (Cowansville, Pa./Karns City) and freshman linebacker Curtis Freyermuth (Meadville, Pa./Cochranton) both had nine tackles. Freyermuth and senior end Chris Wolfe (North Haledon, N.J./Passaic County Tech) shared a sack.

Schools concludes the season with 1,788 rushing yards and 27 rushing touchdowns. Both figures rank third on Grove City’s single-season list. Schools finishes his career with 5,698 yards and 66 rushing touchdowns. He is No. 2 all-time at the College in both categories.

Gustafson finishes the season with a Grove City single-season record 1,246 receiving yards. He set the previous mark of 1,224 yards last season.

Ehst’s 2,338 passing yards this season are the second-most in program history. Current head coach Andrew DiDonato owns the record with 2,466 yards in 2009. With 20 touchdown passes in 2019, Ehst breaks DiDonato’s single-season touchdown record (18, 2009). Ehst moved into second place on Grove City’s career list with 37 touchdown passes.

Saturday’s game marked the first-ever meeting between the programs. The two schools have continuously sponsored varsity football since 1892. The 1997 Grove City squad also finished 9-2. The Wolverines are 16-2 in their last 18 games.