Bethany dropped by Carnegie Mellon on Homecoming, 45-14

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

• Box Score

BETHANY, W.Va. (Sept. 30) - Despite out-gaining their opponent, the Bethany College football team was defeated 45-14 by Carnegie Mellon University Saturday afternoon in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) game on Homecoming at the College.

The loss sends the Bison to 0-5 overall, 0-3 in league play this season. Meanwhile, the Tartans improve to 5-0 overall, their best start since 2006, and remain atop the PAC standings with a 3-0 mark in conference.

Senior Khallid Pierce (Youngstown, Ohio/Ursuline) finished with four tackles, including two for loss, a sack, forced fumble and a fumble recovery for Bethany. He is now tied with former Bison Matt Nardone for third all-time with 23.5 sacks for his career. Junior Joseph Fiasco (Wilmerding, Pa./Penn-Trafford) and junior Will Gatling (Baltimore, Md./Northwestern) each had seven tackles. Fiasco added 1.5 tackles for loss, while Gatling had two tackles for loss, including a sack.

Senior quarterback Chase Kinemond (Shadyside, Ohio/Shadyside) saw the bulk of the carries from the Bison backfield. He rushed 23 times for 81 yards and finished the afternoon 9-for-21 for 71 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Sophomore Carlin Bason (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) relieved Kinemond in the fourth quarter and went 3-for-4 for 35 yards and a touchdown, while adding 40 yards on nine carries.

Bethany and Carnegie Mellon each went three-and-out to open the game. Carnegie Mellon started its second drive of the game from the Bison 43-yard line and only needed three plays before Alex Cline hooked up with John Prather for a 28-yard touchdown to make the score 7-0 with 8:55 left in the first quarter.

After another Bethany three-and-out, the Tartans drove the ball down to the Bison 16-yard line, but a pair of incomplete passes and a rush for no gain forced a field goal try that pushed the CMU lead to 10-0 with just over five minutes in the first quarter.

A sack-fumble on the ensuing Bethany drive setup the next Tartan touchdown, a five-yard pass that extended the CMU lead to 17-0 on the first play of the second quarter. The Tartans added touchdown drives of 40, 51 and 53 yards to close the half with a 38-0 lead.

The Bison scored on their first drive of the second half. Kinemond setup the Bison deep in Tartan territory with a 43-yard rush and found senior wide receiver Shaq Ellis (Greenville, S.C./Southside) for a 24-yard catch-and-run touchdown to cut into the lead at 38-7 less than five minutes into the second half.

The Green & White seemed to capture the momentum of the game, as a sack-fumble by Pierce on the first play of the ensuing drive set the Bison up with the ball inside the redzone. Unfortunatly, Bethany did not convert the turnover into points as Kinemond did not complete a fourth down pass to end the threat.

The Bison defense forced a Tartan punt and senior Lee Sanders (Waldorf, Md./McDonough) intercepted a pass on the following drive to keep the score 38-7 heading into the fourth quarter. Carnegie Mellon added a pick-six to rebuild its lead to 45-7 with under 13 minutes left in the game, before a Bason touchdown pass to sophomore Hunter Klein (Leonardtown, Md./Leonardtown) with 9:44 remaining in the contest wrapped up the scoring on the day.

Bethany out-gained the Tartans 311-to-238 in total offense and held a five minute advantage in time of possession. Carnegie Mellon was the beneficiary of many short fields, as its longest scoring drive of the game accounted for 54 yards. Tartan punter Tyler Kohman also contributed to the tip in field position, averaging 49.8 yards per punt, including a long of 58 yards, while placing two inside the 20-yard line.

Carnegie Mellon All-American running back Sam Benger was limited to 69 yards on 14 carries in the game. He led all of NCAA Division III last season in rushing yards. Tartan wide receiver John Prather hauled in 10 passes for 122 yards and four touchdowns. His 10 receptions tied a Carnegie Mellon school record.

Bethany will be on the road next Saturday, October 7 when they head to Cleveland, Ohio to take on Case Western Reserve University in a PAC game. The Spartans, who were ranked No. 18 in the latest D3Football.com Top-25 Poll, will be the second undefeated opponent in a row for the Bison.