The Seton Hill football program returned to the field after nearly two years with their home opener against Wheeling on Thursday night at Offutt Field. The Griffins were able to win a wild contest by the score of 16-14 after stopping a late field goal attempt by the Cardinals.
The first quarter did not feature much offense as neither team was able to get on the scoreboard. The quarter had five punts, one turnover on downs and one forced tumble by the Griffin defense. Late in the quarter,
Jaden Mack forced a fumble which was recovered by
Justice Griffin to give SHU good field position at the Wheeling 49. The Griffins drove to the Cardinals 18 at the end of the quarter. SHU could only get to the 14 yard line and
Luke Hauger hit a 36 yard field goal to give the Griffins a 3-0 lead early in the second quarter.
Wheeling responded on their next drive, moving 77 yards in eight plays, the final one a 22 yard touchdown reception to take a 7-3 lead over the Griffins with 11:35 to play in the half. After a Griffin punt,
Damonte Pratt picked off a Cards pass, setting up the Griffins with great field position at the 25 of the Cards. SHU was able to move to the two yard line but had to settle for a 19 yard field goal from Hauger. That field goal cut the Cards lead to 7-6 with 5:52 to play in the half. Wheeling took that 7-6 lead into the halftime break.
The Griffins took the opening kick of the second half and marched 55 yards to set up a 29 yard field goal from Hauger, his third of the contest, which put the Griffins in front 9-7 early in the third quarter. After forcing a turnover on downs the Griffins quick strike offense hit paydirt.
JaiQuawn McGriff ran for 21 yards on the first play of the drive and then
Michael Elardo raced 43 yards to the end zone on a pass from
Chris Jones which put the Griffins in front 16-7 with 4:16 left in the quarter. The Cardinals were forced to punt on their next possession but pinned the Griffins back at their ten yard line. A substitution infraction on the Griffins on the first play proved costly as the pitch on the next play was not handled and recovered in the endzone by the Cardinals for a touchdown which cut the SHU lead to 16-14 on the final play of the third quarter.
The next three Griffin possessions resulted in turnovers but the Griffin defense stood tall, keeping the Cardinals off the scoreboard. The final possession of the game for the Cardinals saw them move to the SHU nine yard line but a bobbled hold on the 26 yard field goal attempt ended any chance at a Cardinals win. SHU was able to get one last first down on an eight yard run from McGriff and then took three knees to kill the clock.
The Griffins finished with 20 first downs to just 13 for Wheeling. SHU limited the Cardinals to just 183 yards of offense while producing 375 of their own. The Griffins were 8-17 on third downs and held a 34-26 advantage in time of possession.
McGriff finished with 81 yards of rushing. Jones was 18-33 for 262 yards and one touchdown.
Taro Gaither caught six balls for 82 yards and Elardo added five for 67 and the one touchdown. Hauger was three for three in field goals, hitting from 36, 19 and 29.
Jaylen McDuffie led the defense with 11 tackles and three for loss.
Jayden Emberton-Gaines added seven tackles.
Dioh Desuah finished with two sacks.
SHU will next host Bloomsburg on Saturday September 11th at 6 PM in a PSAC crossover matchup.
