Seton Hill kicked off their 2025 season with a home contest with Fairmont State on Thursday at Offutt Field in Greensburg, PA.

The Griffins trailed by 17 points at two points of the contest, only to rally to with in three, but Fairmont State got one final stop late in the contest to hold on for a 24-21 season opening victory over the Griffins.  

After the Griffins were forced to punt on their first possession, Fairmont State marched 62 yards in 10 plays but had to settle for a 22 yard field goal as they took a 3-0 lead over the Griffins with 7:01 left in the first quarter.  The Falcons then took advantage of a Seton Hill interception as they finished off a scoring drive with a 32 yard touchdown pass to take a 10-0 lead with 2:23 left in the opening quarter.  

The teams exchanged punts and missed field goals over the first four possessions of the second quarter.  Fairmont State pushed their lead to 17-0 with a 62 yard touchdown with 3:53 left in the half.  The Griffins responded with a quick scoring drive of their own.  A 30 yard kickoff return from Anthony Campbell set up the Griffins at the 35 yard line.  Ky'Ron Craggette raced around the right end for a 33 yard gain.  Boden St Marie then completed a pass to Isaac Ashley for a 32 yard touchdown pass which cut the lead to 17-7 with three minutes to play in the half.  

Fairmont State took the opening kick of the second half and marched 79 yards in just four plays to push their lead back to 17 points on another 62 yard touchdown run.  The Griffins trailed 24-7 after three quarters of action.  

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Anthony Stribling got a strip sack and fumble recovery to set up the Griffins at the Falcon 23 yard line.  St Marie ran for 13 yards on first down and Craggette scored from eight yards out as the Griffins cut the Falcon lead to 24-14 with 14:08 to play in the fourth.  On the next Falcon drive, Richard Johnson got a strip sack and Dom Caracciolo picked up the fumble and returned it to the Fairmont 37 yard line.  Eight plays later, Craggette scored from one yard out and the Griffins trailed just 24-21 with 5:02 to play.  The Griffins were able to force a punt with 1:45 left but could not move the ball and the Falcons took over and were able to run the clock out.  

Fairmont State finished with 319 yards rushing and 453 total yards in the contest with the Griffins finishing with 156 yards rushing and 269 total yards.  Penalties were also costly for the Griffins as they finished with nine penalties for 124 yards.  

Craggette rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Griffins.  Ashley added four catches for 95 yards and a touchdown.  Ben Zavatchan averaged 43.7 yards per punt with a long of 75 yards and two inside the 20 yard line.  D'Kairi Boone led the defense with 16 total tackles.  Anthony Stribling added six tackles including two sacks and three tackles for loss.  He also added a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.  

The Griffins will travel to West Liberty on Saturday September 6th for a 1 PM kickoff.