HUNTINGDON, Pa.- The Juniata football team suffered a 39-14 defeat at the hands of out-of-conference rival Grove City, Saturday afternoon at Knox Stadium.
The Wolverines started with the ball and promptly went 50 yards before the Eagle defense stood tall and forced a field goal from 29 yards, making it 3-0.
A fumble by the Eagles gave Grove City the ball back on their own 40. Nine plays later, they found pay dirt via a two-yard run to make it 10-0.
The Eagles got the ball back but went three and out. Two plays into the next Grove City drive, Dan Drop Jr. (Hatfield, Pa. / North Penn HS) made a diving interception in the endzone to prevent another Wolverine score.
Aaron Golberg (Westminster, Md. / Westminster H.S.) scrambled for 20 yards and then hit Clay Spencer (Hummelstown, Pa. / Lower Dauphin H.S.) for a 45-yard gain through the air. A completion to Austin Nash (Williamsport, Pa. / South Williamsport) made it third and four, and Charles Debose's (Tonawanda, N.Y. / Cardinal O'Hara HS) two-yard run made it fourth and short. JC went for it, but Debose got stopped a yard short.
The Wolverines took over at their own 21 and started moving down the field again. They got to the JC 09, but this time Noah Waters (Chesapeake, Va.) snagged the ball out of the air for an interception at the one yard-line. This quickly turned into an issue for JC, as a fumble by the Eagles was recovered by JC in the endzone for a safety to make it 12-0.
The Wolverines scored once more on a nine-yard touchdown pass to make it 19-0 as JC headed into the locker room.
The Eagles came flying out of the locker room to start the second half, going 61-yards on nine plays as Golberg seemed to get comfortable. JC stalled out at the Grove City 16, and the Beckett Leary (Fulton, Md. / Reservoir HS) field goal attempt was off the mark.
The Wolverines responded as they fought through penalties to score on a short run again to make it 26-0.
The teams traded blanks for a few possessions before the Eagles finally found the endzone early in the fourth. The drive included Golberg floating the ball down the right-side line, Isaiah Collison (Chandler, Az. / Chandler HS) skied for the ball and reeled in the grab for a 19-yard gain. Golberg scampered into the endzone for six from two yards out to get the Blue and Gold on the board.
The Wolverines responded extremely quickly, with a 44-yard catch and run on top of a face mask penalty promptly put them in the red zone. A 13-yard touchdown run for the visitors made it 33-13.
Golberg opened the next drive by dropping the ball right onto Clay 25-yards downfield to get JC moving. Nine plays later, Debose ran the ball in to get JC on the board, but the Wolverines scored one more to complete the scoring, 39-14.
Golberg went 27-47 for 314 yards while Spencer caught nine balls for 183 yards. Michael Grapin (Springfield, Pa. / Springfield HS) led the Eagle defense with 11 total tackles.
The Eagles will travel to McDaniel to take on the Green Terror next Saturday. The kickoff is at 2:00.
