Four TD passes lift Saint Vincent over Waynesburg
LATROBE – Saint Vincent wide receiver Dustin Lowman turned an innocent-looking catch on a short crossing route into a 36-yard tiebreaking touchdown in the third quarter that gave the Bearcats a 28-21 victory over Waynesburg Saturday at Chuck Noll Field.
Waynesburg (1-1) had forged a 21-21 tie by putting together and eight-minute drive in the third quarter that was capped by tailback Jerry Lawman’s one-yard run.
On the ensuing possession, Saint Vincent (1-1) faced a fourth-and-four at the Waynesburg 36-yard line when quarterback Evan Shimensky narrowly avoided a sack and threw to Lowman cutting across the middle of the field. Lowman took the ball to the sideline near the first-down marker, sidestepped a tackle and weaved back to the middle of the field and into the end zone to give the Bearcats the lead.
It was the second touchdown of the day for Lowman, who opened the scoring early in the first quarter when he caught a 79-yard TD pass from Shimensky, who started his college career at Kent State before transferring to Mount Union and then on to Saint Vincent.
Shimensky completed 19 of 28 passes for 288 yards and four touchdowns. He threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Ariel Martinez that tied the score at 14-14 in the first quarter, and an 11-yard TD pass to Ryan Crawford gave the Bearcats a 21-14 lead with one minute left in the first half.
Waynesburg had forged a 14-7 lead in the first quarter, getting a four-yard touchdown run from freshman Zach Helsel and a 13-yard scoring pass from freshman quarterback Jake Dougherty to Kevin Barnes, who made a catch while on laying on the ground in the end zone.
The Yellow Jackets had two chances to tie in the fourth quarter. They drove for a first-and-goal at the SV 10-yard line but a holding penalty and three incomplete passes turned the ball over on downs to the Bearcats. On their next possession, Waynesburg again reached the 20 but an interception with 50 seconds to play sealed the win for Saint Vincent.
Dougherty completed 16 of 34 passes for 189 yards. He was intercepted twice. Lawman led the Yellow Jackets’ running game with 90 yards on 20 carries.