Football: Titans Win Back-to-Back PAC Championships

NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – The Westminster football team won its second-straight Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship, following a 31-6 win over Geneva in their final regular season game on Senior Day.

Westminster (8-2, 8-1 PAC) got on the board first with a 25-yard field goal by junior Joshua Byers (Pittsburgh, PA / Canon McMillan), his first of a career-high three made field goals for the game. The Titans led, 3-0, at the end of one quarter of play. Geneva (4-6, 4-5 PAC) tied the game with a field goal of its own early in the second quarter with a 36-yarder by Daniel Nordaas.

Titan senior Vincent Giles (Lexington Park, MD / Great Mills) scored the first touchdown as he flew past the Golden Tornadoes en route to a career-long 49-yard touchdown run. Westminster junior linebacker Nicholas Treloar (New Castle, PA / New Castle) tackled Geneva’s punter in the end zone for a safety and Westminster led 12-3 with 12 minutes to go. The Titans extended their lead to 18 points when senior Frank Antuono (New Castle, PA / Neshannock Robert Morris) found classmate Brayden Thimons (Natrona Heights, PA / Highlands) for a three-yard touchdown pass. First-year free safety Brice Butler (Farrell, PA / Farrell) returned a fumble for a 22-yard touchdown, capping off 22 unanswered points for Westminster and the Titans led 25-3. Geneva made a second field goal before halftime and the Titans led 25-6. Two more field goals by Byers in the second half were the lone points in the frame.

Cole Konieczka (Coraopolis, PA / Moon Area) went 22-of-35 for a season-high 304 yards passing, marking the second 300-yard passing game of his career. Sophomore Tylon Eilam (Sharon, PA / Sharon Area) led all receivers with 10 receptions for 142 yards receiving – his fourth 100-yard receiving game of the season (fifth for his career). Giles ran for a career-high 92 yards and a touchdown. Senior linebacker Branden Millward (Cranberry Twp, PA / Seneca Valley) was all over the field with a game- and career-high 14 tackles, including a career-high 2.5 tackles for a loss, a forced a fumble, and a quarterback hurry. Thimons added a game-high two sacks, eight tackles, and tied with senior linebacker Ian Barr State (College, PA / State College Area) for a game-high 3.5 tackles for a loss. Barr also had a sack, a forced fumble, and totaled nine tackles on the day.

Carnegie Mellon, also PAC Co-Champions, won the head-to-head over Westminster in the regular season and was awarded the league’s automatic qualifying bid to the 2021 NCAA Championship.

The Titans won their first-ever PAC Championship last Spring.

The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Bowl selections will be announced live on D3FB Huddle’s Facebook page on Monday, November 15 beginning at Noon.

For more Westminster Athletics news, go to westminster.edu/athletics.

Posted by Nathan LaRiccia, Sports Information Director

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