QuoteGrove City only managed to draw 650 fans to their conference tournament championship game that they hosted.  So, they will do well to get 100 to 150 fans over to Wooster.

Grove City has a short winter break (Thursday-Sunday) that coincided with the tournament semifinals and finals. Thus, about 85 percent of the students were gone from campus. Plus, Thomas More did not bring a big throng of people due to geography. The weather was not great either as quite a bit of snow fell the day before and in the morning.

I think you'll see quite a few Wolverine fans in Wooster Friday night. It is my understanding that SGA has lined up a bus for students and there are also a lot of Grove City alums in the Akron-Canton-Massillon area. Weather is supposed to be good for traveling and it's only a 2-hour ride, all on main roads.

Quote from: Ralph Turner on November 13, 2009, 06:03:29 PM

Quote from: BlueRebel94 on November 13, 2009, 02:17:20 PM
Why in the heck were they playing St. Vincent twice?  I mean I know they are both provisional but what's the point of two games in one season?

Respectfully, a loss to Geneva, especially an in-region loss, hurts you.  Who would want to risk that?

Geneva may have had trouble filling their schedule,  so the Geneva-St Vincent games worked out well.

When both teams are full members then they are less likely to have two games in the season.

Geneva played Saint Vincent twice this year because they each had a common open date in Week Two. So they played that game and then their regularly-scheduled game in the conference schedule. The options for each team otherwise were not appealing.

It actually generated some additional interest in the series because of the novelty of it.

I was thinking more of the mid-to-late 90s, say 1996-2001. You are correct, back when the PAC limited travel squads, there were some ugly scores rung up. I'm curious as to when that practice was phased out.

Currently at 30 since 1997, hoping to maybe add one or two while attending a playoff game this year:

NCAC: Kenyon, Wooster, Ohio Wesleyan, Hiram, Denison
UAA: Carnegie Mellon, Case Western Reserve
PAC: Grove City, Thiel, Alfred (at the time), Washington & Jefferson, Waynesburg, Bethany, Westminster, Thomas More, Saint Vincent, Geneva (provisional)
HCAC: Bluffton, Manchester, Defiance
OAC: Capital
Liberty: Rochester, Kings Point
Centennial: Dickinson, Muhlenberg, Johns Hopkins
ODAC: Bridgewater
SCAC: Millsaps
CCIW: North Central
USA South: Christopher Newport

Quote from: Ralph Turner on November 12, 2008, 10:00:54 AM
This is the schedule for the PresAC proclaimed "Rivalry Week".

Nov. 15       1:00 PM     Thiel           Grove City                         
              1:00 PM    St. Vincent       Bethany          
      
              1:30 PM    Washington and Jefferson       Waynesburg          
      
              1:30 PM    Mount St. Joseph       Thomas More    (Bridge Bowl)            
              1:30 PM    Westminster (Pa.)       Geneva

On the rivalries board, I read about Westminster PA and Geneva.  I know about the Bridge Bowl between MSJ and TMC.

How intense are the remaining rivalries?  Is each really the most intense rivalry that your school has?  Is there another game that most of your fans think is a stronger rivalry?  Or, did W&J-Waynesburg trump some other rivalry?

Thanks for info.   

At Grove City, I know that a lot of our older alumni talk about the great rivalries with Westminster and Geneva that we've been able to resume this decade.

Of the "Rivalry Week" games being played this weekend, Grove City and Thiel have the longest continuous series as the teams have played every year since 1982. The Mercer County Cup came into existence in 1984, which was also Grove City's first year in the Presidents' Athletic Conference.

The Grove City-Thiel rivalry dates back to 1892. I think over the past several years the Cup has really evolved into something of great significance as it's become ingrained in both programs.

Westminster and Geneva first played in 1891. In its heyday, back in the NAIA, the rivalry may very well have been the most intense in small-college football. As Geneva continues its move into full NCAA Division III membership, that rivalry will really be ratcheted up again.

Waynesburg-W&J dates back to 1897. I would probably agree with Bob Gregg's current evaluation of the rivalries. This one is referred to as the PAC's Backyard Brawl, but I think it's a lot more like Alabama-Auburn than Pitt-WVU.

Throughout the 1990s, when the PAC was just a five-team league, every game seemed like a "rival" game because so much was at stake every time the game started. With just a four-game football schedule (8 in basketball, volleyball, etc.) there was no margin for error at all.

As one who remembers the league in these years (and I think Mr. Gregg will concur), it is great that the conference has expanded greatly to the size that a Rivalry Week is now possible.

Bob - Nice work. But what else would I expect from the PAC's all-time winningest play-by-play man??!!

Quote from: South Willy on September 17, 2008, 04:33:27 PM
Guys,

I'm looking forward to a night game at GC this weekend. I've been to so many high school games that I just enjoy the evening football more. Then I'm back to Florida for a couple weeks until TMC comes to Bethany for homecoming. All these contests should be competitve games.

Make sure you buy a copy (or two) of "Wolverine Primetime" Saturday night

If any of you in the area (western Pa., eastern Ohio, northern W. Va.) are looking for something to do, the Bethany-Grove City game should be a blast under the lights. Last year's night game (Grove City-Waynesburg) was an unbelievable atmosphere and hopefully this year will be the same at Thorn Field.

The students are doing a "whiteout" again this year and there will be fireworks after the game.

And as Bob wrote, the opportunity for a doubleheader exists also as Grove City and Thiel are just 25 miles apart on state route 58.

Grove City earning the first AQ from the PAC for baseball. It's the Wolverines' first-ever postseason berth in baseball. Grove City's also the first PAC team in 24 years to make the NCAAs.

In 1984, then-member John Carroll went 0-2 in the Mideast Regional.

Curious to see where the Wolverines will end up. Grove City is the eastern-most school in the Mideast. Grove City is within 500 miles of the Mideast, New York, Mid-Atlantic and even the South regionals (489 miles to Danville, Va.).

When Grove City played at Thomas More, TMC used the shotgun about 90 percent of the time. They were primarily one-back (Collier), although Kyle James periodically lined up on the other side of the QB as a fullback/H-back.

Everyone keeps saying that Grove City is a wing-T team. They still run some Wing-T stuff, but the Wolverines are probably closer to a spread team than a classic Wing-T. Grove City is using the shotgun about 75 percent of the time.

Grove City still shows some Wing-T/double slot looks at times but gone are the days of the buck trap/buck sweep/waggle as staple plays.

Glenn Gutierrez is W&J's new men's basketball coach:

http://www.washjeff.edu/content.aspx?section=2510&menu_id=571&crumb=572&id=759

Thanks guys. Sometimes, it gets a little behind due to SID work. Hopefully next week will be back on schedule.

2004 GROVE CITY TACKLE BREAKDOWN

2004 Manchester  
http://www.gcc.edu/Sports/Football/04mangro.htm
36 solo tackles: 28 completions + 33 rush attempts

at CMU
http://www.gcc.edu/Sports/Football/fb0402.htm
39 solo: 45 rush att + 8 completions

Wooster
http://www.gcc.edu/Sports/Football/04growoo.htm
30 solo: 47 rush att + 9 completions

at Muhlenberg
http://www.gcc.edu/Sports/Football/04gromuh.htm
45 solo: 52 rush att + 8 completions

at Bethany
http://www.gcc.edu/Sports/Football/04grobet.htm
39 solo: 32 rush att + 17 completions

Thiel
http://www.gcc.edu/Sports/Football/04thigro.htm
30 solo: 44 rush att + 9 completions

at Wash. and Jeff.
http://www.gcc.edu/Sports/Football/04wjgro.htm
44 solo: 43 rush att + 23 completions

at Waynesburg
http://www.gcc.edu/Sports/Football/04groway.htm
52 solo: 38 rush att + 21 completions

Alfred
http://www.gcc.edu/Sports/Football/fb0409.htm
35 solo: 39 rush att + 13 completions

Westminster
http://www.gcc.edu/Sports/Football/04growes.htm
25 solo: 47 rush att + 4 completions

I think Grove City is guilty of padding tackles for their players as they consistently have several defensive players miles ahead of the pack in tackles (there simply were not that many plays run in games for it to be possible for 3-4 guys to be in the double digits each week).

Quote

That is one of the most ridiculous statements I have ever read. What factual evidence to you have to support that?

Look at the PAC stats this year. http://www.pacathletics.org/FBHTML/confldrs.htm#conf.wi2

Grove City's strong safety, Aaron Margo is fifth in the PAC in tackles. The inside linebackers are 9th and 12th, respectively. I would not consider that ahead of the pack.

Mike Choby had 107 total tackles last year, 53 solo and 54 assists. In 2004, there were a total of 515 tackle opportunities for Grove City (runs + completions - TDs). I don't know about you, but for an inside linebacker to make 20 percent of a team's tackles seems rather plausible.

For you to come on here and question the integrity of Grove City sports information is quite comical to say the least. I would put our statcrew up against anybody's at any level, anytime.