SPORTS STORIES:
SPARTAN FOOTBALL—2009
no. 9 Case 63, hiram 14...
CLEVELAND, OH (October 24, 2009) - The Case Western Reserve University football team won its 28th consecutive regular season game today with a 63-14 victory over visiting Hiram College on Homecoming.
The Spartans (7-0, 0-0 UAA), currently ranked No. 9 in the nation by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), will begin University Athletic Association (UAA) play Saturday, October 31 at the University of Chicago.
Today’s Case Western Reserve/Hiram game will be rebroadcasted on SportsTime Ohio at 1:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. Sunday, October 25 and at 5:00 a.m. on Monday, October 26.
Spartan senior quarterback Dan Whalen (Willoughby, OH) completed 10-of-17 passes for 216 yards and three touchdowns in the first half. Whalen, who did play in the second half, has thrown for 27 touchdowns and 2,218 yards this season.
After junior kicker Sam Coffey (Middleton, OH) connected on a 31-yard field goal, Whalen hit junior receiver Shaun Nicely (Willoughby, OH) on a seven-yard TD pass to give Case Western Reserve a 10-0 lead at 6:18 in the first quarter. He then threw a three-yard TD pass to Nicely with 2:19 left in the quarter to put the Spartans up 26-0. Coffey began the second quarter with a 24-yard field goal and then Whalen would throw another TD, a 39-yard strike to senior receiver Ryan Kolesar (Mentor, OH), and run one in himself to end the half and give Case Western Reserve a 42-0 advantage at the intermission.
Coffey finished the game 7-of-8 on extra point attempts and 2-of-2 on field goals.
In the third quarter, the Spartans focused on the ground game and senior running back Greg Meyer (Clearwater, FL-pictured) and junior back Billy Deitmen (Mentor, OH) found the endzone from two and eight yards out respectively, as the Spartans led 56-7 after three quarters. In the final stanza, the teams traded scores as sophomore linebacker Josh Murphy (Kettering, OH) got his first career touchdown via a 17-yard interception.
Meyer led in receiving yards and finished second in rushing. He had three catches for 110 yards and seven rushes for 21 yards and a touchdown. Nicely caught three passes for 25 yards and two touchdowns.
Senior linebacker Jeff Brown (North Olmsted, OH) and junior defensive back James Wodicka (West Lafayette, IN) had seven tackles a peice. Senior defensive back Bradley Paramore (Garfield Heights, OH) had two interceptions, his first of the season. He returned one for a 34-yard TD late in the first quarter.
-end-