SPORTS STORIES:
SPARTAN FOOTBALL—2009
no. 8 CASE 38, CHICAGO 24...
CLEVELAND, OH (October 31, 2009) -
The No.8-ranked Case Western Reserve University football team was challenged for much of the game, but prevailed over the University of Chicago, 38-24, in its University Athletic Association opener in Chicago, IL to win its 29th straight regular season game. The teams played to the same score last year when they met in Cleveland, OH.
The Spartans are now 8-0 overall and 1-0 in the UAA while the Maroons fall to 4-3 overall and 0-1 UAA.
Case Western Reserve’s ground game was key in the win as they rushed for 275 yards and four touchdowns. Senior running back Greg Meyer (Clearwater, FL) led the attack with 14 carries for 141 yards and a score.
The teams traded first quarter touchdown scores as senior quarterback Dan Whalen (Willoughby, OH) ran for a 68-yard TD and junior quarterback Marshall Oium threw a 13-yard TD strike for the Maroons.
In the second quarter, a one-yard TD run by senior running back Corey Checkan (Georgetown, PA) and a 36-yard field goal by junior kick Sam Coffey (Middletown, OH) gave the Spartans a 17-7 advantage. Chicago would cut into the lead before intermission as Oium threw a 90-yard TD pass to make the score 17-14 at at the half.
The Spartans got a much needed touchdown to extend their lead to 24-14 after a Mike Pelyak (Newton Falls, OH-pictured) interception when Whalen hit junior receiver Zach Homyk (Chicago, IL) for a 34-yard TD strike with 6:55 in the third quarter. Chicago answered right back with a one-yard TD pass by Oium, his third of the day, with 4:45 left in the third.
After a Case Western Reserve interception was negated by penalty, the Maroons tied the game at 24 with 13:00 to play via a Jeff Sauer 26-yard field goal. The Spartans would finally take the lead for good with 9:26 to play courtesy of a four-yard TD run by Checkan. On a critical third-and-six, Meyer rushed 59 yards for a touchdown that gave Case Western Reserve its final winning margin.
The Case defense got the final three stops it needed, as Chicago punted once and turned the ball over on downs twice in the fourth quarter.
Whalen went 16-of-35 for 206 yards and a touchdown and also rushed for 59 yards and a TD and his top target was Homyk, who had six catches for 74 yards and a score. Defensively for the Spartans, senior defensive back Bobby Bott (Grafton, OH) made 8.5 tackles and had two pass breakups.
The Spartans are in action next on Saturday, November 7th when they travel to Pittsburgh, PA to take on Carnegie Mellon at 2:00 p.m. The winner of that contest will be awarded the Academic Bowl Trophy. Case Western Reserve has won the last two meetings.
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