The visiting Thomas More College Saints forced six Bearcat turnovers in their 40-13 win at Chuck Noll Field.

Thomas More, ranked 18th in the nation, broke open a 7-6 game midway through the first quarter by using a strong ground game, gaining 169 rushing yards to score 33 unanswered points over the second and third quarters.

After the Bearcats fumbled on their opening possession of the first quarter, Thomas More gave the ball right back, with SVC's Roscoe Barber picking off a Trevor Stellman pass on the Saints' third play from scrimmage.

Saint Vincent capitalized on the Saint miscue, embarking on a five play, 60-yard drive, capped off with a 12-yard Zach Mihalko touchdown run, to go up 6-0 with 12 minutes left in the opening stanza.

Thomas More answered back two possessions later, with Stellman completing passes of 16 and 24 yards before Luis Perez plunged into the end zone from two yards out.  The ensuing extra point kick was good, giving the Saints the 7-6 lead with six minutes remaining in the quarter.

The Saints added onto the lead in their first trip of the second quarter, with Stellman connecting with Nick Olthaus for a 25-yard touchdown pass at the 11:43 mark.

The Bearcats' next two possessions ended in interceptions, first by Brandon Kohrs and then by Zach Autenreib, with both resulting in two-yard touchdown runs by TMC's Cordario Collier, as the visitors pushed their lead to 27-6 in the closing minutes of the first half.

With under a minute left in the half, the Bearcats looked to end the half on a high note, but the Saints closed the second quarter with yet another interception, this time by Wade Begley with three seconds remaining.

In the second half, Thomas More picked up right where it left off, as Stellman capped off his team's first drive of the third quarter with a 14-yard touchdown run to put the Saints up 34-6.

The teams then traded scoreless possessions, before the Saints tallied their fourth interception of the day, this one by Nick Gramke, who returned it 33 yards to the SVC five-yard line.  On the next play, the Saints' Luis Perez rushed up the gut for TMC's sixth touchdown of the day, and the game entered the fourth quarter with Thomas More ahead 40-6.

Saint Vincent's next drive proved to be its most productive.  After an 18-yard run by Jairus Marlow, quarterback Jake Smith completed a 13-yard pass to Derek Wiley followed by a 17-yard strike to Sheldon Loughner, setting up a first-and-goal on the Thomas More eight.  Smith then found tight end Jake Gabelt over the middle for an eight-yard scoring strke, with the Aaron Jones extra point making the score 40-13 to close out the day's scoring with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Stellman led the way for Thomas More, completing nine of 15 passes for 171 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 82 yards and another score.  Collier finished the day with 68 yards on the ground and two touchdowns.

Mihalko paced the Bearcat ground game, gaining 55 yards on 13 carries, while gaining an additional 66 yards on three kickoff returns.   Kevin Corona started under center, completing 12 of 21 passes for 88 yards, while Smith came on in relief, going 9-16 through the air for 151 yards.

Sheldon Loughner paced the Bearcat receivers with five catches for 71 yards, with Gabelt hauling in three grabs and Marlow and Christian Sutton two apiece.

Defensively, linebacker David Ribero led both sides with 10 tackles, including 2.0 for loss.  The Bearcats' Jeff Graham, Josh Catalano, and Alex Rowan posted nine stops apiece, while Armando Fortunato posted 2.5 tackles for loss.

The Bearcats (0-6) will continue its two-game homestand next Saturday, hosting Washington & Jefferson College in Chuck Noll Field at 1pm.

PHOTO (By Jeremy Smith): The Bearcats' Rob James makes a second-quarter tackle against Thomas More