{"id":1155,"date":"2025-11-14T10:05:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T10:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/2025\/11\/14\/2025-11-14-defense-lifts-wolverines-against-spartans\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T23:12:48","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T23:12:48","slug":"2025-11-14-defense-lifts-wolverines-against-spartans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/2025\/11\/14\/2025-11-14-defense-lifts-wolverines-against-spartans\/","title":{"rendered":"Defense lifts Wolverines against\u00a0Spartans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Chance Rains<\/a> · Contributing Writer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Keagan
Keagan Fraser (left) recorded an interception against CWRU. \u2014 JOHN HAKE<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Two blocked punts and five turnovers capped off a strong day on special teams and defense as the Grove City College Wolverines emerged victorious at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) on Saturday, defeating the Spartans 28-14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senior linebacker Caleb Brubaker led the defense with 15 total tackles, 11 of those solo tackles, three tackles-for-loss and an interception. Brubaker also recovered one of the blocked punts on special teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Wolverine offense was guided by senior quarterback Ethan Wiley, who completed 15 passes from 35 attempts for 128 yards and two touchdowns. Junior wide receiver Seth McGroerty caught seven passes for 72 yards and a touchdown, while junior running back Chase Rankin led the rushing attack with 83 yards on 25 attempts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neither team could find traction in the first quarter, with CWRU missing a 43-yard field goal and Wiley throwing an interception. With 11:29 left in the half, senior safety Ryan Montgomery recovered a Spartans fumble at the CWRU 49-yard line, setting up a 26-yard Wiley touchdown pass to McGroerty five plays later to take the lead 7-0.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On CWRU\u2019s next offensive drive, senior safety Keagan Frasier intercepted a pass at the 46-yard line, but the Spartans would force a Wiley interception just four plays later. The Spartans drove the ball all the way to the 10-yard line of Grove City, but a timely interception by sophomore cornerback Noah Wheeler stopped the drive with less than four minutes left in the half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CWRU was forced to punt opening the half, but managed to force a fumble after pinning the Wolverines\u2019 offense at their own three-yard line, scoring on the next play to tie the game 7-7. Grove City was forced to punt on their next possession, but a stout defensive stand by the Wolverines\u2019 defense was capped off by a blocked punt by sophomore cornerback Mason Clause and recovered by Brubaker at the CWRU 11-yard line. Junior wide receiver Daniel Sullivan would go on to score nine yards out on a pass from Wiley, retaking the lead 14-7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Spartans drove down the field again, only to be stopped by another interception, caught by senior cornerback Boden Davidson. With 14:05 left in the game, freshman linebacker Nick Clemens blocked the Spartans\u2019 punt, scooping it up and returning it 10 yards for a touchdown, extending the lead to 21-7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CWRU responded with a long drive for a touchdown that cut the lead to 21-14. The Wolverines\u2019 offense stalled out, and CWRU looked to tie the game with six minutes left, but the defense forced a turnover on downs to keep the Spartans out of the end zone. The Grove City offense was forced to punt, but CWRU was intercepted for the fourth time, this time by Brubaker. Senior running back Ian Demeri would run into the end zone from 36 yards out on the next play, sealing the game 28-14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brubaker thought that the team\u2019s biggest lesson from the game was playing complementary football.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt took all three phases \u2014 offense, defense and special teams \u2014 to show up and play Grove City football to come out with a win. As a team, we felt it was a gritty win that showed our toughness when our backs were against the wall,\u201d Brubaker said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grove City will close the 2025 regular season with a trip to conference rival Hiram tomorrow. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Caleb
Caleb Brubaker earned honors this week for CWRU performance. \u2014 JOHN HAKE<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two blocked punts and five turnovers capped off a strong day on special teams and defense as the Grove City College Wolverines emerged victorious at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) on Saturday,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":536,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[195],"tags":[128,39,24],"class_list":["post-1155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football","tag-chance-rains","tag-issue-2025-11-14","tag-sports"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2025-11-14-25-defense-lifts-wolverines-against-spartans-1.jpg",468,517,false],"thumbnail":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2025-11-14-25-defense-lifts-wolverines-against-spartans-1.jpg",136,150,false],"medium":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2025-11-14-25-defense-lifts-wolverines-against-spartans-1.jpg",272,300,false],"medium_large":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2025-11-14-25-defense-lifts-wolverines-against-spartans-1.jpg",468,517,false],"large":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2025-11-14-25-defense-lifts-wolverines-against-spartans-1.jpg",468,517,false],"1536x1536":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2025-11-14-25-defense-lifts-wolverines-against-spartans-1.jpg",468,517,false],"2048x2048":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2025-11-14-25-defense-lifts-wolverines-against-spartans-1.jpg",468,517,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Ian Schartner","author_link":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/author\/schartnerij23\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Two blocked punts and five turnovers capped off a strong day on special teams and defense as the Grove City College Wolverines emerged victorious at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) on Saturday,","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1155"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1155\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1862,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1155\/revisions\/1862"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}