IUP saw a familiar script play out Saturday at George P. Miller Stadium: a strong start, a halftime lead — and another loss.
This one will sting the most because it’s in the playoffs, and now the season is over.
Assumption scored 13 unanswered points in the third quarter to erase a 10-point deficit and beat IUP 23-20 in the first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs. The Greyhounds (9-2) advance to face Kutztown in the second round, while the Crimson Hawks finish their season 7-4.
“I thought even when we had the lead, we just didn’t seem to be playing as a unit on all three phases,” said IUP head coach Paul Tortorella. “Some good things were happening, but we had some breakdowns on both sides of the ball.”
The loss continued a troubling trend for IUP: all four defeats this season came after holding a halftime lead.
“You look at the first half, that’s one game,” Tortorella said. “Second half, it’s a totally completely different game. And they made all the plays in the second half, and we didn’t. The best way I could explain it.”
IUP led 20-10 at halftime after three short rushing touchdowns capped long drives. Tavion Banks scored from 2 yards out, Parker Gregg added a 1-yard plunge after an interception by Tai’Don Strickland, and Leon Parson powered in from 6 yards to finish an 18-play, 88-yard march late in the second quarter.
But the second half belonged to Assumption and quarterback Dom Santiago. He threw for 271 yards and a touchdown and ran for two more scores, including a 1-yard keeper with 2:34 left in the third quarter that gave the Greyhounds their first lead since early in the game. Santiago also hit AJ Robinson for a 41-yard strike to set up a second-quarter field goal and later connected on a 45-yard pass to One Williams during a key fourth-quarter drive.
Assumption outgained IUP 418-302 and converted 9 of 16 third downs.
“What we’ve done over the course of this football season is find a way to forget about what just happened and get focused on what the next play presents,” said Assumption head coach Andy McKenzie. “And so, if we can do that for 60 minutes, then we’re going to have an opportunity to win a football game at the end, which is what I think happened here today.”
IUP quarterback Matthew Rueve completed 22 of 36 passes for 231 yards, with Devin Whitlock hauling in 13 catches for 152 yards. Rueve broke Quinton Maxwell’s school record for passing yards in a season, with 3,338 yards, besting Maxwell’s 2019 mark of 3,130. Whitlock broke the school season record for catches, surpassing Allen Wright’s mark of 76, set in 2017, and finished the game with a season total of 84 catches.
Assumption’s defense sealed the win with two fourth-quarter stops, including a sack on third down and a turnover on downs near midfield with 2:29 remaining. The Greyhounds then ran out the clock.
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