Scout team to starter, Ehst engineers turnaround for Grove City football team
Josh Ehst’s season with the Grove City football team is something that they write books or make movies about.
The 6-foot, 185-pound freshman from Douglassville and a Daniel Boone graduate, started the season playing safety on defense for the Wolverines because of his athleticism. He’s listed on the roster as a quarterback and stayed at it by running the scout team in practice. In the third week of the season, in a game against Case Western, Grove City’s starting quarterback suffered a season-ending injury.
Ehst saw his first offensive action at the end of that game. He hit 13 of 28 passes for 180 yards with a touchdown. But he was intercepted four times and was sacked three times.
The following week, the team had an open competition for the starting job and Ehst earned the job.
In his first start, the team faced No. 12-ranked Washington & Jefferson and came out on the short end of a 62-10 decision.
Things have changed since then. The Wolverines have won three straight after a 28-3 victory over Waynesburg last Saturday in Grove City. Ehst completed just six passes in 11 attempts but they included touchdown plays of 68, 66 and 61 yards. But the real test came a week earlier when he led the team to a come-from-behind 36-33 victory over Westminster in front of a Homecoming crowd. He ended a 78-yard drive with a 7-yard touchdown to Cody Gustafson with seven seconds left in the game.
“On that last drive, the composure Josh had was pretty special,” coach Andrew DiDonato said. “For a freshman to be in front of that crowd and do what he did is very notable. We opened it up in the third quarter and he made some great throws and he played very confident in the second half.”
Ehst has completed 43 of 138 passes for 760 yards and eight touchdowns to help the team go to 4-3 overall and 3-3 in Presidents’ Athletic Conference play. He hasn’t been intercepted since the Case Western game. He’s also rushed for 77 yards on 40 carries with a touchdown.
The 5-foot-4 senior defender help the Lock Haven women’s soccer team start 8-2-1 start after a 2-1 double overtime PSAC victory over Mercyhurst on Oct. 12 in Lock Haven. Jones has started all 11 games and has played 936 minutes to key a defense that has limited foes to 10 goals with three shutouts. She also has two assists and both of them were key helpers. She had the assist on the first goal in 2-0 victory over Pitt-Johnstown on Sept. 15 and on the first goal in a 2-0 triumph over Shippensburg on Sept. 23.
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound freshman was named MAC Commonwealth Player of the Week on Oct. 8 after two outstanding matches with the Alvernia men’s golf team the previous week. Fagley posted a college careerbest round of 75 to finish tied for sixth out of 84 golfers in the Muhlenberg Invitatonal on Oct. 2 in Allentown. On Oct. 3, he won his match 3-and-2 to help the Golden Wolves defeat Albright 5.5-3.5 in the annual Yocum Cup match in Mohnton. Fagley is averaging 78.8 for his four rounds this fall.
The sophomore was named Geneva’s Student-Athlete of the Week on Oct. 4 for his efforts in the class room and with the Geneva men’s cross country team. In his latest meet, Mansell finished 41st out of 357 runners at the Paul Short Run on Sept. 29 in Bethlehem. His 8,000 meter time of 27:31 was his best time this season by over a minute. The chemical engineering major is third best runner on the squad. His sister Hannah, a senior, competes with the women’s track program. The 5-foot-11, 205-pound senior is listed on the roster as a quarterback, but he had his best game of the season for the Shippensburg football team as a running back. Yocum carried the ball five times for 71 yards and scored on a seven-yard run as the Raiders blanked Millersville 37-0 on Oct. 13 in Millersville. He has scored four touchdowns and has rushed 13 times for 101 yards (7.3 per carry). He’s also hit three of five passing and has returned two kickoffs. Shippensburg is 3-4 overall and 1-2 in PSAC play. The 5-foot-11, 267-pound senior is starting at nose guard on defensive for the Indiana football team, the Crimson Hawks 5-2 overall and 2-2 in PSAC play after a 24-23 victory over Clarion on Oct. 13 in Indiana. Scott had four tackles in the game. On the season, he’s had 21 tackles, including eight unassisted, and has been credited with 1.5 sacks for 10 yards. He’s also blocked a kick. He entered this season with 46 tackles with 5.5 sacks with two fumble recoveries in 35 games in his first three seasons.
The senior has played in all 14 games with 13 starts on defense for the Penn State Harrisburg men’s soccer team which stands 13-1-2 overall and 0-1-2 in the Capital Athletic Conference after a 1-1 league tie with York on Oct. 10 in York. The Nittany Lions have given up just five goals and have 11 shutouts. Rohrbach picked up an assist in the team’s 4-0 victory over Penn State Berks on Sept. 13 in Reading. He’s played 62 games with 40 starts in his career and has two goals and three assists.
The 5-foot-10, 180-pound redshirt junior is the leading receiver on the Bloomsburg football team, the Huskies 3-4 overall and 2-2 in PSAC East play after a 26-18 league victory over East Stroudsburg on Oct. 13 in Bloomsburg. Allen had two receptions in the game, one good for a 31-yard touchdown. He has 23 receptions for 309 yards (11.88 per catch) with four touchdowns.