The Case Western Reserve University football squad fell in its matchup against Waynesburg University.

The match-up last weekend was the latest challenge of competing in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference and the Spartans fell short, dropping the game by a score of 35-15 and drop to 2-3 on the season. We here at The Observer predicted a 35-17 loss for the Spartans and are adding this one to our win column, with us standing at 3-2 on the season in predicting outcomes.

The Spartans actually got on the scoreboard first in this one with a 40-yard field goal as time expired on the first quarter. The kick was sophomore kicker Nick Bavaro’s longest of his career. The lead would not last long and sparked the scoring as the next two drives resulted in scores. The Case Western kickoff was returned by Waynesburg for an 86-yard touchdown.

The Spartans responded by marching downfield for 70 yards on nine plays and retook the lead when senior quarterback Billy Beecher connected for a 20-yard touchdown pass to Bryan Erb. The Spartans missed the PAT and were briefly up 9-3 midway through the second quarter.

From there, Waynesburg took advantage scoring the next four touchdowns. The first was following an 11 play, 64-yard drive which was capped with a 24-yard touchdown pass to put the Yellow Jackets up 14-9 with 6:30 left in the first half.

Waynesburg quarterback Carter Hill threw three more touchdowns in the half with a pair of touchdown passes. Case Western’s final score came on a 34-yard pass from freshman Connor Simpson to sophomore Zech Medved, with 2:30 left on the clock, but it was too little too late.

The Spartans led in yardage, but four passing touchdowns from Hill was too much firepower for the Spartans. Under center once again for the Spartans, Beecher completed 21 of his 31 attempts for 154 yards and the touchdown to Erb. Simpson went 3 for 3 and 49 yards including the touchdown to Medved.

Mistakes also hurt the Spartans, as they have in past games with an interception and a fumble eventually leading to 14 points for the hosts.

The Spartans will look to move back to 0.500 when they host the Geneva College Golden Tornadoes on Saturday. The threat from the Golden Tornadoes comes in the form of QB Aaron Channing, who has 1,059 yards with 10 touchdowns on the season, completing over a third of his passes. This could be of concern to the inconstant passing defense for the Spartans, and big passing gains could hurt like they did in the Waynesburg game. Channing’s biggest target is senior wide receiver Josh Guiser who has 35 receptions on 363 yards and five touchdowns, making the defensive passing game crucial for the Spartans.

The Spartans will also be looking for more offensive firepower to help secure a victory. Our prediction formula came back with a tie, no clear winner, but with the added support flooding in from alumni, families and students to this game we at The Observer are calling a narrow 24-21 win for the Spartans.

The game will kick off at 1:30 p.m. at DiSanto field, the capping gem of this week’s homecoming celebration. Good luck and happy homecoming. Go Spartans.