Georgetown moves on to Quarterfinals after win at St. Thomas

For the 1st time ever, Georgetown took on St. Thomas, and it came in the 2nd Round of the 2024 NAIA Football Championship Series. Both teams had their moments in what was a one score game all day, but Georgetown continued to show its magic in tight games. The Tigers scratched out their 6th win decided by 8 points or less in a 27-21 triumph to go back to the Quarterfinals for the 2nd straight year and 12th time in program history.

The Tigers had a challenge in dealing with a high-powered Bobcats offense that had QB Keely Watson, RB Rontavious Farmer and WR David Hayes all named 1st Team in The Sun Conference. Trevaun Allen made a statement early that the Tigers' D was just as strong. On the opening drive, Watson looked for a jump pass over the middle that Allen stepped in front of for the interception near midfield. Georgetown could do nothing with the field position and punted after 3 plays. The Bobcats then turned to Farmer on the ground, who ran for 27 yards on the 1st 4 plays of the next St. Thomas drive. On 3rd down, Watson looked for David Hayes for 1st down yardage. Hayes trapped the ball against the turf. The pass was ruled incomplete and upheld after a St. Thomas challenge.

Dillon Warren gave Georgetown good field position after a 22-yard punt return to the Tigers 42. On 3rd & 9 from the 43, Gehrig Slunaker took a shot and hit a streaking Matt Miller down the right sideline. Miller toe-tapped the sideline all the way for a 57-yard touchdown. Drew Rader's extra point gave Georgetown a 7-0 lead midway through the 1st. St. Thomas got going on its next drive thanks to a 38-yard pass play that took the ball to the Georgetown 45. The Bobcats faced a 4th & 6 from the 41 and decided to go. Keely Watson's pass for David Hayes fell incomplete for a turnover on downs. It was the first of 3 failed 4th down conversions for St. Thomas on the day.

Georgetown took a 7-0 lead to the 2nd quarter despite St. Thomas having the ball for 10 minutes, 9 seconds in the 1st. The Bobcats again moved the ball early in the 2nd. With possession on the GC 25, Rontavious Farmer broke up the middle for 13 yards. 2 plays later, Watson connected with Hayes for a 14-yard score to tie the game with 11:25 left in the 2nd. The Tigers' ensuing drive lasted just 21 seconds and resulted in a punt to the St. Thomas 39. The Bobcats slowly moved downfield to the Georgetown 32. Farmer took a pitch out wide but was met by Jackson Geilear and Lawson Vaughn for a loss of 6 to the 38. St. Thomas went for the 4th down, but Watson's long pass was picked by Justin Richardson, who returned the ball 48 yards to the STU 32. On play 2 of the next drive, Darius Neal busted free up the middle and rolled 29 yards for a touchdown to put Georgetown back up, 14-7. The lead lasted exactly 46 seconds. St. Thomas called on its star back, Rontavious Farmer, who ran for 10 on the 1st play of the drive. He followed with a run of 65 yards to the house to immediately tie the game again at 14 with 3:59 to go in the half.

Georgetown saw the clock and knew it had a 2-for-1 chance as the Tigers would get the ball to start the 3rd quarter. On 2nd down of the drive, Gehrig Slunaker hit a leaping Chandler Godby over the middle of the field for a pickup of 22. The 2 connected on the next play for 9 to the St. Thomas 45 at the 2-minute timeout. On 3rd & 14, Slunaker took a hard shot but delivered a perfect pass to Godby for 24 yards to the St. Thomas 23. Darius Neal then ran right side for 11 yards to the 12. 2 plays later, Slunaker found Luke Olive in the flat for a pickup of 10 to the 1-yard line. With 20 seconds left on 2nd & goal, Georgetown ran a nice play-action that saw Slunaker find a wide open Drew Baker in the endzone. The extra point gave Georgetown a 21-14 halftime lead despite being outgained 267-182 and only having the ball for 10:10 in the half.

After an 11-yard run by Darius Neal to start the 2nd half, Gehrig Slunaker took a deep shot, but the pass sailed high and was picked by the Bobcats' Jerome Mitchell and brought back to the Georgetown 32. St. Thomas needed just 3 plays as Keely Watson and David Hayes connected on a 22-yard score to tie the game at 21 early in the 3rd. After an exchange of punts, Georgetown took the ball on its own 31. On 2nd down, Darius Neal carried 3 defenders for a 17-yard run to midfield. Neal ran for 10 more yards a moment later to the STU 30. On the next play, Slunaker tried hitting Neal on a pass down the right side but was picked by Dallas Johnson. The return gave St. Thomas the ball at the 50. Georgetown's defense held strong again. St. Thomas went for another 4th down from the 43 but the pass fell harmlessly to the turf with John Carter Myers in tight coverage.

Georgetown's next drive moved the game into the 4th quarter. On 3rd & 8 from the St. Thomas 39, Slunaker took a deep shot to Dillon Warren. The pass fell incomplete, but the Bobcats were flagged for pass interference to move the ball to the 24. After a loss on 1st down, Darius Neal took a handoff, broke through 2 tacklers and rolled 31 yards for his 2nd score of the day. It was the 37th rushing TD of his career, tying him with Hall-of-Famer Eddie Eviston for 3rd all-time in program history. The extra point was blocked, marking the 1st time all year Georgetown failed on a PAT, thus making the lead 27-21 with 13:08 to play.

St. Thomas immediately answered again. Jaelyn Thomas took the kickoff 67 yards back to the Georgetown 27. On 2nd down, Watson hit David Hayes for 14 yards to the Georgetown 10. After a run for no gain on 1st down, the Bobcats were flagged for unsportsmanlinke conduct, pushing the ball back to the 25 for 2nd & goal. 2 Bobcat completions got the ball back to the 8, setting up a 25-yard field goal attempt. Georgetown's defense rose up again as the kick was blocked and recovered by Clayton Melcher at the 25-yard line with 9:22 to play and the 27-21 lead still in tact.

The Tigers turned to Darius Neal with one eye on a tiring Bobcats defense and another on the clock. Neal rolled for 19 yards on the 1st 3 plays to get to the 44. On 3rd & 6 from the 45, Gehrig Slunaker hit Dillon Warren on the left sideline for a pickup of 9 to move the chains. Georgetown thought it had the knockout blow just 4 plays later as Neal took off left side and dragged 2 defenders for a 34-yard touchdown run. The Tigers were called for holding though, thus wiping out the score. Neal gave way to Drew Baker who rolled off 2 runs for 9 yards to set up a 3rd & 1 at the 2-minute timeout. Neal re-entered the game and with St. Thomas packing 8 in the box, it didn't matter. Neal and the offensive line needed just 1 yard and got 2. Neal ran one more time for 7 yards before St. Thomas called its last timeout with 1:10 to go. Gehrig Slunaker kneeled down on the next 2 snaps to seal the win and send Georgetown moving on to the quarterfinals.

Georgetown's defense stood up once again in the 2nd half. After the early 3rd quarter touchdown, St. Thomas gained just 32 yards on 13 plays. The Bobcats put up just 79 total yards in the 2nd half as Georgetown held the ball for 21 minutes, 15 seconds after halftime, including the final 9:22 to seal the win. Chad Holleran turned in another incredible performance with 15 tackles to keep the high-powered Bobcat offense in check. Tyler Snell finished with 10 tackles, while Javyn Martin finished with 8 on the outside. St. Thomas entered the game averaging 46.2 PPG, 8th best in the NAIA. Georgetown held them under 22 points for just the 2nd time in the Bobcats' season.

After a quiet 1st half that saw just 6 carries and 48 yards for Darius Neal, the All-American stayed fresh in the 2nd half and ended with 156 yards and 2 scores. St. Thomas came into the game giving up just 120 yards on the ground. Gehrig Slunaker finished 17-28 for 185 yards, 2 TDs and 2 INTs. He led a Tiger offense that was able to burn the clock by going 8-14 on 3rd down and never facing a 4th down conversion. Chandler Godby led the receiving core with 5 catches for 71 yards. Matt Miller's 57-yard TD catch in the 1st quarter got the offense going.

Georgetown likely heads back on the road for the quarterfinal round of the playoffs. The Tigers will not known their opponent or potential destination until Saturday evening.