Westminster Titans College football preview 2024

NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. (WKBN) – After experiencing a 12-year stretch where the football program finished with a sub-500 record in each year (2003-14), Westminster has compiled 9 straight winning campaigns and a winning percentage to boot of 72.2% during that time frame.

Coach Scott Benzel is entering his 11th season at the helm.

“My expectations are always [for] program growth. We had some setbacks, a year ago, that didn’t sit well with our coaches and players. We needed to address depth and gain some much-needed experience in the spring. The staff did a great job of meeting those concerns. Our expectations are to play games late in the year to determine a conference championship.”

The offense returns 10 starters, including the Titans’ quarterback Ty McGowan (Moon/JR) , who had off-season surgery.

The emphasis will be on the playmakers.

“I believe this is the best collection of skill players – with depth – we’ve had in a very long time,” Benzel said. “We have home-run ability from the receiver, running back and tight end positions. The offensive line returns four starters, getting that group back with a full season of experience will be exciting to see.”

Ty Eliam’s 2023 season finished a bit early as he suffered an injury. Eilam (Sharon/SR) will be back in the fold, as will Taite Beachy (Moon/JR). Jalen Washington (Orlando/SR) and Marcel Smith-Austin (Sharon/SR) received plenty of experience as wide receivers. The Presidents’ Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year from two seasons ago, Ryan Gomes (Tampa/Grad), is back at running back. Elijah Grayer (Monee, IL/SO), Damarion Collins (Porter, TX/SO), Clayton Cannon (Parkland, FL/SO), Gavin Greaves and Demere White (Robert Morris transfer) make the group extremely deep.

Along the front line, Matt Howard (Grove City/SR) and Braden Mika (Kiski/SO) both return after having All-Conference seasons. Gage Dlugnonski (Grove City/SR) will line up at center this year as well.

On the defensive side of the ball, Westminster will welcome back six starters including the entire secondary.

“Our defensive [backfield] from a talent and experience standpoint should be as good as any unit in the country,” said Benzel. “Brice Butler (Farrell/SR), Kevin Wright (West Palm Beach/SR) and Corte Williams (Sharon/SR) have played a lot of football and have to lead our defense from the backend.”

Last season, the defense allowed the opposition to move the chains on third down 35% of the time (50-143) and was able to manage over 316 yards per outing.

“We needed to reload after getting hit with significant graduation,” Benzel said. “We don’t have All-American level talent in the box like in 2022, but we do have more depth. That should allow us to play much faster and fresher and allow [Jared] Heck, Westminster’s defensive coordinator, to play a more pressure style of defense.”

Westminster will open the season with a bye in week one but then will play host to Waynesburg at 1 p.m. Saturday, September 14 during Hall of Fame Weekend.

Westminster Titans
Fast Facts
Head Coach: Scott Benzel, 11th season
2023 Record : 6-4
Last 5 Years: 34-13 (72.3%)
League : Presidents’ Athletic Conference
Home Field: Burry Stadium
Base Offense : Multiple
Base Defense : Multiple

2023 Team Stats
Scoring Offense : 20.8
S coring Defens e: 20.2
Total Offense : 282.6
Total Defense : 316.6

2023 Individual Leaders
Passing: Ty McGowan – 1,424 yards, 56.7% (122-215), 14 TDs
Rushing: Ryan Gomes – 695 yards, 4.0 avg, 8 TDs
Receiving: Jalen Royal-Eiland – 397 yards, 12.8 avg, 3 TDs
Tackles : Dylan Sleva – 94
QB Sacks : Daniel Thimons – 4
I nterceptions: Corte Williams, Dylan Sleva & Dayshawn Elliott – 2

2023 Results
Titans 35 Geneva 14
Carnegie Mellon 21 Titans 7
Titans 22 Saint Vincent 20
Titans 27 Allegheny 17
Case Western Reserve 31 Titans 6
Titans 42 Bethany 7
Titans 31 Waynesburg 20
Washington & Jefferson 48 Titans 3
Titans 28 Thiel 7
Grove City 17 Titans 7

2023 Presidents’ Athletic Conference Standings
Grove City – 10-0 (11-1)
Carnegie Mellon – 9-1 (10-1)
Washington & Jefferson – 8-2 (9-2)
Case Western Reserve – 7-3 (7-3)
Westminster – 6-4 (6-4)
Geneva – 4-6 (4-6)
Allegheny – 3-7 (3-7)
Saint Vincent – 3-7 (3-7)
Thiel – 3-7 (3-7)
Waynesburg – 2-8 (2-8)
Bethany – 0-10 (0-10)

2024 Schedule
Sept. 14 – Waynesburg
Sept. 21 – at Allegheny
Sept. 28 – at Thiel
Oct. 5 – Washington & Jefferson
Oct. 12 – at Bethany
Oct. 19 – Saint Vincent (Homecoming)
Oct. 26 – Case Western Reserve
Nov. 2 – at Carnegie Mellon
Nov. 9 – at Geneva
Nov. 16 – Grove City

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