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LORETTO -- The Division III football era for Saint Francis got off on a sour note with a 36-6 loss to Grove City Saturday afternoon at DeGol Field.
A total of 1,853 fans packed DeGol Field to see the Red Wolves take the field for their first Presidents' Athletic Conference matchup.
"I loved looking around, and everyone was having a good time," Red Wolves coach Chris Villarreal said. "I love there's people sitting on the on the grass over here, and that's the culture we want to build here. We will build, but we continuously need that support, and it was a great feeling getting it."
The game itself was far from the desired outcome for the Red Wolves, who began practice Sept. 3, but for Villarrial, it was good just to be out on the field again.
"All in all, I was very happy with the effort the guys gave today," Villarrial said. "Some of the mistakes we weren't too happy with, but they did give great effort, and it showed up today."
Saint Francis fell behind 7-0 after allowing a 13-yard touchdown pass from Mike Holloman to Sam Penna. A 20-yard field goal by Brady Lane made it 10-0 to round out the first quarter.
The Wolverines scored two touchdowns in the second quarter to give them a 24-0 lead at the half while the Red Wolves sputtered offensively with only 27 total yards in each of the first two quarters.
Defensively, Saint Francis was able to settle into the game in the second half and allowed only 10 points in the final two quarters while the offense gave up a safety.
"It felt good, and I was happy for the guys that stayed. I was happy for these young guys to get a taste of what college football is and open up against a quality team like Grove City," Villarrial said. "Obviously, they've been in the playoffs the last two years, so when you get to open up against something like that, now they know that there's a standard that you have to you have to get to."
Down 36-0 with 3:39 left to play, the Saint Francis offense proved to both itself and the Wolverines it could find the end zone as former Tyrone standout Ashton Walk marched the offense down the field.
Walk found Cole DeLattre of Hollidaysburg for a 19-yard strike for the first touchdown in the Division III era to make it 36-6.
"There's a bar now, and just average isn't good enough," Villarrial said. "If you want to be good, you got to be able to play with the competition that's in this conference."
The buzz that filled the stadium Saturday despite the game's final result was very much by Villarrial and company on the field.
"It's awesome," Villarreal said. "I'm sorry we didn't put a better performance on. Don't give up on us. We will be back. We will build this thing. Don't give up on us, and I appreciate the support."