jtuscano@observer-reporter.com
WAYNESBURG - One night before the biggest game of Waynesburg's season, Rick Shepas replayed the boxing match between WBC middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik and Jermain Taylor for the football team.
Pavlik is from Shepas' hometown of Youngstown, Ohio, and stopped Taylor in the seventh round after being knocked down in the second round.
"He was nearly knocked out in the second round and came back to win," said Shepas, the third-year coach of the Yellow Jackets. "I wanted them to see that."
It appeared Waynesburg would administer a knockout punch to rival Washington & Jefferson Saturday in a PAC matchup of unbeatens. But it was W&J that survived an early body blow and the Yellow Jackets who came out on the short end of a 22-21 score in front of 4,050 fans at Wiley Stadium.
W&J (4-0, 8-0) left the field with a conference title and an automatic playoff berth just one win away. The Presidents also came away more than impressed with Waynesburg (4-1, 7-1).
"They had the best two players on the field," said W&J head coach Mike Sirianni.
He was referring to defensive end Mike Czerwien, who gave the Presidents' offensive line fits and quarterback Bobby Swallow nightmares; and tailback Robert Heller, who tore through the W&J defense for a school-record 289 yards and two scores.
Heller has 1,594 yards and could reach 2,000 for the season. The Ringgold graduate is rewriting the record books at Waynesburg and, for at least the first half of this game, appeared to be the catalyst for an upset of W&J.
"I didn't think I would do this (well) because of their game plan," Heller said. "In this offense, you have to be patient. You might lose two yards, then break a long one."
Heller had 17 carries of four yards or less but he scorched the Presidents for an 89-yard touchdown run and also had runs of 26, 23 and 49 yards.
"I like to watch him run," said W&J tailback Kevin Mathews, who had 115 rushing yards and caught four passes for 20. "I can appreciate his style."
At times, the Presidents used an eight-man front to stop Heller and probably needed an eight-man front to neutralize Czerwien.
"(Czerwien) would be the best player on any team in Division III and (Heller) would start for any team in Division III," said Sirianni. "(Czerwien) is easily the best player in the conference."
Czerwien sacked Swallow three times in the first half and once on consecutive plays. He disrupted the W&J running attack and drew a double team for most of the game.
"There's no question. Mike is the best player in our league," said Shepas. "He's the best teammate, the best practice player, the best everything."
But there would be no stirring comeback for the Yellow Jackets in this game. Swallow would play better in the final 30 minutes, the offensive line would keep Czerwien reasonably in check and W&J outscored Waynesburg 16-7 to grab the one-point win.
"I can tell you this," Sirianni said. "If we're (ranked) No. 8, they have to be No. 9."