jtuscano@observer-reporter.com

It was a call that could have come right out of Las Vegas, a high-stakes gamble that any football coach would be hesitant to make.

But head coach Mike Sirianni thought it would work.

So after Washington & Jefferson College's football team matched the touchdown scored by North Carolina Wesleyan in the first overtime, Sirianni decided to go for the win, not the tie, by trying a fake extra-point attempt.

The Battling Bishops held a 35-34 lead at that point and most of the 1,920 fans at Cameron Stadium Saturday thought W&J would kick the extra point and move on to the second overtime.

Maybe Sirianni's strategy was forged from the memory of a blocked extra point in the second quarter or a blocked field goal late in the fourth.

Anyway, the high snap from center went into the hands of holder Justin Schmotzer, who flipped the ball over his shoulder to placekicker Chuck Grabner. North Carolina Wesleyan head coach Jack Ginn couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"I've been to W&J (as a coach) five times and I'm still waiting for the sun to shine," Ginn would joke after the game.

Well, this time the clouds opened and the rays of light poured through when Wesleyan safety Jezreel Davis tackled Grabner three yards shy of the goal line.

North Carolina Wesleyan had a thrilling and improbable 35-34 victory in the first round of the NCAA Division III playoffs.

Not only was this Wesleyan's first playoff victory in the program's four-year existence, it also was the first time a No. 8 seed defeated a No. 1 since the playoffs expanded to 32 teams three years ago.

"It was my call," said Sirianni. "I'm sick to my stomach. After the game, I apologized to the kids."

W&J, champions of the Presidents' Athletic Conference and making its 19th playoff appearance, saw its seasonend with a 10-1 record.

North Carolina Wesleyan (9-2), winner of the USA South Conference, will travel to No. 4-seed Mary Hardin-Baylor next Saturday for a second-round game.

"I've been with these kids for four years," said Ginn. "You just don't know what's going to happen. They have done some big things in a short time, but you have to put this at the top of the list."

North Carolina Wesleyan's special teams hurt W&J when linebacker Justin Augustin blocked an extra point in the second quarter and teammate Reshard Patterson picked it up and headed the opposite way. Grabner ran him down just past midfield to save two points.

On the ensuing kickoff, Bryan Haywood broke through the left side and raced 87 yards for a touchdown that gave the Battling Bishops a 14-13 halftime lead.

"After that kickoff return, I thought we were going to win," Ginn said. "We knew their defense had to be getting tired. The pressure had to be on them because they were the No. 1 seed. The longer the game went, the better I felt."

Wesleyan might have turned it into a rout but the Bishops were battling their own demons. A 37-yard field goal by Brian Vaughn hit the upright on their first drive. And Vaughn would be wide left on a 29-yarder with one second to play that would have won the game. As it was, regulation ended in a 28-28 tie.

"It was well within his range," Ginn said. "He just had a bad kick."

When Wesleyan's defense held W&J to a field-goal attempt after the Presidents started first-and-goal at the two, Grabner tried a 22-yarder but Dave Collins blocked it, then picked it up at the 12 with nothing in front of him except turf. But Collins slipped and fell at the NCW 14.

In the first overtime, NCW quarterback Cedric Townsend nearly fumbled the game away. On second-and-one at the 16, Townsend was stripped of the ball but managed to fall on it for an eight-yard loss. But Townsend hit Haywood with a 21-yard pass on the next play, then ran it over from three yards to give the Bishops a 35-28 lead.

Dave Ravida caught a five-yard pass from quarterback Bobby Swallow on W&J's first possession of overtime and Kevin Mathews broke a 14-yard run to the six on the second. Two plays later, Ravida caught a two-yard touchdown to bring the Presidents within 35-34.

"I talked to the coaches and I told them I wanted to (fake) it," Sirianni said. "Some of them thought it wasn't a good idea. I would have still gone for two but I would have run it off a play."

The ending ruined a great performance by Swallow and split end Tom McCafferty. The two hooked up for three touchdown passes. A 24-yarder opened the scoring, a 13-yarder gave W&J a 13-7 lead in the second quarter, and a 19-yarder put the Presidents up 21-14 in the third quarter. McCafferty caught nine passes for 147 yards.

Haywood only gained 21 rushing yards but scored twice. The first came on a one-yard run in the first quarter, and the second came on a three-yard run with 11:25 to play that tied the game, 28-28.

Townsend rushed for 97 yards on 23 carries and completed 19 of 29 passes for 221 yards.

Swallow completed 25 of 39 passes for 265 yards and four touchdowns. He ended the season with 46 touchdowns and only three interceptions. Mathews led all runners with 103 yards on 24 carries.

"It was (disappointing) the way we went out," McCafferty. "These guys are my best friends and I would go to war with them any day of the week."

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