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Sirianni's decision bold, daring, correct
Maybe it would be hard to convince Mike Sirianni that it was, but his gamble at the end of Saturday's playoff loss to North Carolina Wesleyan was a good one.
Sirianni, the Presidents' head coach, went for a fake on the extra-point kick in the first overtime. W&J trailed, 35-34, at the time and the Presidents' extra-point and field-goal attempts had been an adventure against the fast North Carolina Wesleyan defense.
So Sirianni called for a fake. The snap went to the holder, Justin Schmotzer, who flipped the ball over his shoulder to Chuck Grabner, W&J's placekicker. Grabner was tackled at the three-yard line by safety Jezreel Davis, who on this occasion was not rushing in to block the kick.
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After the game, Sirianni said he apologized to the team and blamed himself for the loss.
He was being too hard on himself.
If you were paying attention, W&J's special teams, and the kicking game in particular, were awful. North Carolina Wesleyan nearly blocked the extra-point attempt on W&J's first touchdown.
The Battling Bishops did block the second, and only a spectacular play by Grabner to run down Reshard Patterson stopped North Carolina Wesleyan from returning the blocked kick for two points.
Finally, Davon Collins blocked a 22-yard field goal by Grabner with 3:07 to play. Again, W&J was fortunate that block didn't turn into a touchdown when Collins picked the ball up at about the 15. He turned upfield and nothing was in his way to the goal line except a lot of artificial turf. But his foot slipped and he fell to the turf.
After the Presidents matched the Bishops' touchdown in overtime, the extra-point was going to be anything but routine. Sirianni was counting on the Bishops to send everyone to block the kick. What he didn't know was the defensive surge would come up the middle, not from the outside, and not everyone was involved.
Sirianni said after the game he should have gone for two points but not tried a trick play.
The guess here is that it would not have worked. Keeping the offense on the field would have eliminated the element of surprise. Throwing or running the ball in such close quarters would be difficult against the faster and quicker Battling Bishops' defense.
If Wesleyan head coach Jack Ginn had decided to pressure the kick from the outside, Grabner could have trotted into the end zone and the Presidents would have at least one more week left in their season.
You can call Sirianni's decision to fake the kick bold, risky or daring.
Just don't call it a bad decision.
Assistant sports editor Joe Tuscano can be reached at jtuscano@observer-reporter.com
