W&J dominates rival Waynesburg to earn PAC title
W&J’s Dion Wiegand rushed for 137 yards and scored a touchdown in the Presidents’ win over Waynesburg Saturday.
W&J’s Sam Comly celebrates with Curtis Hughes after Comly nabbed an interception during the second half of the game against Waynesburg.
W&J’s Alec Schram tackles Waynesburg’s Mike Ferraro after Ferraro failed to catch the pass during the first half of the game.
W&J’s Dan Graziano celebrates with B.J. Monacelli after Graziano recovered a fumbled ball from Waynesburg doing the second half of the game on Saturday, November 16.
Waynesburg wide receiver Tim Cooper holds up the football while looking for the signal from the referee after he scored a touchdown in the first quarter.
Waynesburg’s quarterback Carter Hill threw a school-record 64 passes.
It was a different set of challenges in this game but the same result as last year.
In the most important game of the regular season, Washington & Jefferson College’s football team got off to a slow start, lost its starting quarterback in the first quarter and failed to convert two good scoring opportunities in the first half.
But behind a strong defensive effort and another crucial special teams return for a touchdown, the Presidents outscored their arch-rival Waynesburg by three touchdowns over the final 30 minutes to roll to a 38-13 victory Saturday at Cameron Stadium that secured a berth in the NCAA Division III playoffs.
W&J is now 7-1 in in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference, 8-2 overall, and tied for first place with Thomas More. The Presidents receive the automatic playoff bid, thanks to a 45-21 victory Oct. 12 that began what is now a five-game winning streak.
The NCAA will release the Division III pairings at 6 p.m. today on a web broadcast at www.ncaa.com.
This is the 23rd time in W&J history that the Presidents have won or shared the PAC title, and it is the 23rd time over the last 30 years they have participated in a playoff game.
“I don’t care who we get,” said W&J head coach Mike Sirianni. “I just want to win some games.”
Last year, W&J handed Waynesburg its only loss of the season and erased its playoff hopes with a 31-14 victory. It sent the Presidents into the playoffs for the first time in five years.
W&J will enter these playoffs without quarterback Matt Bliss, who left the game with just under two minutes to play in the first quarter with a concussion. Sirianni said Bliss, a senior, will not play the remainder of the season.
“It’s a shame,” said Sirianni. “His health is more important than football. Matt will go down as one of the best quarterbacks here. His name should be with those like Chris Edwards, Brian Dawson, Bobby Swalllow and Jason Baer. He’s definitely in that group somewhere. I’m proud of him, but this is a tough situation for him.”
Bliss left after being sacked by Brandon Fedorka, one of two in the game for the Waynesburg defensive end. W&J was trailing Waynesburg, 7-6, at the time, but went on to outscore the Yellow Jackets, 32-6, over the final three quarters.
Pete Coughlin, a freshman from Upper St. Clair High School, replaced Bliss and completed five of eight passes for 71 yards and did not throw an interception.
“When Matt went down, I wanted to get ready as quickly as possible,” said Coughlin. “I knew there was always this chance. I had a little bit of butterflies because I knew there was a lot on the line. The PAC championship was at stake, and this could have been the last game for the seniors. I didn’t want to make it their last game.”
Coughlin settled in after completing a 23-yard pass on W&J’s next series, the first of the second quarter, and made a nine-yard run to the one. Dion Wiegand went over on the next play to give W&J a 14-10 lead that held up at halftime.
The play that broke the game open did not come on offense or defense, but special teams. Alex Baroffio would continue his mastery of Waynesburg when he returned a punt 59 yards for a touchdown to give W&J a 21-10 lead five plays into the second half.
“The momentum swung on that punt return,” said Waynesburg head coach Rick Shepas.
“It was a huge momentum play on both sides,” said Sirianni. “This all goes to putting your better players on special teams,” Sirianni said. “He can catch a pass and return a punt. If he’s going to get hurt, so be it. Alex made a big play for us.”
Baroffio would score again in the third quarter, running it in from the one-yard line from the wildcat formation to make it 31-13.
His two touchdowns gave Baroffio eight against Waynesburg in four years.
Wiegand also had two kickoff returns for touchdowns this season, one that turned the tide against Thomas More and the other that punctuated the win against Geneva last week.
Wiegand rushed 32 times for 137 yards, caught three passes for 45 and scored a touchdown.
“Waynesburg is one of the best teams in the conference,” Wiegand said. “We knew it would be a dogfight, and it was.”
Waynesburg’s running game again was unproductive. The Yellow Jackets gained just 48 yards on 18 carries, which meant junior quarterback Carter Hill would have to carry the offense. He threw 64 passes, completing 34 for 277 yards, but he was intercepted three times. Hill had just two interceptions in the first nine games. Waynesburg turned the ball over on three consecutive possessions in the second half.
“We’ve got to be a balanced offense,” said Shepas. “It’s not like we didn’t try to run. You hate to see that happen to Carter. It’s just part of the maturation process.”
Hill’s 64 attempts broke the record of 60 held by Darren Elvey in 1997 against Juniata. Hill passed Brad Dawson and moved into first place on the school’s single-season passing yards list with 2,882.
Waynesburg’s Alex Henry had two field goals, including a 24 yarder as the first half ended. … Bernie Thompson had a game-high 14 catches for 90 yards for Waynesburg. Tim Cooper had seven for 60 and Andrew English six for 58. … Safety Bryan Gary (13) and Fedorka (12) combined for 25 tackles. … W&J’s Sam Comly had a team-high nine tackles.