Hill comes off record day for Waynesburg
Carter Hill has been in some offensive shootouts before, mostly while playing at Crestview High School in Columbiana, Ohio.
His performance Saturday against Frostburg State was rare for the diverse offense at Waynesburg University. It certainly was needed as Hill passed for a school record-483 yards and three touchdowns in a 59-49 victory in a game that had six lead changes.
Hill’s effort kept the Yellow Jackets undefeated through two games and put some concern into the coaches at Saint Vincent trying to plan for Saturday’s game at Wiley Stadium.
“Once I got on a roll, I felt like we could break the game open,” said Hill, a junior who took over the starting job last season. “I don’t know that I’ve been in a back-and-forth, back-and-forth game like that before. The incredible thing was that I had 53 attempts and only two sacks. My offensive line deserves a lot of credit.”
Hill completed 38 passes and did not throw an interception. Andrew English and Bernie Thompson caught most of what Hill had to offer. English grabbed 13 passes for 157 yards and Thompson, who caught the game-winner in a Week 1 win over Muskingum, had 10 receptions for 173 yards.
“Our receivers had a real good week of practice,” Hill said. “I have a lot of confidence in them. They caught everything I threw.”
Still, Waynesburg’s running game remained sluggish, producing 73 yards on 38 carries.
“We’ve made it a point to get our running game going,” Hill said. “Coaches always say that we need to take advantage of what the defense give us. That’s what we did.”
When the season began, Mike Sirianni believed the Washington & Jefferson College defense would be quick, active, aggressive and effective.
Well, three out of four isn’t bad.
The Presidents do have a defense that is quick, active and aggressive but not effective in a 42-21 loss to St. John Fisher. The Presidents gave up a whopping 733 total yards and touchdown plays of 87, 39 and 44 yards.
“Our defense was terrible,” Sirianni said. “It was a combination of them having a lot talent and us playing bad. It surprised me a little bit. I thought we were better than that. It’s my fault.”
St. John Fisher gained 280 yards on the ground and 453 through the air. To make matters worse, the Presidents fumbled four times, losing one, and quarterback Matt Bliss threw an interception.
Bliss won’t throw an interception this week because he is not expected to play when W&J travels to Grove City in the PAC opener for both teams. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Bliss has a sprained knee ligament and is probably out for two or three weeks.
“We fumbled at the six and gave up a 93-yard drive,” Sirianni said. “We don’t deserve to win a game when we play like that. Grove City is a good football team, maybe the best we’ll play all year.”
The Wolverines are 2-0 and W&J is 1-1.
Cal opens PSAC West Conference play against an Edinboro team the Vulcans have defeated eight times in a row.
Cal is coming off a 45-10 rout of Kutztown in a PSAC crossover game. Edinboro fell to Bloomsburg 47-35, thanks in part to five turnovers.
The Vulcans are looking to go 3-0. Kickoff is 3:30 p.m