Oct 4, 2014 4 min read

He is fast, strong and powerful, able to hit a hole with the same force that he takes on tacklers. He will be key to the game when Thomas More and Washington & Jefferson meet tonight at Cameron Stadium for a 7 p.m. kickoff in the most important Presidents’ Athletic Conference game of the season for either school.

And his name is not Domonique Hayden. It’s Ryan Ruffing.

Ruffing’s running will be critical if the Presidents (1-0, 3-0) are to defeat the Saints (2-0, 3-1) for a second consecutive season.

And it’s not just because Ruffing can gain yardage – he is tied for the lead in the NCAA Division III with 12 touchdowns – and has rushed for 515 yards in three games.

Keeping the ball in Ruffing’s hands means Hayden does not have it in his hands. And that is critical.

Hayden is the player Ruffing is tied with for the national scoring lead. Hayden is the player who rushed for 205 yards in last year’s game, a 45-21 win by the Presidents, and Hayden is the NFL prospect after his finishes this, his senior season.

“Domonique is a proven commodity and Ryan has had a great three games,” said W&J head coach Mike Sirianni. “Domonique is an NFL prospect. I’m not sure Ryan is in that discussion yet.”

The longer Ruffing – and W&J – have the ball, the more time Hayden stays on the sidelines. And the better the chances for W&J to win the game and take a large step to securing the automatic bid for the NCAA Division III playoffs that comes with winning the PAC title.

“I think both teams want to run the football,” said Thomas More head coach Jim Hilvert. “I think this game comes down to who can limit that. We have to do a good job tackling (Ruffing) and if we can contain them, we can win the game.”

Hayden scored all three touchdowns for Thomas More in last year’s game, and accumulated 268 total yards.

He set two records in last week’s 49-6 win over Westminster, rushing for a school high of 336 yards that pushed his career mark to 4,788 yards.

“We have to wrap him up and make sure we tackle him,” said W&J linebacker Jared Pratt, who leads W&J with 31 tackles. “We just have to make sure of that. It’s been a big part of our practices and we’ve picked up the intensity.”

The Presidents, coming off an open date, have scored no fewer than 48 points in the three games and average 52 in wins over Wooster, Westminster and Carnegie Mellon. Quarterback Pete Coughlin has completed 69 percent of his passes for 794 yards and seven touchdowns. He’s thrown only one interception in 198 attempts over the past two seasons.

Thomas More quarterback Jensen Gebhardt has completed 58 percent of his passes for 929 yards and eight touchdowns. He’s thrown five interceptions. Gebhardt threw for 159 yards and a TD in last year’s game.

“Gebhart has grown up a little bit,” said Hilvert. “He has a good core of wide receivers to throw to and he’s used to playing on the road. This is our fourth road game.”

The Saints only home game was last week against Westminster.

“This is the best PAC team since 2004 and maybe the best we’ve seen in the 15 or 16 years that I’ve been here,” Sirianni said. “We are heavy, heavy, heavy underdogs. … But we’re not going to say, ‘OK, you win.’ We’ll play the game and see what happens.”

Waynesburg must find a way to be more effective in the first half. The Yellow Jackets trailed Saint Vincent, 17-7, in the first half before rallying for a 34-25 win. They were behind Geneva 14-13 at halftime but went on to a 44-38 overtime victory. Last week, they were down 19-0 at halftime and lost 33-27 to Bethany.

Waynesburg (1-1, 3-1) has allowed 85 points over the past three games, including 50 in the first half.

This week’s opponent, Grove City (0-1, 0-3) has allowed 94 points since Week 1.

To keep pace in the PSAC West Division, California must handle Seton Hill and play a more consistent game than in last week’s win over Edinboro.

Cal is 2-1 in the conference, 3-1 overall, and trails West co-leaders Gannon (3-0, 4-0) and Slippery Rock (3-0, 4-0) by a game.

Cal led Edinboro, 28-0 at halftime last week but was outscored 16-6 over the final 30 minutes.

Seton Hill has lost its previous two games to West Chester and Slippery Rock, respectively, and were outscored by a combined 108-29.