Oct 18, 2014 4 min read

BETHANY, W.Va. – The Washington & Jefferson offense keeps lighting up scoreboards.

But, with first place in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference on the line Saturday afternoon at Bethany, the W&J defense was the key in a 34-3 victory.

The Bison had some success throughout portions of the game, but W&J (4-0, 6-0) made plays when it needed, including a big interception late in the first half from Billy Kelley on the goal line that ensured the Presidents did not give any momentum to Bethany (4-1, 5-2).

“That was a great effort defensively,” said W&J head coach Mike Sirianni. “They played lights out. Bethany is a real good team and our defense played great.”

Presidents’ quarterback Pete Coughlin was under pressure early and made a rare mistake when he was intercepted by Bethany’s Aaron Frye, giving the Bison a golden opportunity at the W&J 15-yard line.

The Bison eventually got a first-and-goal situation at the W&J 3, but the Presidents stuffed three consecutive run plays and held the Bison to a 20-yard field goal from Chris Ray.

That was the lone score for the Bison, as the Presidents reeled off 34 unanswered points.

“It was a big game,” said W&J cornerback and Canon-McMillan graduate Alec Schram. “Any goal-line stand is a huge momentum switch. I think it changed the entire game early on. If they get seven there, they have momentum early on. We showed some heart and stuffed them there, and it was big. A lot of people talk about how much better our offense is than our defense, but I think our defense earned some respect today.”

On the ensuing drive Coughlin hit for a touchdown pass Michael Giampole to give W&J a 7-3 lead.

Coughlin found Daniel Lis for a 7-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter to put an end to a lengthy 12-play drive, and W&J tacked on a Blake Davis field goal late in the second quarter for a 17-3 lead.

The big plays weren’t there in bunches this week for Coughlin, but the sophomore finished the afternoon 19-for-26 for 200 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.

Bethany had only nine first downs, and five of those came early in the first quarter. Bethany had one first down in the second half.

The Bison did have a chance to get back into the game late in the first half, but that’s when Bethany quarterback Brian Vales was intercepted by Kelley.

The Presidents came out of the locker room and looked to feature tailback Ryan Ruffing, who scored his Division III-leading 18th touchdown of the season on a 5-yard run to push the W&J lead to 24-3. He gained gained 61 of the 65 yards on the scoring drive.

“Bethany has as good of a defense as we will see all season,” said Sirianni. “Their defense scared me coming in. The big thing was getting the interception before the half and then coming right out and scoring in the third quarter. That was huge. Instead of being 17-10, its 24-3 and such a different game.”

Ruffing was a workhorse for much of the second half, finishing the afternoon with 37 carries for 157 yards and a touchdown.

“It’s been a good run so far,” said Ruffing. “Everyone is doing a great job on the offense. We are coming together more and more every week. This one is definitely on the defense though. They were great.”

Schram picked off Vales and walked into the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown to extend the Presidents lead to 31-3.

Bethany had beaten W&J last season, but there would be no repeat this time around.

“We didn’t take advantage of opportunities,” said Bethany head coach Bill Garvey. “Our defense got worn down because of our offense. When you get the ball inside the red zone, you have to score. Field goals aren’t going to get it done. Penalties continue to kill us. Give credit to W&J. They didn’t make the same mistakes. But we are still 5-2 and I told the guys that while this hurts, we still have to walk around and play like we are a 5-2 team.”