W&J closes out season with victory
W&J’s Asa Costelnock breaks away for a 59-yard touchdown reception Saturday during the second quarter.
Katie Roupe/Observer-Reporter W&J teammates celebrate with Asa Costeinock after he scored a touchdown in the first half of the game against Waynesburg on Saturday, November 14.
Katie Roupe/Observer-Reporter Waynesburg’s Kevin Barnes, Jr. catches a pass in the endzone for a touchdown during the first half of the game against W&J on Saturday, November 14.
Katie Roupe/Observer-Reporter W&J’s Pete Coughlin runs the ball 16 yards into the endzone for a touchdown during the third quarter against Waynesburg on Saturday, November 14.
Katie Roupe/Observer-Reporter W&J’s Jesse Zubik runs the ball down the field during the final seconds of the first quarter on Saturday, November 14.
This is one of the rare times since Mike Sirianni took over as head coach 13 years ago that the season ended for Washington & Jefferson College’s football team with a victory.
That’s because for 11 of those year, the Presidents were in the playoffs.
So it was with some satisfaction and a lot of introspection that the Presidents celebrated a 45-23 victory over rival Waynesburg at Cameron Stadium in a Presidents’ Athletic Conference and season finale for both teams.
W&J (6-2, 8-2) and Waynesburg (2-6, 3-7) will not be playing in the postseason, so this game had to stand for their zenith. The Presidents had too much offense and just enough defense to put the Yellow Jackets away.
Quarterback Pete Coughlin was magnificent, completing 21 of 26 passes for 370 yards and four touchdowns. He had 298 at halftime.
“It’s definitely fun to beat a rival and end the season on a win,” said Coughlin. “The past couple years we ended on a loss and it’s a somber feeling. Obviously, it’s different circumstances because it was the playoffs.”
Coughlin started slowly, losing a fumble that rolled into the end zone. He kicked the ball out of the end zone to give Waynesburg a safety. But he threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Colin Jones, a 59-yarder to Asa Costelnock and a 53-yarder to Jess Zubik to give W&J a 31-9 halftime lead.
Coughlin has thrown for 300 yards or more 11 times and three of his top four passing yardage totals have come during the past four games. Coughlin has not thrown an interception since a 38-20 loss to Thomas More six weeks ago. Only a junior, Coughlin has 6,869 yards, which is ninth in PAC history, and 60 touchdowns, eighth all-time in the conference. He has a chance to pass Brian Dawson’s mark of 10,065 and become the PAC’s career passing leader. Coughlin threw for 3,023 yards this year.
“I actually peeked at (the numbers) and saw I needed 350 to reach 3,000,” Coughlin said.
Coughlin would throw one more TD pass, a 10-yarder to Eric Scott with 13:13 to play that gave the Presidents a 45-23 lead. Zubik had eight receptions for 184 yards and a touchdown. He finished his sophomore season with 1,054 yards and nine touchdowns.
“I knew I was 130 yards short of 1,000 and I wanted to get there,” said Zubik. “I just wanted to play hard for the seniors. We wanted to send them out on a good note.”
Tailback Ryan Ruffing rushed for 147 yards on 26 carries and finished his career with 3,218 yards, sixth place on the W&J career list. His 56 career touchdowns are third in program history.
“It’s been a heck of a ride,” said Ruffing. “I was blessed with meeting these seniors and have a chance to play with them for four years. It was the time of my life.”
W&J’s seniors had a 33-10 record, three PAC titles and a win in the NCAA Division III playoffs.
“I’m happy for them,” Sirianni said. “No one can take away their three conference championships. I told them after the Case (Western) game (a 35-28 loss) that sometimes things don’t go the way you want them to. We’re two plays away from being undefeated and we didn’t make those plays.”
Waynesburg had some bright moments in the game. Freshman quarterback Jake Dougherty completed 27 of 41 passes for 252 yards and three touchdowns. His 16-yard strike to Kevin Barnes gave Waynesburg a short-lived 9-7 lead in the first quarter. The two would connect on a 29-yarder in the third quarter and Ean Lee pulled in a 44-yard scoring strike with 8:55 to play.
“I was comfortable with our game plan but I left a few more out there on the field,” said Dougherty. “I need to get better next season to where I don’t miss.”
Waynesburg was without Jerry Lawman, who was out with an injury. Jared Becker stepped in and rushed for 49 of the Yellow Jackets’ 79 rushing yards.
“We left four scores out there,” said Waynesburg head coach Rick Shepas. “That’s sort of been the story for us all year, trying to find the right mix. We’ve had so many playmakers in the past … and getting them all on the field in the right positions have been a (difficult) thing for us.”