Garibay’s dramatic field goal saves day for W&J
Washington & Jefferson's Cody Hearst celebrates a touchdown against Johns Hopkins during the third quarter of the Presidents’ Division III playoff game against Johns Hopkins at Cameron Stadium.
W&J’s Mauricio Garibay celebrates a 46 yard field goal that secured the win over Johns Hopkins.
Holly Tonini/ Observer-Reporter
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
W&J’s Zach Royba celebrates the Presidents’ win over Johns Hopkins.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
W&J’s Jordan West (26) drives across the goal line to score a against John Hopkins Saturday.
Facing fourth down and 14 from the Johns Hopkins’ 29-yard line, Mike Sirianni had a decision to make.
Washington & Jefferson was in a tie game with Johns Hopkins with less than a minute to play in regulation.
Sirianni, the Presidents’ head coach, had a number of options, including:
- Using the right arm of quarterback Alex Rowse to get a first down.
- Handing it off to Jordan West and hope he breaks free
- Punt the football, which would almost certainly lead to overtime.
But Sirianni had another choice in mind and, remembering the advice his brother gave, sent out Mauricio Garibay to try a 46-yard field goal.
Garibay is a freshman placekicker with a basketball-type body and a soccer background. He was also going through a frustrating season making any type of kick and had lost his job to Josh Hnat.
As the skeptical crowd looked on, Garibay set himself, then propelled his leg into the football, sending a twisting line drive to the goal post.
The football smacked the crossbar near the middle of the uprights and bounced over.
Garibay’s 46-yard field goal with 57 seconds left to play gave W&J a thrilling 31-28 victory over Johns Hopkins in the first round of the NCAA Division III playoffs at Cameron Stadium on a rainy Saturday afternoon.
The win propels the Presidents (11-0) to the second round against Frostburg, which defeated Wittenburg. The time and site is to be determined, but it is expected to be played at Cameron Stadium Saturday.
Garibay, who came to W&J from St. Lawrence High School near Chicago, made 25 of 33 extra-point attempts and two of his four field goals this season. The weather was rainy, not ideal conditions to kick in. Sirianni has shown a propensity to go for it on fourth down, a strategy his brother Nick, the wide receivers coach for the Los Angeles Chargers, didn’t agree with.
“We’ve struggled kicking the ball all year,” said Sirianni. “I get a phone call every week at 9:30 on Friday while I’m doing my game plan from (Nick). This week the conversation was, ‘Why are you going for it on fourth-and-18 from your 20-yard line all the time?’ … He said your odds of making a field goal even with your youngest daughter kicking is better than you making a first down. That’s why we kicked it, because of that conversation.”
Garibay, who said his longest field goal made in practice was 55 yards, was told on third down by Sirianni that he was going to kick a field goal.
“I was just trying to stay composed,” said Garibay. “I have that range. I was confident. I just had to make sure I got the ball there. I never lost my confidence. If I wasn’t kicking the ball, then I just worked harder. I really want to get that spot back.”
It was the fifth-longest field goal in program history, and the longest since 1995.
Arguably, the second biggest play of the game came from W&J senior cornerback O’Shea Anderson, who intercepted a David Tammaro pass at the W&J 4-yard line with 7:20 to play. Johns Hopkins had just scored 14 points in 1:21 to take a 28-21 lead. W&J tied it on a 12-yard pass from Rowse to Jesse Zubik. It was Anderson’s seventh interception of the season.
“Our coaches were yelling from the sideline, ‘Watch the slant. Watch the slant,” said Anderson. “I jumped the route and made a good play on it. We were both tugging for the ball but I made a play for our team.”
“We were running a quick post and the ball was thrown low. They both made a play on it and (Anderson) made a heck of a play,” said JHU head coach Jim Margraff.
Rowse was making his first start after missing three games with a shoulder injury. The senior completed 36 of 61 passes for 391 yards and three touchdowns. He also was intercepted three times.
Three W&J receivers passed the 100-yard mark. Zubik caught nine for 114 and two touchdowns, Brandon Barnes snagged nine for 103 and Cody Hearst had eight for 101 yards and a TD. W&J rolled up 512 yard and the two teams combined for 938 on 183 plays.
“To not play for four weeks and come out and complete 36 passes for nearly 400 yards is pretty special,” said Sirianni.
The game was tied three times in the second half after W&J built a 14-6 halftime lead. Tammaro completed 23 of 50 passes for 265 yards and a touchdown. After Garibay’s field goal, Johns Hopkins got the ball back but Tammaro was sacked three straight times, six total for the game.
“I don’t know if we played our best football game,” said Margraff. “I’m sure we’ll look back and see things we could have done a little bit different. W&J forced us into those things. Overall, it was a terrific football game and what you expect in the first round of the playoffs.”