Nov 26, 2017 3 min read

It’s very easy to become blasé with success.

Just ask the critics of the Pittsburgh Steelers or New England Patriots or Alabama Crimson Tide.

Heck, there are probably people in Alliance, Ohio, critical of some part of Mount Union’s success in NCAA Division III.

If you are unfamiliar with that football program, success means 780 victories, 12 Division III championships and 27 conference titles.

So it’s important to appreciate another outstanding season by Washington & Jefferson.

The Presidents went 10-0 in the regular season, were co-champions in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference, earned the automatic bid for the postseason and made it to the round of 16 before being eliminated by a strong Frostburg team, 46-23, Saturday at Cameron Stadium.

This was the most senior-laden team in Mike Sirianni’s 15 seasons as head coach with 40 players sticking it out for four seasons, many of whom received minimal playing time.

One of those seniors, Alex Rowse, waited three years before winning the starting quarterback position. Rowse had a strong year, throwing for 2,637 yards and 27 touchdowns. Three of his 14 interceptions came against Frostburg.

Senior wide receiver Jesse Zubik had another phenomenal record-setting season, catching 84 passes for 1,408 yards and 17 touchdowns. Those numbers made him a semifinalist for the Gagliardi Trophy, given to the best player in Division III football. His eye-popping career numbers were 291, 4,756 and 54.

The defense – led by seniors Tom Marra at end, Nick Murgo, and Dalton Day at linebacker, Luke Merhaut at safety and O’Shea Anderson at cornerback- was easily the best in the last four years. W&J got its first shutout since 2012.

Sirianni downplayed a remarkable achievement at the end of the season. After defeating Waynesburg in Week 10, Sirianni became the winningest coach in the program’s history. John Luckhardt held that spot after going 137-37-2 in 17 seasons. Sirianni stands at 139-31-0 after this 11-1 season.

Luckhardt had the distinction of being the winningest head coach at two colleges in the same county, a rare feat. Luckhardt still tops the list at California University at 88-33 in 10 seasons.

At some point, Sirianni’s success at W&J is going to be noticed and he might be overwhelmed with an offer from another school. He has a tremendous mind for building an offense and this was his best effort constructing a defense.

Depending on the bracket, a small school such as W&J probably won’t advance much further in the playoffs than a couple rounds. Mount Union will be waiting at some point and some schools in the division – especially in Wisconsin – have enrollments almost as large as Pitt. That makes for a larger pool to select players.

When you consider that, and the high academic standards of schools in the PAC, establishing a successful program in any sport is an accomplishment worth cheering for.

Assistant Sports Editor Joe Tuscano can be reached at jtuscano@observer-reporter.com