Week off has W&J rejuvenated, ready for Saint Vincent
No team in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference needed a bye week more than Washington & Jefferson.
The Presidents (6-1, 7-1) played poorly in a loss to Westminster two weeks ago, suffering their first loss of the season and dropping into a tie with Case Western Reserve for first place in the conference.
Worse, W&J found itself in eighth place in the regional rankings, one spot ahead of Case. Winning the final two games of the season against Saint Vincent and Waynesburg will give the Presidents the automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs, but a home game doesn’t seem likely in the first round.
The week off allowed the team to catch its breath and get healthy.
“(Defensive back) Max Garda will be back and just our overall health is better,” said W&J head coach Mike Sirianni. “Our linebackers were banged up but are a lot more healthy. We needed a rest. We have a little more hitch in our step.”
During the off week, Sirianni not only had time to do some recruiting but also held tryouts for placekicker, one of the many problems on special teams.
“People seem to forget we lost 43 seniors from last year, including nearly all of our defense,” Sirianni said. “Maybe we needed to regroup and get back on track a little bit.”
Saint Vincent (1-6, 1-7) is battling it’s own demons, struggling to run the football and owning a minus-7 mark in turnover ratio. The Bearcats have used three different quarterbacks and leading rusher Mike Stasko has just 441 yards.
W&J tailback Jordan West needs 56 rushing yards to reach 1,000 for the season. Quarterback Jake Adams needs 220 passing yards to hit 2,500 and wide receiver Tim Swoope needs 121 receiving yards to reach 500.
Kickoff is 1 p.m.
California at
Seton Hill
Kickoff: Noon, Saturday
After last week’s loss to Slippery Rock, California had its playoff hopes dashed and will be playing for pride in the following two games.
There are some statistical thresholds for Cal (5-4, 4-2). Running back Nelson Brown needs 77 rushing yards to reach 1,000 for the season. Quarterback Noah Mitchell is 86 passing yards shy of 2,500. And Tyson Hill is 284 yards away from 1,000 receiving yards.
Seton Hill (1-5, 1-8) is coming off a 56-14 loss to Indiana. The Griffins have used three quarterbacks but are down to two with an injury to Ryan Barabe (90-159-6, 1,206, 8 TDs).
Mitchell Colton (62-109-4 732, 6) and Chris Jones (42-79-2 602, 4) are expected to play.
This will be the PSAC West Division finale for both teams. A crossover game awaits in Game 11.
Waynesburg at
Case Western
Kickoff: 2 p.m., Saturday
No PAC team has a tougher final two games than Waynesburg. The Yellow Jackets (4-3, 4-4) finish against the top two teams in the conference: Case Western Reserve and W&J. Both teams are 7-1 overall and 6-1 in the conference.
Waynesburg hopes to play spoiler. To do so, the Yellow Jackets’ offense needs a better game than in its 12-10 win over Saint Vincent two weeks ago. Waynesburg managed only 198 total yards.
Case Western Reserve needs to win its final two games, and hope W&J stumbles in the final two weeks. W&J defeated Case Western Reserve earlier this season and will receive the automatic bid by winning in the final two weeks.