W&J stops Waynesburg, earns playoff spot
Observer-Reporter
W&J’s Jordan West could miss the remainder of the season with a severely sprained ankle.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Waynesburg’s Vashon Graham (23) brings down W&J’s Dominique Cheeks (87) on a play
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Waynesburg’s running back Chad Walker gets around W&J defense Saturday afternoon at John F. Wiley Stadium in Waynesburg. Walker rushed for 102 yards on 15 carriers for the Yellow Jackets.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
W&J’s Cody Milsom and Zach Queen bring down Waynesburg’s Nick Moretti on a play during Saturday’s game at John F. Wiley Stadium.
W&J’s EJ Thompson gets the carry on the ball against Waynesburg defense
WAYNESBURG – For the first time in nearly a month, Washington & Jefferson College’s football team looked like, well, what most expected this season.
Efficient, powerful, fast-paced and high-scoring.
Those elements were on display on a cold Saturday afternoon at John F. Wiley Stadium during a 33-14 victory over Waynesburg in the regular-season finale.
The victory moved W&J to 9-1 overall and 8-1 in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference. Case Western Reserve lost to Carnegie Mellon, 29-23, in overtime so W&J is the outright winner in the PAC. This is the 26th time the Presidents have shared or won outright the conference championship.
More important, the Presidents secured the automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs. W&J will learn its playoff fate this afternoon. The link to the selection show can be found on d3football.com.
Waynesburg finished the season with a 4-6 record, 4-5 in the PAC. The Yellow Jackets doubled their win total from last season.
“I’ll never take a conference championship for granted,” said W&J head coach Mike Sirianni. “We lost 41 seniors from last year, and we repeated as conference champs. I know we were preseason favorites but we lost a ton of kids. … I’ll take this any day of the week.”
W&J had been in a funk the past few weeks, losing to Westminster, 27-20, Oct. 20. Following a bye week, W&J looked ragged and out of sync early before surging late for a 33-9 victory over Saint Vincent.
But yesterday, the offense threw and ran the football well and the defense was like a stone wall, holding the Yellow Jackets to just 66 total yards and only one yard passing in the first half. That defense allowed only one score. That came when Logan Eller returned a Jake Adams interception 45 yards for a fourth quarter touchdown for Waynesburg.
W&J’s offense piled up 532 yards, more than double Waynesburg’s 226. Before he left with a hand injury in the third quarter, junior tailback Jordan West rushed for 138 yards on 20 carries. His replacement, E.J. Thompson, rumbled for 186 yards on 23 carries and scored on a 14-yard run in the fourth quarter that produced the margin of victory.
“I think I did OK but I’d like to have a few of those runs back that I felt I could have broke and scored on,” said Thompson. “It feels great to win the PAC but we have higher goals. We want another ring. So it’s get back to business.”
Adams had his best game in a month, finishing with 13 completions of 18 passes for 173 yards. He found Andrew Wolf twice for touchdowns. The first, from seven yards out, was the first score of the game. The second, a 65-yard bomb, made it 26-7 as the third quarter was coming to an end. Wolf finished with six receptions for 127 yards.
“We had trouble with them in the past so we wanted to come down here and put our foot on the gas, which we did,” said Adams. “Wolf is crazy fast and we saw what we wanted from their defense (to make those plays).”
Waynesburg quarterback Tyler Perone rallied in the second half, passing for 106 yards, and running back Chad Walker rushed for 102 yards on 15 carries.
“Give W&J credit,” said Waynesburg head coach Chris Smithley. “We wanted to play a physical football game with these guys. We wanted to be able to look each other in the eyes and say we did all we could for our job. There were some hiccups but these guys played very hard and that’s what I’m excited about.”
Notes
Jordan Taylor had Waynesburg’s other touchdown on a one-yard run in the third quarter. … W&J defensive tackle Jeffrey Oxner was ejected near the end of the third quarter for a targeting hit on Perone. … Waynesburg defensive back Andrew Brncic had a team-high 13 tackles.