Quattrone could be key for W&J
If Washington & Jefferson College’s football team is going to be success in its NCAA Division III first-round playoff game at Centre, three things must happen:
1. The offense must move the ball and score they way it can. The Presidents are averaging nearly 40 points per game. Coming close to that total is a must.
2. Special teams must play its best game of the season. That includes no long returns, making all extra points and reasonable field goal attempts.
3. Zac Quattrone can’t miss the team bus to Danville, Ky.
Quattrone, a 6-2, 190-pound senior from Serra Catholic, leads the Presidents with six interceptions and is tied for second on the team with 61 tackles. He has three pass breakups and recovered a fumble.
W&J (9-1) needs Quattrone to come up big from his strong safety position in order to stop the Colonels.
“Defense is going to determine this game,” said Quattrone. “We have to make some stops and the offense has to do its thing. I think this game comes down to defense.”
Centre’s offense averages 41 points per game, quarterback Tanner Young has similar stats to his W&J counterpart, Jacob Adams. Centre’s top wide receiver Jaylon Hibbs is having a similar year to W&J’s Andrew Wolf with 52 receptions for 1,076 yards and 12 touchdowns.
“(Their offense) is nothing we haven’t seen before,” Quattrone said. “They have good running backs and alright receivers. They have a lot of seniors (31).”
Quattrone has honed his game going against Adams, Wolf and the 1-2 punch of running backs Jordan West and E.J. Thompson in practice.
W&J has a plus-5 turnover ratio, thanks in part to 17 interceptions. Quattrone has two returns for touchdowns. Those type of plays swing games.
Centre knows that too well. In its only loss of the season, a 38-35 overtime stunner to Berry, the Colonels turned the ball over four times, including three times in the red zone and once in the end zone.
“I don’t want to take anything away from them. Berry was better than us on that Saturday,” said Centre head coach Andy Frye. “You can play an average teams and with four turnovers you are in a game. When you’re in the red zone, you want to come away with scores. Four times, we came away with nothing. … If we can clean that up, then I think we’re the better team. We weren’t that Saturday.”
W&J came into the regular-season finale against rival Waynesburg struggling to find its game. A loss to Westminster was followed two weeks later, thanks to a bye, with a sluggish performance against Saint Vincent.
“They are really explosive and fast,” said W&J head coach Mike Sirianni. “We have to eliminate their big plays and make them drive the ball. I don’t know if we can win a 41-something game. We’re going to have to win a game like we did against Johns Hopkins last year, a 31-28, 27-24 game. We’re going to try to keep the game close and win it in the fourth quarter.”
Notes: Kickoff is at noon. … The winner of this game plays either Denison or No. 1 Mount Union next week. … W&J defensive tackle Jeffrey Oxner will miss the first half of the game to fulfill a four-quarter suspension from a targeting call against Waynesburg last week. … The two schools met in an NCAA playoff game last year, in field hockey. Centre won, 3-2, eliminating W&J.