West, W&J make ‘Case’ for best in PAC
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Washington & Jefferson running back Jordan West celebrates after scoring one of his six touchdowns Saturday against Case Western. The Washington High School graduate had 339 total yards.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
W&J’s Andrew Wolf breaks up a potential interception by Case Western’s Brett Carney during Saturday afternoon’s game at Cameron Stadium.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
W&J’s Mike Williams, left, Jeffery Oxner, right, and Cody Milsom tackle Case Western quarterback Drew Saxton, a South Fayette graduate, during Saturday’s game.
W&J’s Tim Swoope celebrates a touchdown by Jordan West in the second quarter.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Case Western Reserve’s Drew Saxton
Washington & Jefferson is making its 26th appearance in the postseason.
Jordan West had a season’s worth of yardage in one game.
And it could not have come at a better time.
West, a Washington High School graduate, had 339 total yards and scored six touchdowns to lead Washington & Jefferson College to a 44-36 victory over Case Western Reserve at Cameron Stadium Saturday afternoon.
The victory kept the Presidents (5-0, 6-0) in first place in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference. Case Western Reserve fell to 4-1, including 3-1 in the conference.
West’s huge game overshadowed the homecoming of Drew Saxton. The South Fayette High School graduate passed for 414 yards and five touchdowns.
West and Saxton accounted for 11 of the 12 scoring plays in the game. West became the first Presidents’ player to account for every score for W&J since Jesse Zubik caught six touchdown passes in a 37-29 win over Thomas More last season at Cameron Stadium. Zubik caught 11 passes for 332 yards in against the Saints last year.
“It’s a great team win,” said West. “It’s important to the team. It’s what we needed to do. The line opened up great holes for me to run. Jake hit me on a few passes when I was open. It was just a great team effort.”
West ran the ball 20 times for 181 yards and scored on runs of eight and 98 yards. The latter run came with 3:38 to play and one play after cornerback Zack Queen intercepted Saxton at the W&J two-yard line.
The 98-yard TD run was the longest in W&J history and second-longest in PAC history. The longest was 99 yards in 1956 by a Western Reserve player against Case Tech in 1956. The two schools merged in 1970.
“I never had a 98-yard run,” said West. “It was one of the best feelings. We were pinned on our own 2. Jake Cullen gave me a block. After that, there was no one there.”
Saxton, who won the starting quarterback job as a true freshman, completed 29 of 44 passes. His 9-yard scoring pass to Luke DiFrancesco and subsequent two-point conversion pass to Joey Spitalli cut W&J’s lead to eight points, 44-36, with 1:24 remaining in the game.
Case Western, out of timeouts, tried an onside kick but W&J’s Andrew Wolf recovered and the Presidents ran out the clock.
“We played a good game against a really, really, really good team,” said Saxton. “Obviously, we made some mistakes and we have to fix those.
“It was cool coming home, but it’s not technically home because you’re somewhere else. But it was fun, a cool game.”
Colton Morgan, a 6-5, 195-pound sophomore, was Saxton’s favorite target. The two teamed up for touchdown passes of 25, 6, 37 and 4 yards. Morgan had 13 catches for 190 yards.
“He is a special player,” said Case Western Reserve head coach Gregg Debeljak of Saxton. “It wasn’t his best game but, boy, he made a ton of plays. I don’t know of too many quarterbacks who can do what he did today.”
Saxton’s counterpart, Jacob Adams, had a strong day, completing 22 of 35 passes for 291 yards and four touchdowns. His longest was 75 yards to West one play after Case Western Reserve cut W&J’s lead to 30-28 early in the fourth quarter.
The only score of the game that did not involve West or Saxton was Adam Napotnik’s 30-yard field goal that came as the first half ended and gave W&J a 16-14 lead.
Strong safety Zac Quattrone had one of Saxton’s two interception and it came on a freakish play. Saxton looked to have completed the pass to wide receiver Mario Robaina with Quattrone step-for-step. Quattrone yanked the ball away from Robaina, ending a fourth-quarter drive by Case.
Quattrone finished with 11 tackles. Cole Weston and Mike Williams each had a fumble recovery and the Presidents sacked Saxton four times.
“We knew (Saxton) was good and didn’t have many interceptions on the year, we were try to cloud cover their wide receivers and make plays on the ball,” Quattrone said. “He is a good quarterback. He’s going to be good for the next few years. He has a good arm and makes good reads.”
Notes
Punter Jacob Sarver raced 20 yards for a first down after escaping a rush by Case defenders. … Joey Koroly and Wolf each had 42-yard kickoff returns for W&J. … Peters Township graduate Tim Swoope had five receptions for 67 yards for the Presidents.