Apr 4, 2020 5 min read

Today’s “When Sports Were Played” goes back to Nov. 21, 1987, when W&J’s victory over Allegheny in the NCAA Division III football playoffs was made memorable because of a thrilling late-game comeback and a snow storm that left the field almost unplayable.

MEADVILLE – If they are not destiny’s darlings, then they disguise themselves better than the “Man of 1,000 Faces.”

The Washington & Jefferson College football team has done it again. The Presidents rallied from an eight-point deficit with 50 seconds left to capture an unbelievable 23-17 overtime victory against Allegheny in an NCAA Division III first-round playoff game Saturday afternoon on the Gators frost-bitten and snow-covered Andrew W. Robertson Memorial Field.

W&J needed a six-play, 56-yard drive in the final moments of regulation to tie the game. The Presidents scored on a 27-yard, game-tying touchdown reception by A.J. Pagano with 12 seconds to play in the game. He then grabbed the two-point conversion pass. Then, it was all W&J in overtime.

The Presidents won the toss and elected to play defense. Under NCAA playoff rules, the offensive team has four downs to score either a touchdown or field goal starting from the opponent’s 25-yard line. The opposition then takes its turn.

W&J’s turn came quickly. The Presidents (10-0) stuffed Allegheny on its first two overtime plays. And then Arnold Tarpley intercepted a John Logue pass to give W&J the ball.

Pagano carried for five yards on the first play and then fullback Rick France gained four yards.

After Pagano picked up the first down on a three-yard run, France barreled his way past the line of scrimmage and pranced through the Gator secondary into the end zone for the win. It was W&J’s third last-minute comeback of the season.

“Things weren’t very bright,” said W&J head coach John Luckhardt. “This group of youngsters have shown a great deal of resiliency. And whether we won or not, we saw two teams that were valiant and played very hard for as long as they had to.”

The victory moves the Presidents into the Southern Region finals next Saturday against Emory & Henry, a 49-7 winner over Ferrum Saturday.

Because of the treacherous weather conditions in Meadville, the kickoff was delayed 15 minutes. The game was played in eight inches of snow with the wind-chill factor of minus-20.

Just seconds before W&J’s game-tying drive in regulation, the Gators scored on a TD run by sophomore tailback Dave Brown to take a 17-9 lead.

The score was set up when Pagano fumbled for the fourth time in the game, this time on a kickoff return. Allegheny, which ends the season with a 9-1-1 mark, took a 10-9 lead with only 2:52 to play when Logue hit Brown with a four-yard scoring pass.

With W&J leading 9-3, the Gators go-ahead score came on a third-and-10 play from the W&J 17. A pass by Logue was broken up by the W&J secondary but the back judge ruled the Presidents’ Todd Ulery interfered with an Allegheny receiver.

“The referee said Todd bumped him on the back,” Tarpley said. “I don’t think it was interference.”

The Presidents, who despite committing six turnovers managed to outgain the Gators, 368-209, had a number of near misses in the game.

Freshman John Ivory missed three field goals in the first half. The first, a 45 yarder was short. The second attempt, from 32 yards, hit the right upright and bounced back, and the third try, from 47 yards, sailed just to the right.

Allegheny missed a few opportunities, too. The Gators missed a chance at an early field goal, when a bad snap sailed over kicker Sean Ward’s head. Ward missed a field goal in the first half, and Logue, attempting a fake field goal, was stopped short of the goal line to end the first half.

Despite the scoreless first half, the Presidents found success through the passing of junior Pat Aigner and receiving of junior tight end Andy Pacak.

Aigner finished with 248 yards passing, completing 19 of 36. Pacak, who has caught at least one pass in eight consecutive games, ended the game with five receptions for 47 yards.

“We didn’t feel the surface was that bad as far as footing in the passing game,” said Pacak. “We found our being able to throw would be a big advantage for us.”

“Pat’s had a super season,” Luckhardt said. “He’s performed at an All-American level all season. He was throwing a melon ball on a frozen tundra. He threw the ball in position for us to make great catches.”

W&J broke on top of the game with 3:32 left in the third quarter, when Pagano scored on a 2-yard run. It extended his scoring streak to 16 games.

It was also the only points of the first three quarters. But the snow finally stopped falling in the fourth quarter and it was an explosive show.

“I can’t imagine there being a better or more intense football game,” said Allegheny head coach Peter Vaas. “Maybe both teams were a little tight at the beginning. Maybe they have to get used to the conditions. I don’t know why things changed.

“I don’t have any disappointment. I think if we would have gotten blown out, I’d be disappointed. But our kids should walk proud.”

Ward pulled the Gators to within three at 6-3 when he made a 41-yard field goal.

The Presidents had a chance to put the game away midway through the fourth with a first-and-goal from the Allegheny four. But the Gators hung tough and forced Ivory to kick a 28-yard field goal.