Oct 19, 2024 By Joe Tuscano 3 min read

What a difference a couple of weeks make.

After what seemed like a devastating loss to Carnegie Mellon, Washington & Jefferson College’s football team thought they might not get a chance to revive their opportunity to capture the Presidents’ Athletic Conference title.

Then CMU was beaten by Grove City, and suddenly the Presidents controlled their destiny again with Saturday’s game against the Wolverines at Cameron Stadium.

This time, W&J would take advantage, gaining a 27-19 victory over No. 7 Grove City in PAC action.

“I got asked this week by one of our reporters why haven’t you won a big game lately,” said W&J head coach Mike Sirianni. “It pissed me off. But you lost a fumble in the beginning, then lost another one and you get a penalty for jumping over (the up man) on a punt. So maybe you start thinking you’re snakebit.”

Grove City has beaten Carnegie Mellon six of the last seven times the two teams have played. Case Western is still undefeated but has games remaining with W&J, Grove City, Westminster and Carnegie Mellon.

“Give our kids credit,” Sirianni said. “They made the plays at the end. And it showed we were not snakebit. We just have to make plays.”

Quarterback Jacob Pugh completed 26-of-40 pass attempts for 279 yards and three touchdowns.

“A win over a quality opponent, No. 7 in the country, it was a huge win,” said Pugh. “This was a great team win. This just means we have an opportunity to play for something. We’re probably going to see them again. We probably have the two best receivers in the conference.”

Jacob Macosko led W&J with 13 catches for 162 yards and two touchdown receptions in the second quarter that gave W&J a 20-16 lead.

“It was a big win,” Macosko said. “It kept our season alive,” Macosko said. “We lost a close one to CMU, so we knew we had to have this one. We wanted to change the culture, flip the script.”

The Presidents held a 20-16 lead at halftime and Macosko was the reason why. Macosko, a Peters Township graduate, won a jump ball over the cornerback both times for touchdown receptions. The first one covered seven yards, and the second came from 14 yards out with 40 seconds left in the half.

Grove City had opened a 16-6 lead when Nico Flati burst over from the goal line from six yards and Daniel Sullivan booted a 42-yard field goal.

The Wolverines set up their first touchdown when Caleb Brubaker recovered a fumble off a reception by wide receiver John Peduzzi and returned it to the 10. Four plays later, Logan Pfeuffer, a graduate of Peters Township High School, snuck it in from the one on a fourth-down play.

A little more than four minutes later, Peduzzi made a nice catch from Pugh for a 10-yard score. Both teams’ kickers missed the extra-point attempts.

“We proved the last two years, we can play with anybody,” said Grove City head coach Andrew DiDonato. “I credit W&J. They were the better team.”