Sep 24, 2015 4 min read

Funny how football seasons play out.

When Waynesburg University turned to a freshman quarterback, Jake Dougherty, most thought that would be a problem area this year.

The Yellow Jackets’ 1-2 start can be attributed to any number of things, but the quarterback play has been pretty good.

Moving the football and stopping the football have been the main problems.

“We’re not handling the momentum of the game very well,” said Waynesburg head coach Rick Shepas. “We’re working on that this week.”

Shepas will get a good idea of the progress Saturday, when the Yellow Jackets play their first home game of the season. Bethany pays a visit for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff.

Waynesburg is coming off two surprising losses, 28-21 to Saint Vincent in Week 2 and 41-24 to Geneva Saturday.

The Yellow Jackets allowed more than 400 yards in both losses, converted a combined 9 of 31 third-down situations and was outscored by a combined 28-14 in the second half of the losses.

“We have some different people in there, and there are some timing issues we’re facing,” Shepas said. “We have to get the right pieces in the right places.”

Another aggravating statistic: Waynesburg had 10 penalties for 99 yards against Saint Vincent and 8 for 100 yards against Geneva.

Dougherty has played respectable, coming off a game in which he completed 24 of 40 passes for three touchdowns, 218 yards and no interceptions. He rebounded nicely from a 16-for-34 effort that produced 189 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.

“He’s making nice progress,” Shepas said. “He’s not seeing the whole field all the time but he is throwing catchable balls. Throwing the ball 40 times is too much for us.”

Shepas does not want to get into a shootout against Bethany (0-1, 1-2), which is coming off a 38-24 loss to Westminster. The Bison also are breaking in a new quarterback, Lincon Reyes, but have all-conference wide receiver Eric Blinn, who leads the PAC with 22 receptions.

“We’re running into an athletic team,” said Shepas. “They are very athletic and everyone on the field has team speed.”

At the time, it seemed like the safe play. Shippensburg was facing fourth-and-14 at its 44-yard line and decided to punt with 46 seconds left in the first half.

California’s Aaron Terry made the Red Raiders regret the decision, returning the punt 97 yards for a touchdown that gave the Vulcans a 34-10 lead at halftime. Those points would be crucial because Cal would not score again in a 34-26 win.

Terry ended with 120 yards on three punt returns. The 120 yards are a career high and his punt return is the longest since 2002.

“I’m best at returning punts,” said Terry, a 5-11 junior. “There is not much of a secret returning punts. You just run north and south. The goal is to get at least 10 to 15 yards.”

Terry is averaging 30.5 yards per punt return, tops in the PSAC, after averaging 12.5 yards on 18 returns last season.

“When the ball is in the air, I look out of the corner of my eye to see if my teammates are attached to (an opponent),” Terry said. “I catch the ball and make a move. There is not much to a punt return, just try to hit a seam.”

Coming out of Chesapeake High School in Pasadena, Md., Terry committed to Duke but had to change plans.

“My SAT scores weren’t high enough,” he said.

Eventually, Terry found his way to Cal, where he started as a freshman at cornerback.

Terry will look for more big plays this week at Edinboro as PSAC West Division play begins. Four teams – Slippery Rock, Mercyhurst, Gannon and Clarion – are off to 3-0 starts.

The Fighting Scots are 0-3, the second straight season they lost the first three games. Quarterback Jake Sisson is averaging 205 passing yards and the Fighting Scots are in the bottom half of the league in nearly every major statistic.

“We have to win this game,” said Terry. “I think we can win the conference championship and be a Final Four team.”

Washington & Jefferson, ranked 12th by d3football.com, has a bye week to prepare for the biggest game of the season: at No. 14 Thomas More.

W&J is coming off a 38-14 victory over Carnegie Mellon and Thomas More routed Thiel, 60-12.

Thomas More plays Westminster this week.