Pugh has W&J’s QB spot to himself
Last season, Jacob Pugh had to catch up to pass Colt Jones for the starting quarterback position on Washington & Jefferson’s football team.
This year, things won’t be so difficult. Jones is gone, leaving W&J and not playing anywhere because of a back injury.
That leaves the job to the 5-10, 170-pound Pugh, who had nearly identical statistics to Jones last season.
“I don’t know if comfortable is the word,” said Pugh. “I think it makes it different, for sure. Last year was kind of like a race and we pushed each other to do better. Now, it’s going to be different, push yourself to be better and use my teammates as stepping stones. I don’t want to let them down so I have to be better.”
All Pugh needed to do was to find 11 points last year – five against Case Western Reserve and six against Carnegie Mellon – to assure a perfect regular season and a spot in the NCAA Division III playoffs. But the Presidents lost a 14-10 decision to Case Western Reserve and a 12-7 outcome to CMU to finish with a 9-2 record.
“It was a hard decision because Colton didn’t do anything wrong,” said head coach Mike Sirianni. “It was more that Jacob was one of our best players and we had to get him on the field.”
Pugh finished the season with a 35-18 victory over Hobart in the ECAC Asa S. Bushnell Bowl.
“Instead of rotating him, we thought maybe he is one of our best players so maybe we have to keep him on the field,” said Sirianni. “I will be forever grateful for what Colton did. Once he started playing (full time), we thought hmm, he might not be one of our best players. He might be our best player.”
Pugh completed 60 percent of his passes for 1,376 yards, 15 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Jones completed 64 percent of his passes for 1,440 yards, 11 touchdowns and six interceptions. The big difference came in running the football. Pugh rushed for 170 yards and a whopping seven touchdowns, tops on the team. Jones rushed for minus-43 yards and scored one touchdown.
“Colton had a little back problem near the end of the season,” said Sirianni. “It’s a move that will really benefit our program for the next two years.”
Pugh said he was surprised when Jones left W&J after last semester.
“He messed up his back pretty good,” Pugh said. “It was a non-contact injury. I believe he had surgery on it. That kind of forced his hand to stop playing football. We were good friends. We had fun together. I was sad to see him go.”
Pugh will have the advantage of a stacked backfield that returns junior Raymond Holmes, sophomore Troy Volpatti, junior Owen Petrisek and senior Justin Huss.
Huss entered last season as the lead back but missed most of the season with an injury. Not only is he productive running the football but is a reliable receiver out of the backfield.
John Peduzzi established himself as the go-to receiver last season, grabbing 54 passes for 915 yards and eight touchdowns.
Anthony Rosati is small in stature, 5-7 and 165, but he made some big plays. Rosati caught 48 passes for 535 yards and three touchdowns.
The Presidents were bolstered on the offensive line with the return of tackle Angelo Fratini, a Burgettstown product, and on defense with the return of Tanner Volpatti.
“Those are two fifth-year seniors,” said Sirianni. “Angelo was expected back but Tanner was a surprise. He got the itch again and we recruited him. He gets to play with his brother for another year. I think that was another reason why he came back. Both are good leaders.”
Tanner Volpatti, a linebacker, was third on the team with 52 tackles. He had three interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns. He was MVP of the ECAC Bowl.
Dawson Diietz had an All-America type of season. The 6-0, 245-pound junior had 83 tackles, 23.5 tackles for losses, and 11 quarterback sacks.
In the secondary, W&J gets both starting cornerbacks back in Aaron Carothers and Bruno Fabrycki.
Six players are fighting for the two safety positions, including three transfers: Marcus Harrell Jr (Padua Franciscan), Damien Lynch (Pearl, Miss.) and Carson Laconi (Butler).
Washington & Jefferson opens the season Sept. 2 against Saint Vincent.