Nov 10, 2012 4 min read

WAYNESBURG – They stood in a large circle near midfield, the cheers rising up from the artificial surface of Wiley Stadium Saturday afternoon.

In the center of the large group of Washington & Jefferson College football players and fans was the family of Tim McNerney, the Presidents’ starting tailback who was found dead in Washington Oct. 4.

In the hands of head coach Mike Sirianni was the Presidents’ Athletic Conference trophy, which was then presented to McNerney’s mother, Denise, amid even louder cheers.

W&J accomplished a nearly unthinkable accomplishment, overcoming the death of McNerney two days before a Week 5 game against Thomas More to win the final four games of the season, including yesterday’s 31-14 rout of rival Waynesburg.

That win not only pulled the Presidents (7-1, 8-2) even with Waynesburg (9-1, 7-1) in the conference, but assured them an automatic bid into the NCAA Division III playoffs, which begin Saturday.

The Yellow Jackets, who were hoping to complete their first undefeated regular season since 1966, are uncertain about their future. They will be playing another game, but whether it’s in the NCAA playoffs or in an ECAC bowl game won’t be known until today, when the NCAA releases its playoff bracket.

“Today, we did something special for our brother,” said W&J quarterback Matt Bliss, who had his best game of the season, completing 21 of 26 passes for 251 yards and four touchdowns. Three of the touchdowns went to wide receiver Alex Baroffio, who had 11 catches for 139 yards.

“I know I’m going to make some people angry, but beside the Rose Bowl team, this is the best team in W&J history,” said Sirianni. “What they had to accept and get through to meet this goal shows the type of players they are and how well their parents raised them.”

The Presidents have either won or shared 23 PAC titles, but this was special in many ways, including the four-game winning streak it took after McNerney’s death to get to this point.

“This was a very emotional game,” said Sirianni. “I would give all four wins back just to have No. 5 standing next to me. To do this for him is tremendous.”

W&J never trailed in the game, taking a 7-0 lead when Dan Lucas caught the first of four touchdown passes from Bliss, midway through the first quarter. Waynesburg tied it on a Bertrand Ngampa five-yard run six minutes later, but W&J jumped to a 21-7 lead on two touchdown catches from Baroffio.

The first was a 19-yarder on a fly pattern down the left sideline, and the second was a fade pattern from three yards out to the right corner of the end zone. Most of Bliss’ completions came on short drops and quick throws.

“We practiced all week against playing those screen (passes),” said Waynesburg defensive end Brandon Fedorka, who had a team-high 10 tackles and 1 ½ quarterback sacks. “When I see (Bliss) open his hips, I go right to the screen (area). I thought there was a lot of emotion in the game but our defense should have been more pumped.”

Waynesburg had two critical turnovers, the first coming in the second quarter when B.J. Monacelli intercepted a Carter Hill pass in the end zone with 1:18 remaining in the half. The second came on the Yellow Jackets’ first drive of the second half, when they tried some trickery on second-and-goal from W&J’s 3.

Wide receiver Doogie Sanner came in motion toward the line, took a handoff from Hill and threw a pass that was intercepted in the end zone by Dan Sciortino. The call was a head-scratcher, considering Waynesburg easily moved the ball down the field on the legs of Ngampa. He had 39 of his game-high 129 yards on that series.

“The interception before the half really hurt us,” said Waynesburg head coach Rick Shepas.

Just when it seemed like the game would turn into a rout, Christian Jackson returned a W&J punt 45 yards for a touchdown to cut the Presidents’ lead to 21-14. It was Jackson’s first return for a touchdown this season.

W&J answered just as quickly when Bliss and Baroffio hooked up for the third time on the next series. It was similar to the first touchdown, except this one covered 38 yards and gave the Presidents a 28-14 lead.

Eric Eberle would finish the scoring when he nailed a 40-yard field goal for the Presidents with 5:16 left.

The last time W&J made the playoffs was 2009. … The Presidents did not turn the ball over for the third consecutive game in this series. … Linebacker John Hunter had a game-high 15 tackles for W&J.