Nov 15, 2013 4 min read

Last season, Washington & Jefferson College’s football team derailed Waynesburg’s perfect season, handing the Yellow Jackets their only loss and knocking them out of an NCAA Division III playoff berth.

Today, the Yellow Jackets get an opportunity to return the favor.

The Presidents (6-1, 7-2) need one more win to tie Thomas More for first place in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference and earn the automatic berth in the NCAA Division III playoffs for the 22nd time in school history. Only Mount Union, with 24, has more.

Waynesburg (5-2, 7-2), which could still be selected for an ECAC Bowl game with a win, can gain some revenge from last year’s 31-14 loss, the only blemish in a 10-1 season.

“We were 9-0, and it was such an emotional game,” said Waynesburg defensive end Brandon Fedorka. “We weren’t playing our game. This year, we are not letting it get that way. Last year, we tried to make it too big a deal, and I felt it got in our way.”

The Presidents are on a four-game winning streak that began after they suffered a seemingly devastating loss to Bethany in Week 5. They rallied the following week with a 45-21 upset of Thomas More and defeated Westminster, Saint Vincent and Geneva.

“After the Bethany loss, we felt awful,” said W&J head coach Mike Sirianni. “We played with a bigger sense of urgency after that. I thought us winning the championship last year was the best championship ever won in any sport here. Last year, we were playing in memory of Tim McNerney. That was an emotional time.”

McNerney, a tailback on W&J’s team, was murdered in midseason and W&J made winning the PAC title the ultimate way of honoring his memory. That seemed to carry the Presidents in last year’s game.

“Waynesburg was a better team than we were last year,” said Sirianni. “They had the best defensive lineman in the conference (in Fedorka). They had the best defensive back in the conference (in Bryan Gary), and the best quarterback in the conference (in Carter Hill).”

All three will be on hand for this game and each is enjoying an outstanding season. Gary is the Yellow Jackets’ leading tackler with 69, Fedorka leads the conference in quarterback sacks with 9 1/2, and Hill has been sensational, throwing for 2,606 yards and 26 touchdowns.

“This game is always fun,” said wide receiver Alex Baroffio, who needs 117 receiving yards to catch Ryan Silvis and become the school’s career leader. In three games against Waynesburg, Baroffio has 27 receptions for 404 yards and six touchdowns.

“This is a rivalry game, and you get more amped up for it. It’s win or go home for us, and they want to take the championship away from us.”

If Waynesburg is to win, it will have to find a way to stop Baroffio, quarterback Matt Bliss and tailback Dion Wiegand. The trio has accounted for 4,246 yards and 44 touchdowns.

“There is no question that Mike did a great job last year of being prepared for this game,” said Waynesburg head coach Rick Shepas. “We have to match the intensity they had. You look at the tape from last year and you see there were a couple key turnovers in the Red Zone that I thought were significant. We have to avoid those situations.”

Thomas Paulone, a 5-11 senior from Jeannette, has started the last two games at halfback for the Yellow Jackets and produced 165 yards in two games since replacing Jerry Lawman (high ankle sprain).

“It’s his opportunity,” said Shepas. “Jerry was coming into his own and, bang, he gets a high ankle sprain. I’m excited for Tommy.”

Sirianni believes the Presidents need another extraordinary effort to win this game. It’s almost always decided that way.

“We beat Thomas More with our special teams,” Sirianni said. “We ran the ball and threw the ball well. We have to have a similar performance if we’re going to win.”