Nov 22, 2014 3 min read

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – The reason Washington & Jefferson’s football team has advanced past the first round of the NCAA Division III playoffs for the first time in five years is simple.

The Presidents did their homework.

Film study, the tedious, yet vital preparation technique of any team, revealed a very interesting fact about Wittenberg quarterback Zack Jenkins for W&J’s first-round game Saturday.

“He stares down his receivers,” said cornerback Alec Schram, a Canon-McMillan graduate and one of four seniors on the team.

“And he tries to force the ball into that receiver even if he’s covered. We picked up on that watching the tape (of previous games).”

So the W&J secondary zeroed in on Jenkins’ eyes and produced a school-record eight interceptions that led toe a 45-21 victory. The eight interceptions thrown set a record for Wittenberg and Jenkins tied an NCAA Division III playoff record.

“My favorite quarterback is one who stares down a receiver,” said junior safety Billy Kelley, who also had three picks. “Those are easy pickings for me.”

Jenkins was making his first playoff start for Wittenberg, which graduated 25 seniors from last season. Jenkins’ numbers were respectable, if you take away the eight interceptions. He completed 28 of 56 attempts for 393 yards and two touchdowns. His interceptions stopped Wittenberg’s drives more than they produced points for W&J.

“They stepped in front of six or seven of his passes,” said W&J head coach Mike Sirianni. “They made some plays when we needed them. Zach Jenkins is a good player. We had a player, Brian Dawson, who threw seven interceptions in a playoff game in 2000.”

Walk into Sirianni’s office on most days and game film is on his television. Players are just as dedicated to film study as he is in preparing game plans.

“The other key for us was that we got pressure on him from our D-line,” said Schram, who had three interceptions. “We saw (on film) that he will try to force it in there under pressure.”

By halftime, the Presidents had half of their eight interceptions and the mood was light in the locker room. The film study had paid dividends.

“I felt we were in control of that game throughout the second half,” said Kelley. “At no time did I feel we were in danger.”

Jenkins had thrown only four interceptions all season, until this game. And Schram had only one in his college career. Kelley’s three interceptions moved his season total to six.

“Our defensive coordinator, Shawn Rohrer, and his coaches did a great job preparing our kids,” Sirianni said. “I just let them go and do their thing.”

W&J was coming off a 31-28 overtime loss to Waynesburg last week in a game in which the secondary intercepted Carter Hill three times. But Hill kept them off balance with deep passes, something the Presidents didn’t expect to happen so early in the game.

Schram said the loss forced the team to refocus.

“I think the mood at practice was that we had to move on from that,” he said. “We figured out that we didn’t need to change anything, just prepare better. It was good the loss happened then because it didn’t hurt (our playoff chances).”

It’s back to film study this week as the Presidents prepare for a game against national power Mount Union.

“Some year, some one has to beat them,” Sirianni said. “So why not us?”