W&J rallies to remain unbeaten
W&J’s Ryan Ruffing heads past Case Western’s Gavin Sandidge for one of his four touchdowns during the Presidents’ victory Saturday at Cameron Stadium.
Case Western’s Nick Kown intercepts a pass intended for W&J’s Daniel Lis during the second quarter of the game on Saturday, October 25.
W&J’s Ryan Torrance and Ryan Snedeker sack Case Western’s quarterback Billy Beecher during the first half of Saturday’s game.
Fans of statistical analysis might not want to delve any further into this story.
The numbers produced in Saturday’s 34-24 win by Washington & Jefferson College over Case Western Reserve did not tell the complete story of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference game at Cameron Stadium.
The 10-point margin of victory, which kept the Presidents (5-0, 7-0) undefeated and in first place in the PAC standings, might indicate a nail-biter of a game.
But it wasn’t.
The Presidents rolled up 466 yards of total offense, but it was a defensive play by Billy Kelley in the second half that turned the game.
W&J quarterback Pete Coughlin completed 32 of 47 passes for 329 yards and a touchdown. But it was not his best performance of the season.
“We were not focused,” said W&J head coach Mike Sirianni. “We made silly mistakes and had some self-inflicted wounds. That’s my fault.”
The Presidents needed a 21-point third quarter to erase a 9-6 halftime deficit that was built with the help of Case’s Aaron Weisberg, who returned a blocked extra-point attempt by W&J 103 yards for two points.
It was Kelley, W&J’s junior strong safety, who made the biggest play of the game three plays into the second half. Kelley intercepted a pass that linebacker Bryce Merrill tipped, and raced 34 yards for a touchdown that gave the Presidents the lead for good, 13-9.
“We needed something to wake us up,” said Kelley, a graduate of Clarion-Limestone High School who has three interceptions this season. “We needed some kind of spark. That play gave us the lift we needed. You could see the emotion go from one side of the field to the other.”
He was right.
W&J scored two more times in 2:26 as tailback Ryan Ruffing caught a 20-yard pass from Coughlin and rammed in from 4 yards to make it a 27-9 lead for the Presidents. Ruffing had another productive game, rushing for 111 yards on 30 carries and scoring four times, three on the ground. He went over the 1,000-yard mark and raised his touchdown number to 22 this season, 10 shy of the school record of 32 set by Chris Babirad in 1992. W&J has three regular-season games remaining.
W&J had a 21-play game-opening drive but a 30-yard field goal attempt by Blake Davis was blocked. The Presidents had two 9-play drives and a 13-play drive end without points. In the process, W&J had two touchdowns called back, a 10-yard pass from Coughlin to Michael Giampole and a 53-yard run by Ruffing, because of penalties.
Coughlin also struggled with John Wanner to get the snap from center. Some were high, some low, some skidded in.
“We dominated the stats, but we have to dominate the game, too,” said Sirianni. “We can’t make those type of mistakes.”
Jesse Zubik had a strong game, with 11 receptions for 130 yards. Five of those catches produced first downs and four came on crossing patterns that caught Case Western Reserve in blitzes.
“Case was dropping their cornerbacks so I just found the holes,” said Zubik, who was one reception short of his season-best 12-catch game against Westminster. “Their linebackers either dropped deep or blitzed, leaving the whole middle of the field open.”
Case cut the Presidents’ lead to 27-16, when Adam Hochman burst up the middle nearly untouched for a 39-yard touchdown. But W&J ate up 6:07 with a 13-yard drive that ended in fourth-down incompletion. Ruffing put the game away, capping a 10-play drive with a 2-yard scoring run that made it 34-16 with 2:05 to play.
“We talked all week about how we can’t turn the ball over,” said Case Western head coach Greg Debeljak, who starts five freshmen on offense. “There was that 8-minute period in the third quarter where we played inconsistent football.”
Case receiver Sean Lapcevic, a Bentworth graduate, caught three passes, each for minus yardage. … Case returned a blocked extra-point for 2 points against Oberlin last year. … Jared Pratt led W&J with a game-high 16 tackles and a forced fumble. … W&J honored its 1994 team in one of the Homecoming celebrations at halftime.