Rivalry back for W&J-Waynesburg football game
Observer-Reporter
W&J head football coach, Mike Sirianni, has the Presidents off to a 1-0 start after beating John Carroll, 35-26.
This time, no one on Washington & Jefferson’s side of the football is denying this is a rivalry.
Last year, the Presidents went into John F. Wiley Stadium for their annual regular-season finale against Waynesburg with an undefeated record and left with their first loss of the season after a field goal in overtime gave the Yellow Jackets a 31-28 victory.
Waynesburg head coach Rick Shepas was presented some unexpected locker room fodder when his counterpart, Mike Sirianni, said he didn’t think you could call it a rivalry because W&J had dominated the series.
He was right, considering Waynesburg had not won a game in this series since 2003. If Shepas was looking for another motivating factor, he had one handed to him.
The loss meant W&J shared the Presidents’ Athletic Conference title and saw a home game in the NCAA Division III playoffs go up in smoke. The Presidents traveled to Wittenberg, where the secondary had eight interceptions in a 41-25 victory. Mount Union ended W&J’s run with a 67-0 victory the following week.
“We’re excited more because it’s a rivalry to us,” said W&J junior quarterback Pete Coughlin. “I like to play this game. I came in as a freshman and played a quarter. Last year’s game was intense. I think this game brings out the best in both teams.”
This year’s Waynesburg-W&J game takes place today at Cameron Stadium with a 1:30 p.m. kickoff. Neither team is headed to a postseason game. The Presidents are in fourth place in the PAC with a 5-2 record and are 7-2 overall. Waynesburg is 3-6 overall and 2-5 in the conference.
“They are better than their record shows,” said Sirianni. “They have played pretty well the past three weeks, the last three games. They did some good things against Thomas More. They did a lot better on defense than we did against them. … They played Westminster well, and Westminster gave us all kinds of problems. Rick has done a good job getting them better as the season has gone along. He has done a good job getting their quarterback (Jake Dougherty) ready. They have had a week (more) to prepare for us. I expect a good football game.”
Waynesburg’s defense can expect a large dose of Ryan Ruffing’s running and Coughlin’s passing. Ruffing scored four touchdowns in last week’s win over Thiel. He has 50 rushing touchdowns and 55 career scores. The 50 touchdowns tie him for fourth in PAC history with former W&J running back Joey Nichols and his 55 total TDs are third on the W&J career list, one ahead of Nichols.
Coughlin topped 300 yards passing for the fifth time this season and 10th time in his career with 363 yards and four touchdowns against Thiel. The junior needs just 70 yards to move into a 10th place on the PAC list past Waynesburg’s Brad Dawson at 6,568.
“It’s a big week, a rivalry game for us,” said Coughlin. “It’s the seniors’ last game so we want to send them out on a winning note.”
W&J is starting 10 senior players, who have a combined a combined 33-10 record.
“It’s been a good class,” said Sirianni. “They won three straight conference champions, they won a playoff game last year, and they are leaving the program in a lot better shape than when they came in here. As freshmen, they wen through the worst moment of W&J football (with the murder of running back Tim McNerney). You can’t forget that. It’s a good group of kids.”
W&J leads the series, 38-4. … W&J had 756 yards of total offense against Thiel, the fourth-highest total in Division III this season. … The Presidents hold a 94-3 overall record since 2003, a .969 winning percentage.