Presidents looking to make Case for playoffs
Mike Sirianni has said numerous times recently that the football team at Washington & Jefferson is in playoff mode for the remainder of the season.
It’s been the rallying cry for the Presidents since they lost to nationally ranked Thomas More two weeks ago. It sparked the Presidents to two overwhelming victories in which the offense sprung to life.
Sirianni, W&J’s head coach, could not be more on the mark this week, when the Presidents travel to Cleveland Saturday to play Case Western Reserve in a Presidents’ Athletic Conference game.
Kickoff is 6 p.m.
Both teams are fighting for their playoff lives. Case Western Reserve is 5-0 in conference and tied with Thomas More for first place. But the Spartans have a loss, 31-30, to Chicago in a season-opening non-conference game. W&J’s only loss in six games was to Thomas More.
“Coach (Sirianni) said we’re still alive for the playoffs,” said W&J quarterback Pete Coughlin. “We talked about it among ourselves and talked about putting more points up.”
W&J has scored 121 points in the last two games – routs of Bethany and Grove City – and Coughlin is a big reason why. He has completed 85 percent of his passes (35 of 41) for 459 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions.
“I’ve been more accurate, our offensive line is playing well and we’re executing better,” said Coughlin. “When you start out a game well, you want to keep it going.”
Wide receiver Jesse Zubik has nine receptions for 162 yards and two touchdowns in the last two games after being hobbled in the first two games with a hip injury. His average of 86 receiving yards per game is fourth in the PAC.
“After the loss to Thomas More, we felt we had to make a statement,” said Zubik. “We want to get back to where we were, a playoff team.”
If there is concern for W&J, it’s on the defensive side of the football. The Presidents defeated Bethany by 24 points, but it was a 66-42 win. Thomas More scored 38 and Westminster 31 against W&J earlier in the season.
“We didn’t play great on defense last week but we did cause some turnovers to give us a lot of short fields,” said Sirianni. “So it’s not like they were totally (awful). We don’t want to give up how many yards rushing we did and 42 points.”
Case Western Reserve’s office revolved around quarterback Rob Cuda, who has accounted for nearly 2,000 yards of total offense this season. He’s completed 64 percent of his passes for 1,466 yards and 18 touchdowns. His most impressive stat might be zero interceptions in 177 attempts.
Case’ defense allows only 71 yards rushing per game, or 44 fewer than W&J tailback Ryan Ruffing averages per game.
“Their quarterback gets a lot of attention and rightfully so,” said Sirianni. “They are very physical and very good on defense. It starts with defense. They are the No. 1 run defense in the conference.”
Kickoff: 3 p.m., Saturday
California has gone to a possible playoff contender to spoiler after last week’s 20-15 loss to Indiana in a PSAC West Division game.
Cal (2-2, 4-3) has been awful in the red zone, scoring on just five of 14 trips over the past two games, both losses. The defense allowed 388 yards rushing against IUP, the first time an opponent rushed for more than 350 yards since 2004.
Clarion (5-0, 7-0) has been the surprise of the PSAC West Division behind quarterback Connor Simmons, who has 2,435 yards and 25 touchdowns. Running back Delrece Williams averages 106 yards per game.
Kickoff: 1:30 p.m. Saturday
Waynesburg will be looking to snap a two-game losing streak when it hosts Thiel in a PAC game.
The Yellow Jackets (1-4, 2-5) have allowed 27 or more points in their last six games, including 110 in the last three.
The offense has produced just 21 points in the past two games combined. Wide receiver Willie Leavell has just 33 touches for 179 yards on offense this season.
Thiel (0-4, 1-5) is on a five-game losing streak and has allowed no fewer than 41 points in that streak.