Presidents win another nail-biter
W&J’s Jesse Zubik races downfield on a long pass play in the second half against Bethany.
W&J’s Pete Coughlin throws a jump pass during the first half against Bethany Saturday at Cameron Stadium.
W&J’s Ryan Snedeker celebrates after sacking Bethany quarterback Chase Kinemond in the first half Saturday.
Next season, a packet of antacids will be included in the season-ticket packages.
That’s the least Washington & Jefferson College can do for its football fans.
The last two games have been ulcer-producing affairs but – and here is the important part – both ended in victory.
The latest came on a mild Saturday night at Cameron Stadium, where W&J battled back in the second half to take a thrilling 37-36 victory from Bethany in a Presidents’ Athletic Conference game.
The win comes one week after a 55-52 double-overtime victory against Carnegie Mellon, also at home. A loss in either of these two games would have had devastating consequences on W&J’s chances of possibly catching Thomas More at the top of the PAC standings and of possibly earning one of the berths in the NCAA Division III playoffs.
The Presidents are 5-1 overall, 3-1 in the PAC. Bethany, which always plays an emotional game against the Presidents, fell to 1-6 and 0-5 in the conference.
“We won the game and I’m proud of that,” said W&J head coach Mike Sirianni. “What upsets me is the lack of focus by our players and that is a direct result of me. I didn’t get them ready to play.”
Sirianni was upset by two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties after TDs in the second half.
“We’ll fix that,” Sirianni said.
It was a Jekyll-and-Hyde performance for W&J. Quarterback Pete Coughlin completed 17 of 31 attempts for 320 yards and three touchdowns, but sturggled with his accuracy. His favorite target, wide receiver Jesse Zubik, caught seven passes for a career-high 235 yards and two touchdowns, but he dropped another sure TD and had three straight drops during the game. The Presidents defense was gouged for 402 yards and 29 points in the first half but allowed just 115 yards and seven points in the second.
“That (post pattern to Zubik) we ran three times and we were just adjusting to what they are showing,” said Coughlin. “Games like this gets everyone involved. Everyone is excited and the crowd gets into it more, too.”
W&J trailed for nearly all the second half before the game-changing series of plays. On first-and-10 at the W&J 24 and with Bethany holding a 36-30 lead, Bison quarterback Chase Kinemond tried to hit a screen pass but was intercepted by defensive lineman Torre Carr, who was tackled at Bethany’s 43.
On the next play, Coughlin found Zubik on a 57-yard TD that produced a one-point lead with 9:25 to play.
“I felt the no-pressure read and the quarterback rolled my way,” said Carr, a graduate of Canon-McMillan High School. “I waited for the throw and got lucky because he threw it right at me.”
W&J held Bethany on the next series then ate up the remaining 6:54 of the game.
“One thing I’m really, really proud of is that drive,” Sirianni said. “We ran the ball, took the air out of it, killed the clock. We even huddled.”
Kinemond had an outstanding game, passing for 219 yards and three touchdowns and rushing for 151 and another score. Tyler Ambush had seven receptions for 107 yards and a touchdown and Jalen Holmes gained 89 yards on 18 carries.
“We’re having our struggles with just one win, but we keep fighting,” said Bethany coach Bill Garvey. “It shows the character of this team, a one-point game. I told them in the locker room that this is a good football team we’re playing. We took our shot and came up short.”
Bethany shredded the W&J defense for 402 yards in the first half but the ones that hurt the most came on a 42-yard Hail Mary pass that Blake Lipke caught in the end zone to give the Bison a 29-20 lead at halftime. It was Lipke’s first reception of the season.
The touchdown came just 55 seconds after W&J cut the Bison lead to 22-20 when Kemp burst over the left side for a 4-yard score. Zubik set the run up with a 56-yard catch from Coughlin.
Back-to-back scores by Bethany gave the Bison a 22-14 lead over W&J. Kinemond rushed for 48 of his 144 yards in the first half, going right up the middle of the Presidents’ defense for a touchdown. Holmes’ seven-yard run midway through the quarter made it 16-14.
Bethany scored first as Dustin Hess pulled in a 21-yard pass from Kinemond one minute into the game. It took just two minutes for the Presidents to respond. Kemp ran it six times in the eight-play drive and scored on a two-yard run.
Chris Ray gave the Bison a 10-7 lead with a 22-yard field goal.