Coughlin, Zubik provide 1-2 punch in W&J’s victory
Washington & Jefferson’s Braydon Toy carries the ball Saturday during the first half against Wooster.
W&J’s Tom Marra, left, celebrates with teammate Ryan Torrance Saturday after recovering a third-quarter fumble against Wooster.
W&J’s Austin Kemp runs for a second-quarter touchdown Saturday against Wooster.
W&J’s Jesse Zubik dives for a first-quarter pass from quarterback Pete Coughlin Saturday against Wooster.
If the offense is going to rise up this season for Washington & Jefferson’s football team, then quarterback Pete Coughlin and wide receiver Jess Zubik have to be the catalysts.
The two standouts did just that against a spirited Wooster defense Saturday afternoon at Cameron Stadium.
Coughlin, a 5-10 senior from Upper St. Clair, completed 27 of 37 passes for 332 yards and four touchdowns and Zubik, a 5-10 junior from Avonworth, had nine catches for 124 yards and a touchdown to help the Presidents kick off the season with a 58-20 rout of Wooster in a non-conference game.
Zubik’s only touchdown reception came at a critical time. Wooster dominated the first quarter, and would have had the lead heading into the second had it not been for Zubik hauling in a 45-yard strike on a pretty post pattern to give W&J a 7-3 edge.
“I thought that in the first game, there are a lot of kinks that need to be worked out,” said Zubik. “We needed to get rid of those nerves and pick it up as a team. We need to carry that on to Game 2.”
Zubik went over the 2,000-yard receiving mark for his career and stands at 2,059 yards. His touchdown total is at 20. Alex Baroffio holds the team record at 3,204 receiving yards and Aaron Krepps leads with 39 career touchdown receptions.
“The past two years, Pete and I had a good connection,” said Zubik. “But we’ve had a lot of new guys come in now and I’m confident with them on the field.”
The wide receivers accounted for five of W&J’s eight touchdowns. Jake Cullen, Trevor Morrow, Anthony Keriotis and Tim Swoope each had one as W&J took control of the game with a 30-point third quarter. Swoope, a wide receiver from Peters Township, had two early drops but Coughlin found him for a six-yard touchdown with 3:53 left in the third quarter that stretched W&J’s lead to 51-13. Swoope finished with two catches for 14 yards
“Every first game has a different feeling and the seasons never continue (from the year before),” said W&J head coach Mike Sirianni. “The players can come back but the season is different. They have a good quarterback, and he threw the ball well. We just had more depth and those players played well.”
Gary Muntean completed 23 of 43 passes for 311 yards and a touchdown. His eight-yard touchdown pass to Chris Pinnock gave Wooster a 10-7 lead and a field goal later in the quarter made it 13-7. W&J scored the next five touchdowns.
“We have to make some corrections and learn from what we did here,” said Wooster head coach Frank Colaprete. “If we play the way we did in the first quarter and for most of the first half, we’ll win more games than we lose in our conference (North Coast Athletic Conference).”
Austin Kemp rushed for 81 yards on 17 carries and had three short touchdown plunges, one at the end of the second quarter and two to start the third. Trevor Morrow had 47 on nine and Justin Vickless 42 on nine.
“You see we have a stable of running backs and we’re going to get one (David Kincaid) back soon. We still have playmakers. We still have Pete and still have Jesse. We can be as good an offensive team and our defense will get better as the year goes in.”
Alex Rowse replaced Coughlin and, in a mop-up role, completed all three pass attempts for 27 yards and a TD, the fifth of his career. … W&J defensive end Ryan Snedeker had two sacks and also defended three passes. … Wooster’s strong safety Kea’Shaun Phillips had a game-high 12 tackles. … W&J hosts Grove city next Saturday. The Wolverines are coached by Andrew DiDonato, a graduate of South Fayette.