Nov 24, 2017 4 min read

On Washington & Jefferson’s defense, Tom Marra is a big-time player from a small-town school.

The 6-1, 225-pound senior defensive end has been a playmaker for the past three years and is having the best season since he graduate from Our Lady of Sacred Heart High School in Coraopolis.

OLSH has 113 students, more than just 55 other high schools in the state.

Size doesn’t really matter for a school to produce a good football player, and Marra’s skills will again be on display today, when the Presidents host Frostburg in a second-round game of the NCAA Division III playoffs at Cameron Stadium.

Kickoff is noon.

The winner of this game plays either Mt. Union or Case Western Reserve in the region final next week.

“There are only a handful of us who are still playing right now,” said Marra of his OLSH teammates. “My dad and my mom went here, so there is some history here for me.”

Marra has been a steady force on defense for the 11-0 Presidents, co-champions of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference. He leads the team with 20 tackles for loss and nine quarterback sacks. His 60 tackles are third on the team. Those statistics landed him a spot on the PAC All-Conference first team.

Marra had a career-best four sacks Saturday in a 31-28 win over Johns Hopkins, including a pair on the Blue Jays’ final drive with under a minute to play.

“I think the momentum from a win like that carries over,” Marra said. “In that game, there were things we could have done better. I thought we had the momentum for most of that game. There were some momentum shifts in that game but if we stick to what we’ve been doing … we can dominate this game.”

Marra’s 20 tackles for loss and nine sacks lead the PAC. His sack total is the most for a President since Jon Turner had 11.5 in 2014, and his 20 TFL are the most since at least 2001.

He made honorable mention last year with 55 tackles, 15 tackles for loss and seven sacks.

The only number Marra cares about is win totals. He will have his eyes set on Frostburg quarterback Connor Cox, who averages 220 passing yards per game, and a running attack that is the heart of Frostburg’s offense.

“Cox likes to use his feet a lot to extend plays,” said Marra. “They like to run the ball. It’s a hard-nosed offense and I actually like that. We like to have those fights.”

Rowse ‘back

to normal'

Senior quarterbak Alex Rowse returned to the W&J lineup last week after missing the previous three games with a shoulder injury. He threw 61 passes, completing 36, and had three touchdowns. Two of those went to wide receiver Jesse Zubik.

“I feel back to normal,” Rowse said. “I don’t think about (the injury) except when I go for treatment.”

Rowse’s 391 yards were the second most of his career and the most by a W&J quarterback in the first round of the NCAA playoffs.

Numbers

Washington & Jefferson has won 735 games in its 126-year history (735-389-40), third behind Mt. Union (780) and Wittenberg (764) among NCAA Division III schools. Widener (699) and Wabash (680) round out the top five. Among all NCAA divisions, the Presidents are 22nd. Michigan ranks first at 943 wins.

This is W&J’s 25th appearance in the postseason and the Presidents have a 23-24 record. They are 12-9 at home and 11-13 on the road. Head coach Mike Sirianni’s record is 7-9.