W&J rises up, knocks out Westminster in overtime
W&J’s Jordan West, a Washington High School graduate, makes the catch in front of Westminster’s Paul Gonzalez during the Presidents’ 34-33 overtime win Saturday at Cameron Stadium.
W&J’s Nick Murgo (44) celebrates after recovering a fumble during the Presidents’ 34-33 overtime win against Westminster at Cameron Stadium.
W&J’s Zachary Taylor brings down Westminster’s Jametrius Bentley on a play near the endzone during the Presidents’ 34-33 overtime win against Westminster at Cameron Stadium Saturday.
They did more than enough to lose this football game, falling behind early, getting lousy special teams play and allowing six quarterback sacks.
That’s why Washington & Jefferson’s 34-33 overtime victory against Westminster on a Homecoming Saturday afternoon will go down as not only the most improbable of the season but also the most important.
Zach Walker, a South Fayette graduate and senior linebacker for the Presidents, knocked away a two-point conversion pass attempt by Paul Columbo intended for Bryson Paullinelle in the end zone to save the game.
“I thought at first (Columbo) was sacked so I started to celebrate a little,” said Walker, who had seven tackles. “Then, I see him out of the pocket and their wide receiver is wide open. I just dove and swatted at the ball and it hit right smack in my palm.”
W&J remained undefeated at 7-0 and pushed its record in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference to 5-0 while handing the Titans their first loss in the conference and second loss overall.
It was a costly victory for W&J as senior starting quarterback Alex Rowse was lost in overtime with an injury to his nonthrowing shoulder. Rowse is out indefinitely.
“We’ll see. We’ll see where it takes us,” said W&J coach Mike Sirianni. “He’s going to be out and we’re going to have to rely on Jake.”
Jacob Adams, a 6-3 sophomore, came into the game when Rowse was injured on the first overtime series running for a two-yard gain out to the sideline, where he took a hard tackle. Adams then cooly laid a perfect pass into the arms of Cody Hearst on a fade pattern in the left corner of the end zone to give W&J a 34-27 lead.
“Once Alex came off the field, he came over to me and said to stay calm and do what I do best,” said Adams. “I’ve learned a lot from him. He’s a great mentor for me.
“The throw to Cody is something we practice day in and day out. I have so much confidence in Cody. I put it up there for him to go get it and he got it.”
Hearst said he was concentrating more on catching the football than getting his feet inbounds.
“I don’t know where my feet were,” he said. “I tried to drag my feet in the end zone. I definitely got them in. But I just wanted to catch the ball.”
Walker’s knockaway came after Westminster pulled to within one of the Presidents on a one-yard run by Kim after the Titans converted two fourth downs on their first possession of overtime.
“With overtime, we played a lot of downs and our defense was a little gassed,” said Westminster head coach Scott Benzel. “So I made up my mind we would go for two if we scored and try to win it there.”
To even get to overtime was something of a miracle for W&J. The Presidents were thoroughly outplayed in the first 22 minutes and trailed 21-7.
W&J had a punt blocked, allowed five sacks of Rowse, and missed an extra point. The Presidents’ defense produced a touchdown when cornerback O’Shea Anderson returned an interception 72 yards that cut the Titans’ lead to 21-7 with 8:11 remaining before halftime. Hearst made it only a 21-13 halftime lead when he caught a four-yard pass from Rowse with 4:36 left in the second quarter.
“The first 20, 22 minutes was total domination (by Westminster),” said Sirianni. “They were more prepared than us. They ran some blitzes we weren’t prepared for and we didn’t adjust. We were terrible.”
Westminster held senior wide receiver Jesse Zubik to one catch for four yards.
“Their No. 4 (Todd Jeter) is the one player who bothers Jesse,” said Sirianni. “He bothers him on the field. He bothers him in his head. I asked him what he thought he could beat him on and he said, ‘I don’t know if I can.'”
John Cybak kicked two field goals to extend Westminster’s lead to 27-19 in the third quarter but W&J tied it with a 12-play, 83-yard drive capped with a three-yard pass to Justin Vickless.
Tailback E.J. Thompson had another strong game, gaining a game-high 76 yards on 18 carries and scoring on a two-yard run that made it 21-19 in the third quarter.