W&J to play in ECAC bowl game
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Washington & Jefferson running back EJ Thompson celebrates his touchdown run in the third quarter Saturday against Waynesburg at Cameron Stadium.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
W&J wide receiver Nick Hrivnat steps down the sideline on the way to a touchdown Saturday against Waynesburg.
The Eastern College Athletic Conference announced Monday that the Washington & Jefferson College football team will travel to SUNY Brockport for the ECAC Division III Clayton Chapman Bowl on Saturday.
The game will be played at Bob Boozer Field at Eunice Kennedy Shriver Stadium with kickoff at 1 p.m.
W&J compiled an 8-2 overall record and a 7-2 mark in Presidents’ Athletic Conference play. Brockport enters with a 7-3 overall record and was 4-2 in Empire 8 play.
Under the direction of head coach Mike Sirianni, the Presidents have qualified for the postseason in 16 of his 19 seasons. W&J will be making its fifth appearance in an ECAC bowl game. The Presidents previously competed in the ECACs in 2003, 2010, 2016 and 2019. W&J is 4-0 in ECAC competition. The Presidents beat Wilkes (41-19) in 2003, Franklin & Marshall (54-41) in 2010, Brockport (38-31) in 2016 and Ithaca (20-17) in 2019.
W&J won the only head-to-head meeting between the two programs. That meeting, which was in the 2016 ECAC Presidents Bowl. Pete Coughlin hit Anthony Keriotis from 35 yards out with 13 seconds remaining to break a 31-31 tie as W&J erased an 18-point second-half deficit.
The other six teams selected by the ECAC Division III Football Committee to participate in postseason bowl games are Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham (6-4), Grove City (7-3), Hobart (8-2), Saint Vincent (5-5), Utica (6-4) and Westminster (8-2). The games will take place on Nov. 20 at campus sites. Hobart will play at Westminster, Utica is at Grove City and Saint Vincent will play at FDU-Florham.