Oct 8, 2022 4 min read

NEW WILMINGTON – In recent years, going to Westminster to play a football game was like going to the dentist for root canal surgery for Washington & Jefferson College’s football team.

Without novocaine.

Westminster had won the previous four games in the series and a couple of those wins were shin-kickers to the Presidents’ playoff chances.

And for three quarters, it looked like this might end up being the fifth time W&J would come out having to navigate the 90-minute bus ride home in a deep, dark depression.

That is until Johnny O’Rourke and John Peduzzo teamed up for a trick play that turned the game around and gave W&J a 17-14 victory over the Titans at Harold Burry Stadium on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

The victory moved the W&J to 3-1 in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference and 5-1 overall. Westminster fell to 2-2 and just about out of the playoff race in the conference and 2-3 overall.

For three quarters, Westminster defensive back Brice Butler appeared to be the game’s hero when he stepped in front of a Colton Jones pass and raced 77 yards for a touchdown. At that point, Butler had scored more points than both offenses combined.

So as the game drifted toward the final minutes and it was looking like more frustration awaited the Presidents, head coach Mike Sirianni did something he is loathed to do: he called for a trick play.

And it worked.

Quarterback Jacob Pugh took the snap from center and threw a backwards pass, or lateral, to wide receiver John Peduzzi on the left sideline. Peduzzi dropped back a few steps before the ball arrived to make the play legal.

Peduzzi then threw what could be best described as a good punt to a wide-open O’Rourke downfield for a touchdown that not only gave W&J a 14-7 lead but gave the Presidents some badly needed momentum.

“This was the first week we added it to practice and it worked every time,” said O’Rourke. “To me, it looked liked it took an hour to get there because I was so open. They’re a tough team and they weren’t going down easy. But that (touchdown) definitely gave us momentum. Everyone fed off that. Coach Sirianni isn’t that fond of trick plays. I think that was his first one ever.”

O’Rourke tied the game 7-7 one minute into the fourth quarter when he connected with quarterback Jacob Pugh from 8 yards out. O’Rourke has three touchdowns now in his college career and they have all come against Westminster.

“They are good. They have one of the better defensive coaches. Scott (Benzel) is a great defensive coach,” Sirianni said. “He has one of the better defensive minds. I’m going to try to get my brother to hire him (with the Philadelphia Eagles) next year so I don’t have to coach against him.”

Westminster’s defense held W&J to 243 total yards and the duo of Pugh and Jones threw three interceptions and the backs fumbled three times, losing two.

But W&J’s defense was outstanding, holding the Titans to just 11 first downs, 71 yards rushing and 112 yards passing. They had four sacks and forced 11 punts.

Bruno Fabrycki, a freshman defensive back for W&J, intercepted a Tyler McGowan pass at the Westminster 25-yard line. That set up Deven Weyandt’s 27-yard field goal that gave W&J a 17-7 lead with 4:27 left to play..

“We had a hard time scoring the football,” said Benzel. “We played great complimentary ball. That (lateral and pass) was a great play, a knockout. We lost our poiise on one play and that’s what happens.”

Westminster’s offense finally broke free with 1:23 left to play when freshman quarterback Tyler McGowan, replacing the injured Cole Konieczka, hit Ryan Gomes with a 7-yard scoring pass.