Sep 3, 2022 4 min read

The new version of the Washington & Jefferson football team looks a lot like the old version.

But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, not when you play like this.

Colton Jones passed for 359 yards and two touchdowns, the W&J defense produced four turnovers and controlled the game early..

It ended all right, a 35-26 victory by W&J over John Carroll Saturday afternoon at Cameron Stadium in the season-openers for both teams.

“Last year  was an upset (when we beat  them). This year, we expected to win,” said W&J head coach Mike Sirianni. “Last year, there was this big celebration after the game. This year, we expected to be better. We showed them we were better. We made some mistakes. Maybe I should start kicking field goals.”

Sirianni was referring to a fourth-and-goal situation at the one that John Carroll repelled.

“If I get criticized, I get criticized,” said Sirianno. “(Just like) Dabo Sweeney. If it’s not somebody I take advice from, who cares what they say. If my dad criticizes me or my brother Nick criticizes me, OK. 

“I’m going to coach like I did earlier in my career. We’re going to be aggressive, go after them with our no-huddle. We didn’t do that last year in big games. We didn’t do that last year. We sat back against Westminster. We sat back against (Carnegie Mellon). We’re not going to do that this year.”

Jones completed 32 of 45 passes to reach his 359 yards.  Maybe most impressive was he didn’t throw an interception.

“I thought everyone out there stepped up,” said Jones. “We ran the football and everyone looked good.”

W&J built a 21-7 halftime lead on the strength of Jones arm and a defense that picked off two passes, one going for a touchdown.

Jones, who shared the quarterback spot with Justin Heacock last year, completed 22 of 31 passes for 223 yards and a touchdown.

Zach Cernuto scored on a 1-yard run to open the scoring with 4:19 left in the first quarter, the first of two short runs. W&J might have scored earlier but a goal-line stand by John Carroll stopped the Presidents at the one-yard line.

John Carroll tied it before the end of the quarter when Evan McKay went over from the one, ending a seven-play, 68-yard drive.

W&J dominated the second quarter, scoring two touchdowns and taking a 14-poit lead before halftime.

Jones threw his first touchdown pass of the season, hitting Samuel Vessah with a 22-yard strike that made it 14-7 w&J.

About 90 seconds later, W&J defensive back Tyler Sabo intercepted a deflected pass and returned it 49 yards for a touchdown.

“I was in the right spot at the right time. It took me a second to get my legs going,” said Sabo. “That was my first pick-6. I had one a couple years ago but it got called back. I had my whole family here. I had my grandma (near) the end zone and I pointed at her. It was just am awesome game.”

John Carroll made a drive at the end of the half. But a 36-yard field goal attempt by Grant Gonya was wide left.

John Carroll cut the lead to 28-20 on two second half touchdown passes, 45 yards to Tyler Mintz and 18 yards to Tadas Tatarunas. But Justin Huss put the game out of reach with an eight-yard scamper for W&J’s final score with 9:18 to play

“We fought to climb back in it,” said John Carroll head coach Drew Nystrom. “We just didn’t capitalize on opportunities when we had the opportunity to make.” 

Game notes — Trinity graduate Joey Koroli, a defensive back starter, had a solo tackle and broke up a pass in the end zone. …  W&J is 21-2 in openers. … Defensive lineman Alex Keith led W&J with 2 1/2 sacks. Tackle Dawson Dietz had 1 1/2 sacks. … Collins finished 19 of 36 for 291 yards with three interceptions and three touchdowns.