Sep 25, 2022 4 min read

After licking their wounds for a week after a loss to Case Western Reserve, the Washington & Jefferson Presidents needed a quick pick-me-up to not only get the emotions back in gear but to somehow salvage their status in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference.

Enter the Bethany Bison.

W&J rolled over the Bison 50-7 Saturday night at Cameron Stadium.

The win evened the Presidents’ conference record at 1-1 and put their overall mark at 3-1. Bethany fell to 0-1 and 1-2.

“Last week was one of the worst losses of my career,” said W&J head coach Mike Sirianni. “We’ve gotten upset before. We’ve lost to a team that was better than us before. I’ve never had a team that didn’t play well. We didn’t play well last week.”

It wasn’t always pretty. W&J missed a field goal and extra point early and the first three plays on offense went backwards. The Presidents were called for two pass interference penalties, giving them 6 for 60 yards in the half.

But W&J converted three Bethany turnovers into touchdowns and a 26-0 first quarter lead, basically putting the game out of reach. W&J stretched it to 40-7 at halftime.

W&J rolled up 465 total yards and held Bethany to just 126. The Presidents converted seven of 10 third-down conversions after going 0-for-14 against Case.

The quarterback duo of Colton Jones and Jacob Pugh threw for four touchdowns in the first 40 minutes. Two went to Anthony Rosati and one each went to TJ Troxell and Zach Cernuto.

Starting tailback Justin Huss went down with a knee injury in the first quarter, sending Raymond Holmes in to replace him. All Holmes did was rush for 56 yards and two touchdowns, a 3-yard run in the first quarter and a 23-yard run early in the second quarter.

“It was good. I felt like the coaches trusted me and I was able to step up,” said Holmes, who led all rushers with 56 yards on 10 carries. “I just wanted to win, finish the game strong. I felt we did that so I’m happy.”

W&J’s defense sacks Bethany quarterback Marquice Robinson seven times and held him to just 58 yards passing.

“One thing we did accomplish was getting a lot of people on the field,” said Bethany head coach Brandon Robinson. “We’ve got to keep growing, keep developing. We didn’t reallly want it to look like this.”

Koroly update

Joey Koroly, a graduate of Trinity High School, has apparently had his season ended.

“He’s still with the team,” said Sirianni. “He tried but that’s a tough injury to come back from.”

Koroly switched from defensive back to the main running back last year. He broke his leg in the ECAC bowl game against Brockport in the last game of the 2021 season. Koroly rehabbed the leg and Sirianni moved him back to defensive back to ease the stress on his leg.

“He’s out for the season,” said Sirianni. “He can graduate. It was a terrible, terrible injury. I think coming back (this year) brought him closure. He’s at peace with his decision. He ended his career as an All-American and was All-Conference at three different positions.”

GAME NOTES – W&J placekicker Deven Wyandt left the game in the first half and did not return. Ricky Hunter replaced him for extra points and kickoffs. . . . Nose tackle Dawson Dietz led W&J’s defense with eight tackles and had 1.5 sacks. Defensive lineman Jaren Thimons led W&J with 2.5 sacks. . . . Jones completed 12 of 15 passes for 173 yards and three touchdowns. Pugh was 7 for 10 for 90 yards.