Sep 2, 2023 By Joe Tuscano for The Observer-Reporter newsroom@observer-Reporter.Com 4 min read

WAYNESBURG – The day began with high hopes for Waynesburg University’s football team.

But it was soon apparent that much work needs to be done before the Yellow Jackets can turn the corner in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference.

Awash in penalties, missed tackles and mistakes, Waynesburg fell to Allegheny 39-36 in overtime on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Wiley Stadium.

Quarterback Jack Johnson tore up the Yellow Jackets secondary, completing a 19-yard touchdown pass to Declan O’Brien in the first overtime to salt away the victory for Allegheny.

Waynesburg could have won the game in regulation when Samuel Barber hit Dakota Romantino with a beautifully placed 39-yard touchdown to tie the game 33-33 with 28 seconds remaining..

But after making the catch Romantino took off his helmet in the end zone, drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for celebration and turning what would have been a regular extra-point attempt into a testy 38-yarder for Waynesburg placekicker Ricco Sastoque, which he missed sending the game into overtime.

Allegheny won the coin toss and chose defense. On fourth down, Sastoque nailed a 42-yard field goal, giving Waynesburg a 36-33 lead.

Allegheny then put the game away when Johnson hit O’Brien with a 19-yard touchdown.

“To be honest with you, I didn’t see it,” Waynesburg head coach Dr. Cornelius Coleman said of the Romantino penalty. “The young man told me he caught it and in trying to get the ball in and crossing the pilon, his hand began to shift and the helmet came off.

“The call was he popped his helmet off in celebration. I didn’t see it but I’m hoping being the older senior guy (on the team) that that was the case. … There are things we have to do to grow as a team, there are little things we have to cut out, such as penalties.”

Waynesburg had a whopping 17 penalties for 155 yards, none so devastating as Romantino’s.

Braden Layer, Allegheny’s football coach said he was forced to race down the sideline to get a good look at Sastoque’s extra-point attempt after Romantino’s penalty.

“I saw a little bit of a celebration, then saw the ref reach for the penalty flag,” said Layer. “Then your mind immediately triggers. What would give us a better chance. So we slid them back on the extra point because we thought that was the better option than backing them up and getting some crazy kickoff return. Luckily I knew right when it left his foot.”

Layer said the heat, which pushed the thermometer near 90, made his team play tougher.

“The fans in the stands could hear our coaches preaching toughness, preaching that four-quarter mentality,” Layer said. “So we’re trying to become a group of guys who never quit.”

Johnson played well, especially in the first half, when he threw three touchdown passes to help stake Allegheny to a 26-7 halftime lead. Waynesburg’s only score came on a scintillating 99-yard kickoff return by Xavier Nelson.

Johnson and O’Brien would connect 14 times for 169 yards and two touchdowns. Johnson would finish with 23 completions of 31 attempts for 305 yards . Allegheny running back Tre Worship rushed for 135 yards on 35 carries and scored three touchdowns.

Waynesburg rallied in the third quarter, scoring 14-uanswered points and cutting the Allegheny lead to 26-21. Justin Flack had two short touchdown runs.

“This was my first overtime game,” said Flack. “I didn’t really know what it would be like, except we would all fight to the end.”

Flack rushed for 65 yards on 16 carries and caught four passes for 45 yards.

Coleman yanked Thomas Burke in the first quarter in favor of Samuel Barber, who completed 13 of 25 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown.

Barber said the throw to Romantino made him nervous.

“I saw him open and I thought don’t overthrow this one,” Barber said. “We definitely should have scored in overtime but we can’t worry about it.”