Sep 12, 2004 By Justin Zackal For The 4 min read

WAYNESBURG – The plan for Waynesburg College’s non-conference game against visiting Randolph-Macon College on Saturday was to pass the ball. When that didn’t work, the Yellow Jackets relied on the running game. And did they ever.

Sophomore running back Ryan Abels nearly broke two single-game school rushing records leading the Yellow Jackets to a 31-7 win over the Yellow Jackets of Randolph-Macon (1-1) at Wiley Stadium.

Abels, the Elizabeth-Forward graduate who didn’t play last week because of a leg injury, rushed 42 times for 246 yards, including touchdown runs of 4 and 10 yards. Abels finished two attempts shy of tying the school record for a game and 20 shy of the record for yardage in a game.

So did it really feel like 42 carries?

“Yes it did,” pronounced Abels, who never toted the ball for more than 31 times in a game as the team’s leading rusher as a freshman last year. ” It felt like I ran the ball 100 times.”

Out with a “tweaked leg muscle” for last week’s 64-0 win over Denison and with only one outdoor practice during the week, Abels saw the game as a preparation for the remainder of the season.

“I was a little out of shape,” Abels said. “It sort of wears you out, but I tried to suck it up for the team.”

“I told Ryan this is going to be a great coming-out for him,” said Waynesburg coach Jeff Hand. “(Running the ball) is something that needs to be our trademark for our team. Part of it is that we want to have an attitude.”

But what about the plan to throw the ball on Randolph-Macon? Waynesburg threw for 329 yards and three touchdowns in last year’s game versus Randolph-Macon in Ashland, Va., but senior quarterback Jeff Dumm threw for just 128 yards on Saturday including 13-of-25 passing, one interception and one touchdown.

“It all depended on they were going to give us,” Hand said about the team’s inability to pass, which included a mere 17 yards in the first half on three completions. “We weren’t as crisp and we had some dropped balls.”

Abels opened the scoring with a four-yard run with 4:09 remaining in the first quarter. He set up the score with his longest run on the day, a 51-yarder on second down-and-13 from the Waynesburg 29-yard line.

Dumm threw an interception from his own 43-yard line on the first play of Waynesburg’s first full possession in the second quarter. Michael Bryant’s interception set up a Casey Maher eight-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Heath Brownlee four plays later to tie the game for Randolph-Macon, 7-7.

Bryant fumbled a punt return after Randolph-Macon forced Waynesburg to a three-and-out on its next possession. The next play, Abels scored from 10 yards out to put Waynesburg up 14-7, a score that remained until halftime.

“The mood at halftime was quiet,” Hand said. “I think they expected one of the coaches to scream and yell. But we told them, ‘You are a good team; believe in yourself and things will happen.'”

Sophomore strong safety Andy Tenney made things happen for Waynesburg in the third quarter. Tenney, who had seven tackles for the game, intercepted a Brownlee offering on Randolph-Macon’s first possession of the second half and return it 35 yards for a score.

Brownlee finished the game with 62 of the RMC’s 101 passing yards, while the Waynesburg defense stuffed the Jackets for 30 yards, 25 of which from Khalil Shareef on 18 carries.

Waynesburg (2-0) added two scores in the fourth quarter. Connellsville graduate Ben Popson’s 33-yard field goal capped off an 11-play, 53-yard drive, while junior Ivan Hawkins scored on a spectacular 23-yard touchdown reception from Dumm when he stuttered-stepped three RMC defenders and dove over the pylon. The play was the longest pass play of the game for Waynesburg.

Waynesburg hits the road for two games in Indiana the next two weeks, at Manchester on Sept. 18 and at Hanover on Sept. 25.