Sep 21, 2013 By Adam Brewer for The 3 min read

WAYNESBURG — On a rainy, Saturday afternoon at John F. Wiley Stadium, the Waynesburg University football team bounced back with a strong defensive effort, en route to a 23-6 victory over Saint Vincent College in the President’s Athletic Conference opener.

After surrendering 49 points a week ago to Frostburg State, the Yellow Jackets turned in a solid effort, allowing 225 total yards, forcing three turnovers and limiting the Bearcats (0-2, 0-1) to two first downs in the second half.

“We had to settle down on defense and work on the fundamentals,” Waynesburg coach Rick Shepas said. “This last three weeks we have seen a different style of offense. Against Muskingum, we saw a running quarterback, and last week against Frostburg, they ran a no-huddle offense. Saint Vincent likes to run the ball. We had to match their physicality in the run game.”

Waynesburg (1-0, 3-0) allowed just one big play, and that was on the first drive when Saint Vincent quarterback Andy Borgen connected with wideout Matt Duffey for a 63-yard score.

The Bearcats missed the extra point, and couple of possessions later, Borgen was knocked out the game with a separated shoulder. Saint Vincent used two quarterbacks the rest of the game, but both were inconsistent and couldn’t sustain drives against Waynesburg.

Defensive tackle Brandon Fedorka was the centerpiece of the Yellow Jackets’ defensive effort with three tackles, a sack and two fumble recoveries in the first half.

“We knew we had to step it up on defense this week,” Fedorka said. “We worked hard in practice and studied a lot of film on Saint Vincent. We had something to prove today. On defense we had to be physical and get short fields for our offense.”

After a bad punt by the Bearcats midway through the second quarter, the Yellow Jackets capitalized with a six-play, 46-yard drive that was capped off by a 14-yard touchdown connection from quarterback Carter Hill to wide receiver Andrew English.

Alex Henry connected on the extra point, and Waynesburg held a 7-6 lead at halftime.

After another bad punt by the Bearcats, Hill threw his second scoring pass of the game, a 9-yard dart to tight end Mike Ferraro. The extra point attempt was blocked, but Waynesburg held a 13-6 lead at 3:36 of the third quarter.

“Weather affected our play calling a little bit, but I thought in the second half we moved the ball,” Shepas said. “We got into some no-huddle sets with Carter calling the plays and had a strong balance. We didn’t turn the ball over today, and I thought we played a mistake free game.”

Waynesburg added a 33-yard field goal by Henry on the first play of the final quarter, followed by a 20-yard rushing touchdown by tailback Jerry Lawman with 11:53 remaining in the contest.

Lawman, who saw more carries in the second half after Jake Forsythe went down with a lower-body injury in the third quarter, collected a game-high 67 rushing yards on 12 carries.

“Jerry was huge for us,” Shepas said. “Last year, he had to sit out the season due to concussion issues, and he is still getting a feel for this offense. He is healthy right now, and we really like what he gives us out of the backfield.”