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Waynesburg tops W&J in Backyard Brawl, 31-28

By Adam Brewer for The 4 min read

WAYNESBURG – For the first time since 2003, the Waynesburg University football squad grabbed bragging rights in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference “Backyard Brawl” with a 31-28 victory over Washington & Jefferson College after a 34-yard field goal by Scott Lewis in overtime Saturday afternoon at John F. Wiley Stadium.

“I just knew we were going to somehow win this game,” Lewis said. “I was focus on the kick and I just went through my motions like I usually do. As soon as I kicked it, I knew it was good. Since this game was so tight, I figured it might come down to a kick near the end.”

The win gave the 25 seniors on the Yellow Jackets’ team a big Senior Day triumph and this is only the fourth time in 42 tries that Waynesburg defeated its heated rival from up north.

“The leadership from our seniors won us this game,” Waynesburg coach Rick Shepas said. “I like the way our guys fight and I like the discipline we play with. We have played so many close games over the years that we don’t even think about it. We just play through it.”

W&J, who already wrapped up at least a share of the PAC title and the conference’s automatic playoff berth, suffered its first defeat of the 2014 campaign.

The Yellow Jackets (8-2, 6-2) will now have to wait and see where they go or if they will host an ECAC bowl next week.

The game-winning kick by Lewis was set-up after the Presidents’ (9-1, 7-1) field goal attempt was blocked by Mitch Vacek.

With game tied up at 14-14 at halftime, W&J grabbed their first lead of the game in the third period when Ryan Torrance returned a 41-yard interception for a touchdown.

On the second play of the fourth quarter, the Yellow Jackets knotted the game up at 21-21 after a 29-yard scoring toss to wide receiver Andrew English from quarterback Carter Hill.

“We have played in so many close games over the last couple of seasons and we just didn’t blink today,” Hill said. “There were so many momentum swings and big plays, but we made the big plays at the end. This is a great group of guys and we didn’t panic. It means the world for this senior class to pull off this win.”

After the Presidents were stopped on a fourth-and-one from the 41-yard line, the Yellow Jackets went up 28-21 with a 26-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Bernie Thompson from Hill.

“I saw the safety moving around a little bit and I thought we could get the ball over top of him for the touchdown,” Hill said. “Bernie made a veteran catch and he is an all-conference player. He knew I was coming to him and he got open for a fantastic catch.”

The scoring pass was Hill’s fourth of the game and gave him a school record 67 touchdown throws for his career at Waynesburg. The senior signal collar also threw for 366 yards on 32-of-51 passing and is now second in career passing yards with the Yellow Jackets.

After the teams traded scoreless drives, W&J mounted an 11-play, 95-yard drive that was capped off by a 28-yard pass to Max Creighan from Pete Coughlin that sent the game into overtime with 42 seconds left in regulation.

Waynesburg started the scoring first in the contest and went up 7-0 after opening the game with five straight pass plays, including a 25-yard touchdown strike to English from Hill.

After a W&J touchdown, Hill found Thompson for a four-yard swing pass that made it 14-7 with 2:06 left in the opening quarter.

“When you have a guy like Carter playing quarterback, you give yourself a chance to win every day,” Shepas said. “He was able to bounce back from some bad plays. The guy is a gamer and he comes to play every time out. You got to give a lot of credit to our defense and holding W&J down in some key spots in the second half. This is a great team win.”

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