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With 75 seconds, Forsythe’s third score gives Jackets win in back-and-forth game

By Andy Stanko for The Yellow Jacket 6 min read
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The Waynesburg University football team was on track for another scoreless first quarter in Greeneville, Pennsylvania against fellow Presidents’ Athletic Conference member Thiel College Saturday night. Six plays, 25 yards, 15 of those yards from a penalty and two punts were all that the Jackets had mustered before taking the field for a third time with four seconds left in the opening quarter. Waynesburg quarterback Carter Hill called senior running back Jake Forsythe’s number to close the quarter. Forsythe took a handoff to the left side and trucked 56 yards for a touchdown.

“I didn’t want to have happen what happened at Bethany,” said Waynesburg head coach Rick Shepas. “Give up a couple touchdowns and be a couple touchdowns behind. Jake’s run was huge getting us to 7-7.”

Forsythe took on multiple unblocked Thiel defenders and stayed on his feet before getting to the second level of the defense and outrunning everyone to the end zone. The play turned a fruitless first quarter for Waynesburg into a tied game.

“We were in a pass play and Carter checked it to an outside run,” said Forsythe. “Carter knows what he’s talking about. When he makes checks we’ve just got to believe in him.”

Forsythe finished the night with 200 yards rushing and three touchdowns. His performance brought his rushing total for the season up to 1,050 yards.

“Jake’s worked hard and he has earned everything he has gotten this year,” said Shepas. “He has made significant gains in the way he runs the ball and the way he utilizes his balance, and understanding of play design.”

Forsythe’s performance helped Waynesburg stave off one of the best outings put together all season by Thiel.

“It’s the most complete game that we played,” said Thiel head coach Kurt Reiser. “Jake Forsythe is an outstanding running back who can break tackles. He was able to do that tonight and he capitalized on it.”

Hill finished the game with 266 yards passing with two touchdowns through the air and collected a third game-winning drive on the season.

Thiel quarterback Ryan Radke had his most efficient game passing the ball all season, throwing for 317 yards and two touchdowns to go with 81 yards on the ground. Radke ranks first among all quarterbacks in the PAC in rushing and is the fifth leading rusher in the conference.

“Tonight [Radke] played one of his better games,” said Reiser. “He’s a playmaker, he is dynamic and we know what we get with him when we’re passing and when we use him in the run game.”

Radke and the Tomcats found unprecedented success against Waynesburg’s top-ranked third down defense. Thiel became the first team to convert over 50 percent of third downs against the Jackets.

“He’s a good quarterback,” said Shepas. “He’s already elusive, he threw the ball extremely well which made him even better.”

Radke’s team almost stole a win from Waynesburg by taking the lead twice in the final quarter on touchdown passes of 66 and 46 yards to wide receiver Marcus Johnson.

Waynesburg’s offense wasted no time responding with scoring drives immediately following the Tomcat’s scores.

After falling behind 26-21, Waynesburg marched 92 yards in 10 plays, collecting four first downs through the air. Forsythe plowed 17 yards for his second touchdown of the night to give Waynesburg a 27-26 advantage after the Jackets failed the ensuing two-point conversion attempt.

“They respond when they need to respond,” said Shepas. “They’ve always done so. Since 2012 with Hill at quarterback we’re 9-3 when behind seven points or less.”

After Radke’s second touchdown pass of the quarter, Waynesburg’s offense took the field with just under four minutes to play trailing 32-27.

“We have veterans on the offensive side of the ball,” said Hill. “Everyone is calm. We take pride in scoring fast when we need to and coming through in the clutch.”

Hill found Thompson for a 36-yard gain to get the Jackets inside the Tomcat’s red zone and all it took was one play for Waynesburg to punch it in. Forsythe burst 10 yards for his third touchdown of the evening and Waynesburg took the lead for good.

“It means a lot to me that they can trust in me to make big plays like this,” said Forsythe. “It’s big to come out with a win.”

Waynesburg and Thiel exchanged scores in the second quarter with Thiel tying the game at 14 with 33 seconds remaining in the half.

“Carter and I looked at each other on the sidelines after they scored,” said Shepas. “He looked at me and said, ‘We’re going after a touchdown aren’t we?’ We were getting the ball in the second half. Touchdown plus possession was everything I was thinking about at that moment.”

A Willie Leavell kickoff return set Waynesburg up at the 50-yard line and a carry by Leavell brought Waynesburg to Thiel’s 33 yard-line.

“We want [Leavell] to touch it somewhere between 10-15 times a game,” said Shepas. “He’s always making huge plays.”

Hill found tight end Zac Capan and wide receiver Andrew English to bring the Jacket offense to the Thiel 12-yard line. Hill connected again to Capan for a touchdown that sent the Jackets into the locker rooms with a 21-14 advantage.

“We snapped the ball with eight seconds left and scored on a touchdown pass to Capan,” said Shepas. “We had it dialed up and we had 100 percent of what we wanted.”

After scoring on its first possession of the night, Thiel’s offense struggled with penalties on each the next three drives to keep Waynesburg down just 7-0 before Forsythe’s 56-yard touchdown run.

“We made mistakes in the first half with penalties,” said Reiser. “Bad penalties and the special teams game allowed Waynesburg to get the momentum and keep the momentum.”

With the victory, Waynesburg’s hopes for a share of the PAC championship remain alive and well and can be accomplished with two wins in the coming weeks against Thomas More and Washington & Jefferson. Waynesburg hosts Thomas More Saturday at John F. Wiley Stadium at 1:30 p.m.

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