Passing game struggles in loss against top PAC team
An inability to find consistency in the passing game led to Waynesburg’s fall in Saturday’s 42-13 loss to Thomas More.
Waynesburg and the passing attack were limited by Thomas More’s nationally-ranked defense.
Freshman quarterback Jake Dougherty and the receiving core were limited to just 96 yards passing throughout the game.
According to Waynesburg head coach Rick Shepas, the game changing moment for the Yellow Jackets came back in the first quarter when Dougherty had a pass intercepted.
“I think the key turning point in the game was the interception that we threw,” said Shepas. “That’s when we seemed to just unravel a little bit in at least the first half.”
Thomas More’s defensive back Brandon Neal intercepted the ball at the Saints’ 42-yard line and returned it to the Waynesburg 30-yard line to set up Thomas More’s first scoring drive of the game. As for the interception, Shepas said it was all about making the right reads.
“We just didn’t make an accurate read and threw the ball to the corner and the ball was underthrown,” said Shepas. “It just wasn’t a great throw for [Dougherty.]
After the interception, the passing game was put on hold as Waynesburg ran the ball for the next nine plays over two series.
Shepas attributed the commitment to the run as a game plan heading into the matchup.
“We just wanted to run the ball, and we thought we had some good run looks,” said Shepas.
Jake Dougherty and the offense managed to move the ball for just 39 yards in the first half as the freshman completed seven of 14 pass attempts.
Dougherty opened up the second half missing on his first six passes of the half before completing a 10-yard pass to junior wide receiver Tim Cooper.
Dougherty completed seven of his final nine throws for 57 yards and a touchdown.
Shepas thought he saw better games from Dougherty, but saw progress as the game moved on.
“It was not one of his [Dougherty’s] best performances,” said Shepas. “He finished the game stronger than he started.”
Despite the numbers that were put up by the passing attack, Shepas think they had the right approach, but the numbers were due to analyzing the proper situation.
“I don’t really know. We thought our preparation was good. We thought our plan was good,” said Shepas. “Some of those statistics are going to be skewed because we are not going to put [Dougherty] into bad situations throwing the football.”
Even with the limited ability to find success in the passing game, Shepas still sees great progress and learning chances for his quarterback and team.
“I look at any of these games where he [Dougherty] has opportunities to play against good opponents when we are not as skilled and experienced as they are,” Shepas said. “All things considered, I think it is still a positive the way things have gone for him.”
Waynesburg will look to get the passing game back in rhythm and close out the 2015 campaign with a win after a bye week when it travels north to take on Washington & Jefferson on Nov. 14.
Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.