Yellow Jackets Drop Shootout to Thiel
Two seasons ago, Waynesburg won a shootout with the Thiel Tomcats on the road in entertaining fashion.
At the time, it was the ninth straight victory for the Jackets against Thiel.
Waynesburg entered Saturday’s road, Presidents’ Athletic Conference contest having won ten straight against Thiel, but in the end, dropped its first result to the Tomcats since 2005 by a final of 50-42.
Top Unit Struggles
Prior to the contest, Waynesburg had, statistically, the PAC’s best passing defense, to go along with a front seven core of linemen that were one of the best in getting into the backfield.
The Jackets knew Thiel’s senior quarterback Ryan Radke was going to make plays. Shepas said the key defensively was to try and make Radke and the Tomcat offense one-dimensional and not allow the run to beat them.
A couple of fast, athletic receivers made that plan tough, led by freshman receiver DeShawon Bracy for the Tomcats, who caught eight passes from Radke for 250 yards and two scores, one of 60 yards and one of 44 yards.
For Bracy, the total yardage was the fourth highest receiving yards total in a single game in PAC history.
Freshman wide receiver Eugene Bailey was also the recipient of a big play score for the Tomcats from Radke, as his 43-yard touchdown grab turned out to be the final blow.
“They had a couple of receivers that could get past us,” said Shepas. “A lot of it was Radke. We wanted to make the offense one-dimensional, but we lost ourselves there, and during the course of the game, they started to beat us with the run and pass, and you can’t let that happen.”
First year head coach Dan Blume put into his gameplan and has for the majority of the season, a steady dose of read option looks to use Radke’s speed and elusiveness for his senior quarterback to make plays. Those plays, Shepas said, were tough to defend and were big reasons why the defense sputtered in the loss.
“We changed our offense to a lot of read options,” Radke said. “I don’t think they were ready for seeing that as much as we ran it.”
Radke finished the game with more than 500 yards of offense himself, passing for 391 yards, running for 163 and accounting for six touchdowns: three through the air and three on the run.
The loss, according to Shepas, saw the defense at points unravel and force the question of “what is going on.”
The output by the Tomcats and the struggles of the defense dropped the Jacket unit to the PAC’s third best pass defense and third worst rush defense.
Anemic Run Game Steps Up
A few weeks ago in a loss to Thomas More, the output of Waynesburg’s rushing game, which has been close to the bottom of the barrel in terms of the leaders in the PAC all season, was the worst it has been yet.
In the 40-7 loss to the Saints, Waynesburg had four rushers get carries and combine for 23 touches. On those 23 carries, Waynesburg’s rushing attack yielded a net output of 29 yards, an average of 1.3 yards per carry. A Waynesburg rusher was also brought down in the end zone resulting in a safety.
Fast forward two weeks and Shepas said Waynesburg was excited to get freshman running back Whitney White back from injury, as well as excited for what freshman running back Chad Walker was going to do following what Shepas said was Walker’s “best week of preparation all season.”
Early in the game, Walker went down with a leg injury and didn’t play the rest of the game.
So the Jackets re-inserted sophomore running back Ben Ciero, who took advantage of the opportunity running to the tune of 71 yards on 11 carries, averaging 6.5 yards per touch and scoring two touchdowns, one of which was a 26-yard score after Ciero broke a few tackles en route to scores.
“Ciero was originally our starter,” said Shepas. “He had some trouble with fumbles early on, but he made some great runs, especially on one where he stuck his foot in the ground in a gap and broke one off.”
Shepas also thought White had some breakout runs, though not of the big yardage variety at times. The West Allegheny alumnus ran for 51 yards on 10 carries in the loss.
It was a step in the right direction for the unit, according to Shepas, but he noted the losses from last year in the running game, then-senior Jerry Lawman, who took a job offer instead of returning for a redshirt season, as well as then-freshmen running backs Zach Helsel and Austin Wilson, who did not return to the gridiron this fall, as reasons why the youthful running attack in 2016 has not had an “older guy to set an example.”
“We had no mentor back to mentor these younger guys,” said Shepas. “When you don’t have an older guy that can be a great example, or when the older guys you have aren’t the best examples, it becomes ‘What are we modeling here?'”
Depth With Wide Receivers
In the past, Waynesburg has had depth at wide receiver.
A few years back, it boasted All-PAC honorees Andrew English and Bernie Thompson, with that team in 2014 using then-sophomore Tim Cooper as a key receiver in the slot, as well as Zac Capan at tight end. It gave Waynesburg, along with then-senior quarterback Carter Hill, one of the PAC’s most lethal passing attacks.
Now, Shepas said he is excited about the depth his team has the position and said it makes the offense so much more dynamic due to different skill sets and different ways guys can be used.
“The future of this thing is really bright at the skill positions,” said Shepas. “We’re trying to develop the depth and grow it and ultimately make a competition out of it.”
In Saturday’s loss, seven players made receptions, five of which were wide receivers. Senior Kevin Barnes Jr. had six catches for 120 yards and a touchdown in the waning moments of the second quarter, while Cooper added three receptions after missing the first half due to an ejection for targeting in the second half against Thomas More.
Junior Mitch Kendra had an impactful day, according to Shepas, as he beat to the drum of four catches for 143 yards, one of which was a 68-yard grab setting up a Waynesburg touchdown early on.
Senior James Steele had two grabs while freshman Ta’Vaughn Johnson secured eight catches for 94 yards, including his first collegiate touchdown catch that was the first score for the Jackets in the 50-42 loss.
“We knew he’s a great player, but there’s a play I remember I threw a check down to him and he takes it for a first down,” said Perone. “That’s huge for us. He’s a great player.”
Shepas echoed Perone’s thoughts.
“We needed someone with speed like TJ has,” said Shepas. “That only compliments guys like Barnes and Cooper.”
***
Waynesburg will look to fine tune its defense and keep the ball rolling offensively when it travels to Latrobe, Pennsylvania, for a matchup with the Bearcats of Saint Vincent College.
Kickoff Saturday, Nov. 5, is scheduled for 1 p.m.