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No. 18/20 W&J Football Game Notes vs. Bethany


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WASHINGTON, Pa. -- No. 18/20 Washington & Jefferson (5-0, 3-0) travels to Presidents' Athletic Conference co-leader Bethany (5-1, 4-0) at 1 p.m. on Saturday in a match-up that gives the victor a virtual two-game advantage for the league crown.

The Series: Washington & Jefferson and Bethany meet for the 91st on Saturday with the Presidents looking to avenge a 24-19 loss at Bison Stadium last season. The loss snapped a 30-game winning streak for W&J, which owns a 69-21 record against Bethany in 90 all-time meetings.

The Head Coaches: Mike Sirianni (Mount Union, '94) owns a 106-24 (.815) record at W&J in his 12th season as head coach. The five-time PAC Coach of the Year and two-time South Region Coach of the Year (2004, 2012) is fourth among all active NCAA coaches in winning percentage (minimum of 10 years). The Presidents have made 10 postseason appearances under Sirianni. Bill Garvey (Iona, '93) is in his second season as head coach of the Bison after serving as the team's offensive coordinator for the previous seven years. Last season, he led Bethany to its first four-win conference season since 2008. His record at the helm is 9-7 (4-6 in 2013, 5-1 so far in 2014).

W&J vs. The PAC: W&J holds a 316-134-10 (.698) winning percentage against current football-playing members of the Presidents' Athletic Conference. Washington & Jefferson has claimed 23 PAC Championships throughout the history of the league. W&J is 58-10 (.853) in conference games since Sirianni took over in 2003.
Bethany (69-21)    Carnegie Mellon (27-32-5)    Case Western (17-16-1)
Geneva (40-19-2)    Grove City (37-13)    Saint Vincent (6-1)
Thiel (43-22-2)    Thomas More (5-5)    Waynesburg (38-3)
    Westminster (34-2)

The Last Meeting (Oct. 5, 2013 -- Bethany 24, W&J 19): Aaron Frye intercepted a pass in the end zone with 29 seconds remaining to end Washington & Jefferson's comeback bid and give Bethany a 24-19 win over the Presidents at Bison Stadium. The win snapped a 30-game losing streak for Bethany against W&J. The Bison, who hadn't defeated the Presidents in West Virginia since 1981, scored all 24 points in the first half while W&J roared back with all 19 of its points in the final 30 minutes. The Bison out-gained the Presidents, 563-439, behind 335 yards passing and 228 yards rushing. Dion Wiegand ran for 182 and two touchdowns on 25 carries, while Matt Bliss completed 21-of-47 pass attempts for 273 yards and a score. Alex Baroffio caught nine of the passes for 114 yards. Jared Pratt led all players with 15 tackles. Anthony Tutino (12) and Jon Turner (10, 2.5 TFL) were both also in double figures.

Scouting Bethany: Bethany enters riding a five-game winning streak, its longest since 2001. The Bison opened the season with a 58-7 home loss to No. 3 Mount Union.You would be remiss if you didn't start the discussion about the Bethany offense with junior WR Eric Blinn who leads the team with 66 catches, 673 yards and six touchdowns through six games. He ranks among the active career leaders in the nation in several categories. Sophomore Brian Vales has stepped in to replace Matt Grimard at QB, competing 69.1 percent (123-of-178) passes for 1,130 yards and eight touchdowns with four interceptions. The dual-threat QB is one of three Bison with more than 300 yards rushing (76 carries, 305 yards, 3 TD). He is joined by sophomore Jalen Holmes (76-360-3) and senior Brandon Hill (80-334-4). The Bethany front seven is stout, having made 59 tackles for loss and recorded 27 sacks in six games. Junior DE Nadim Raddar anchors the unit with 16.0 TFL, including 11.5 sacks. Juniors Larry Kpadehyea (7.0) and Donavan Hayden (7.5) with sophomore Khallid Pierce (7.5) have combined for 22 TFL. Raddar and Kpadehyea lead the team with 52 total tackles each. Junior CB Dion Williams has two of Bethany's five interceptions.

Youth Movement: The Presidents showcase just six seniors on their offensive and defensive depth charts for the season, including only three on offense. Of the 43 players listed on both sides of the ball, 22 are juniors (14 offense), 12 are sophomores (four offense) and three are freshmen (one offense). The 2014 Presidents have just 10 seniors on the roster.
700 Club: The Presidents joined the illustrious NCAA 700 Win Club with a 48-30 win over Carnegie Mellon on Sept. 20. In this the 123rd season of varsity football, W&J has amassed a .642 winning percentage (702-383-40). Only two other NCAA Division III programs have reached 700 wins (Mount Union and Wittenberg). W&J became just the 25th program in all NCAA divisions to reach 700 all-time wins.

Complete list, updated Oct. 15:
913    Michigan
880    Notre Dame 
879    Yale 
877    Texas
870    Nebraska
853    Ohio State
847    Oklahoma
843    Alabama
842    Harvard 
828    Penn 
807    Tennessee
801    Princeton
800    Southern California
772    Georgia
758    LSU
734    Penn State
733    Mount Union
731    Auburn
731    Wittenberg
716    West Virginia
708    Virginia Tech
706    Syracuse
706    Texas A&M
705    Georgia Tech
702    Washington & Jefferson

30 and Counting: W&J boasts 30-consecutive winning seasons as a football program. The Presidents 30 winning seasons rank fourth among all divisions of NCAA football behind Linfield (58), Florida State (37) and Mount Union (35). The last time W&J did not post a winning record was 1983 (3-5-1). That year, the top-grossing movie was Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, the top single was "Every Breath You Take" by The Police, a first-class stamp cost $0.20, and a gallon of regular gas cost $1.24.

Poll Us: W&J is ranked No. 18 in the American Football Coaches Association Top 25 poll after moving up from No. 20 in last week's rankings. The Presidents also moved up from No. 22 to No. 20 in the D3football.com Top 25 poll.

Oct-oob-yeah: With its 55-14 win at Grove City last week, W&J improved to 40-7 in the month of October under Mike Sirianni.

Ball Control: W&J is 22-3 when not committing a turnover under Sirianni. All three losses have come in the NCAA playoffs (2012, 2010 Mount Union; 2007 N.C. Wesleyan).

Play with a Lead: The Presidents led 35-0 through 30 minutes against Grove City and held on for the victory to improve to 84-3 when leading at halftime during Sirianni's tenure.

Start Strong: W&J is in the midst of its best start since 2009 when it was 7-0 heading into a match-up with also unbeaten Thomas More where the Saints won 14-7 in Washington.

Lights, Cameras, Action: W&J is 27-1 all-time in 28 night games in Sirianni's 12 years. The only setback came last season at Bethany. Last week's contest in Mercer County was W&J's final scheduled night contest of the year.

Fast and Furious: The W&J offense has run 110 more plays than its opponents through five games (457-347). The Presidents are averaging 91.4 plays per game. Coming into the season, W&J had reached 90 plays in a game just twice under Sirianni and have already gotten there three times in 2014.

Never Slow Down: W&J boasts the No. 6 offense in the nation according to total offense (556.0 yards per game). The Presidents are second in scoring behind only perennial power Mount Union at 52.2 points per game (the Purple Raiders are scoring 64.0 points per contest). W&J also owns the second-best third-down conversion percentage in Division III at 56.6 percent.

Offensive in Nature: The Presidents rolled up 594 yards of total offense against Grove City (344 passing, 250 rushing), the most since they posted 588 yards against Juniata in 2011. The last time W&J reached 600 yards of total offense was against Bethany in 2008 (606 yards).

First and Foremost: Sophomore QB Pete Coughlin is completing 73 percent (47-of-64) of his first down passes this season. During second down his completion percentage drops slightly to 72 percent (44-of-61) and down to 64 percent (25-of-39) on third down. He has connected on all three fourth-down attempts. On the season he has completed 120-of-168 passes, a .714 clip, good for fifth in the nation.

National Leader: Junior RB Ryan Ruffing leads the nation in two categories, rushing TDs (15) and scoring (20.4 points per game). His 15 rushing TDs are tied for third in all NCAA Divisions, while his scoring total leads all NCAA football players.

Max Out: Senior WR Max Creighan caught 13 passes against Grove City, finishing one shy of the school record of 14 set by Jordan Roycroft against Thomas More in 2010.

Run Away: Senior LB Jared Pratt leads W&J with 51 tackles, 43 of which have come on rushing plays, nearly double the second-closest President (Ryan Torrance, 22 rushing tackles). Pratt has been in double digits for stops three times and led the Presidents in tackles three times in four games this season.

Targets Acquired: Creighan has been targeted on 26 percent of W&J's pass attempts (36 catches on 49 attempts). Daniel Lis is second at 20 percent (39 targets, 27 catches).

Workhorse: Junior RB Ryan Ruffing is averaging 5.2 yards on 79 carries on first down and 5.2 yards on 45 second-down carries. Of his 15 rushing touchdowns, 13 have come on first or second down. On second or third and short he has carried 31 times and picked up the first down on 23 of them.

Fresh Face: Freshman WR Jesse Zubik was named ECAC Division III Southwest Rookie of the Week for a second-straight week after catching five passes for 115 yards and two touchdowns against Grove City.

Long Plays: W&J has 30 plays of 20-plus yards from scrimmage this season and eight more on kick returns. 26 of the plays have been between 20-29 yards, seven have been between 30-39 yards, and two each between 40-49 yards and 70-79 yards and one between 60-69 yards. The passing game has accounted for 20 with rushing totaling 10. Ruffing leads W&J with 13 plays of 20-plus yards (eight rushing, five receiving). Creighan and Zubik both have seven plays over 20 yards.
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Players Mentioned

Matt Bliss

#6 Matt Bliss

QB
5' 11"
Senior
Alex Baroffio

#15 Alex Baroffio

WR
5' 10"
Senior
Dion Wiegand

#32 Dion Wiegand

RB
5' 8"
Senior
Pete Coughlin

#3 Pete Coughlin

QB
5' 10"
Sophomore
Max Creighan

#10 Max Creighan

WR
5' 11"
Senior
Daniel Lis

#11 Daniel Lis

WR
5' 10"
Junior
Jared Pratt

#19 Jared Pratt

LB
5' 11"
Senior
Ryan Ruffing

#28 Ryan Ruffing

RB
6' 1"
Junior
Ryan Torrance

#35 Ryan Torrance

LB
5' 9"
Sophomore
Jon Turner

#94 Jon Turner

DE
6' 2"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Matt Bliss

#6 Matt Bliss

5' 11"
Senior
QB
Alex Baroffio

#15 Alex Baroffio

5' 10"
Senior
WR
Dion Wiegand

#32 Dion Wiegand

5' 8"
Senior
RB
Pete Coughlin

#3 Pete Coughlin

5' 10"
Sophomore
QB
Max Creighan

#10 Max Creighan

5' 11"
Senior
WR
Daniel Lis

#11 Daniel Lis

5' 10"
Junior
WR
Jared Pratt

#19 Jared Pratt

5' 11"
Senior
LB
Ryan Ruffing

#28 Ryan Ruffing

6' 1"
Junior
RB
Ryan Torrance

#35 Ryan Torrance

5' 9"
Sophomore
LB
Jon Turner

#94 Jon Turner

6' 2"
Junior
DE