WASHINGTON, Pa. -- Washington & Jefferson gave its seniors a 17-7 victory over Geneva to conclude their careers at Cameron Stadium with an undefeated record of 20-0, wrapping up the home portion of the 2016 football season.
The Presidents held the Golden Tornadoes to under 200 yards of total offense -- and just 44 yards passing -- in improving to 7-2 overall and 5-2 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference. The 44 yards passing were the fewest allowed by the W&J defense since surrendering only 35 through the air at Juniata in the 2011 season opener on Sept. 3.
Pete Coughlin (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) passed for 291 yards and a touchdown while completing 29 of his 36 attempts.
Jesse Zubik (Sewickley, Pa./Avonworth) became just the sixth player in PAC history, and third W&J player, to go over 1,200 yards in a season as he caught 13 passes for 129 yards. He moved to within 18 yards of breaking Alex Baroffio's W&J career receiving yards record (3,203). Zubik also entered the W&J career receptions top five, catapulting all the way to third, three out of second place, with 189, good for fifth in PAC history.
Cody Hearst (Clarion, Pa./Clarion) caught five passes for 54 yards and
David Kincaid (Washington, Pa./Chartiers-Houston) led the Presidents with 58 yards on 14 rushes.
Nick Murgo (Warren, R.I./Mount Hope) made a game-best 12 tackles, including 1.5 for loss.
Zach Walker (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette) joined Murgo in double figures with 10 stops, a sack and forced fumble. In total, the Presidents registered 11 tackles for loss, or on just over 20 percent of Geneva's 54 plays. The trio of
Luke Merhaut (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland),
Tom Marra (Moon Twp., Pa./Our Lady of the Sacred Heart) and
Ryan Snedeker (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston) each accounted for 2.0 TFL, with both of Snedeker's going down as sacks, along with 1.5 of Marra's.
O'Shea Anderson (Rochester, Pa./Rochester) added an interception, his first of the season.
One of Snedeker's sacks:
Anderson's interception:
W&J marched right down the field on the opening possession, putting together a nine-play, 82-yard drive that ended with a 13-yard scoring run by Coughlin at 12:06. The QB went six-of-seven on the drive, hitting four different targets in the process to help put up the only points of the first quarter, 7-0.
The Presidents extended the lead at the 12:49-mark of the second quarter with a 26-yard field goal by
Ted Ford (Carnegie, Pa./Carlynton), but the Golden Tornadoes answered back by finding the end zone with a nine-play, 58-yard scoring drive that saw 5:36 elapse, 10-7. The ensuing W&J possession resulted in the final points of the day as the Presidents put together their second longest drive of the season, a 6:30 act that lasted 15 plays and 71 yards and was capped by a four-yard pass from Coughlin to
Anthony Keriotis (Beaver, Pa./Beaver Area).
Comparatively, W&J used 68 plays to rack up 397 yards of offense in 28:22 time of possession. Geneva held the ball for 31:38, including 11:36 in the third quarter, and collected 192 yards on 54 plays.
The Presidents will conclude the 2016 regular season when they travel down Interstate 79 for the PAC Backyard Brawl against Waynesburg. Kickoff at Wiley Stadium is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. W&J leads the all-time series 39-4.
Â
